Monday, December 19, 2011

Ham Sandwiches

When my Dad came down for Thanksgiving, he brought me some early Christmas presents:

Lots'o containers!

Two-ton meat slicer.

Dad owned a little neighborhood bar & grill several years ago.  He would have daily lunch specials and was constantly testing his culinary skills on the unsuspecting patrons. He made a mean pork tenderloin and great homemade soups.  When he sold the bar & grill, he took most of his restaurant equipment with to either sell or keep for whatever reason.  I think he secretly wanted to open his own little posh restaurant and couldn't bear the idea of selling the stuff as he may one day "need" it. 
Anyways......
Since it seems Dad has finally given up his harebrained scheme dream of being head chef at his own restaurant, I was the lucky recipient of the meat slicer and bunches of food grade containers.
Which I finally put to good use:
Most of the containers filled & put into the cupboards.

Sliced ham, some for lunches, some for freezing.....
and some for now!
I know it may seem frivolous to want to have sliced meat around the house, but sometimes, ya just need a sandwich!  Paul has also taken another job where he doesn't always have access to a microwave to warm up his lunch, so sandwiches are very convenient.   But up until now, I had to go to the store and patronize the deli department.  I know, I know, there's nothing wrong with buying stuff from the deli (well, most of them at least), but we really try to avoid "store" bought meats.  Not only because the prices seem outrageous, but I find myself questioning some of the ingredients and prefer using meat from our farm, friends or the back forty. 

We did end up buying a whole ham though (as in not sliced, not an "entire" ham) as we don't have any of our own roasts ready to put through the slicer.  And it's HALF as expensive as the EXACT hams they slice up for you in the deli department.  Even if we don't get around to curing / smoking / cooking our roasts / hams in the freezer, we're still ahead of the game.  But I have to admit, I can't wait to make some pastrami!  I've been meaning to buy the seasonings for it but haven't got my butt in gear yet, so this is a good prod for me to get going.
Now I just have to make some more bread for all the ham sandwiches!!!

14 comments:

  1. Good,useful gifts. I never have enough food containers for storage.

    The slicer made beautiful thin slices. I think my sis has one of those.

    A good sandwich on home-made bread is a top-rated meal in our house!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Would love to have a meat slicer...Can't help thinking about the Seinfeld episode though. Do you have a cat you'd like to feed under the door?

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a blessing to get the meat slicer. Wonderful gifts.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'd LOVE a meat slicer. It's on my 'eventually' list. What wonderful gifts your Dad brought! I bet he got a great big hug for those. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. What neat gifts! I've never made pastrami. Is it difficult?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have to admit that I do buy the deli meats, but often you can buy them whole for a discount and slice it yourself. Or I buy turkey breasts at Costco and slice it myself. I am jealous of your slicer! It's far superior to the cheapy one that I own.

    ReplyDelete
  7. gld, food grade containers are sooooo needed around here, so they were a great present! We normally don't eat too many sandwiches because I don't frequent the deli often, so I think 2012 is going to be "The Year of the Sandwich"!

    Tami, I'm not a Seinfield fan, but my sister made me watch that eposide and I almost peed my pants!! That was frekking hillarious!

    Kristina, maybe not "fun" gifts, but a very USEFUL gifts!

    Tina, when we had sliced our first ham with it, I called Dad up & was chewing the ham into the phone to let him know how much I liked it!!

    Hoosier, I don't THINK it's difficult, have never made it. It's just a matter of getting the spices & you have to let it sit in the fridge for a few weeks before smoking.

    Rose, wish we had a Costco around here! I wonder how well a fresh turkey or chicken breast would slice?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Those are some pretty sweet gifts! Looks like your dad took awesome care of that slicer... Now go and eat some meat!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm sorry your dad's dream didn't work out... dreams keep us young at heart... oh and put mustard and mayo on my sandwich please!

    ReplyDelete
  10. My son gave me a slicer like that last year that someone "gave" him in his bartering travels...it's awesome.

    Crazy how they get away with the charges isn't it? Same meat--twice as expensive. Makes me even more glad to be frugal freida...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Awesome gifts! I'm sure the meat slicer will get lots of good use this coming year! You'll have to come up with a signature Krazo sandwich recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Tiny Gardener, yep, he did take good care of it. And I'm going to explode if I eat any more meat......maybe this is an Atkins diet year?

    Madge, don't worry, Dad's got a less-stressful hobby now...collecting pennies!

    Akannie, I know! Twice as much?? I know it takes labor to slice meat, but come on, that's a big jump in price.

    Candy, I think any signature Krazo Acres sandwich would consist of "whatever we shot or got in the frezer" and would change almost daily! ;)

    Erin, I LOVE 'em!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have a "ham" yet uncured, thawing in the fridge right now, almost ready for our next batch of lunchmeat. We're getting tired of chicken sandwiches, so it's time to switch to ham!

    -=Sarah
    www.beewenchfarm.com

    ReplyDelete