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Show Versatile Ham Sparks Spring Menus ' ' 'Ki. V .; n-pre v . -' - v ; Jbjaiasi... ,., liSJ Use a roast meat thermometer to cook ham to perfection. Use left-OYera left-OYera in ham devilled eggs, hors d'oeuvres and Roman salad. Baked ham is a versatile meat. After its first delicious serving, it can be used in a variety of interesting "second-day" dishes that will spark your menus around the clock. For example, try piquant ham devilled eggs or tasty Roman salad as luncheon dishes; use squares of ham on skewers with cheese and olives as hors d'oeuvres; make a ham loaf or ham-stuffed peppers for supper and, of course, feature ham and eggs for breakfast. But, to be sure that you have a succulent, tender ham to start with, follow these suggestions from Miss Nora Finucane, home economist for Taylor Instrument Companies: . Slow, thorough cooking is the secret of juicy, flavorful ham. Place the ham in a shallow roasting roast-ing pan with the skin or fat side up. Do not add water; do not cover. For perfect results, use a roast meat thermometer which is the only way to tell when the center of the ham is done. (This is very important since there is a danger of food poisoning if the center is not thoroughly cooked.) Insert the thermometer so the point of the stem reaches the center of the roast, but does not rest against the bone. One dial-type thermometer has a pre-set index which can be set at the desired finishing temperature so you can see at a glance when the meat is done. Bake a fresh ham at 350 degrees de-grees until the meat thermometer registers 185 degrees. Pre-cooked or smoked hams should be cooked at an oven temperature of 300 degrees to an internal temperature tempera-ture of 160 degrees. Length of cooking time varies with the size of the ham 15 to 18 minutes per pound for a large whole ham to 22 to 25 minutes per pound for a small whole ham another point which underscores under-scores the importance of using a roast meat thermometer. |