I was super nervous. This was by far the biggest meal I had ever prepared, and the first time I had ever cooked for Justin's family, and I'm a super huge perfectionist and worrier, so to say the least, it was a stressful day! But everything turned out AMAZING!!!! I almost even had everything timed perfectly so nothing got cold while something else was cooking. I think that's the hardest part about cooking, trying to time everything so it's all ready at the same time.
Here's me cooking up a storm in my new kitchen!
So want to know what all I made?! I bought a 7-lb spiral ham (it was huge!) that came with its own brown sugar glaze packet. I drenched it in pineapple juice, coated it with the glaze and then put sliced pineapples all over it and wrapped it in foil and stuck it in the oven for about 2.5 hours. It was so tender and juicy! Isn't this the prettiest ham you've ever seen (sorry, I'm probably a little biased!) ?!?!?!
I also made homemade macaroni and cheese (my momma's recipe!), those yummy wheat rolls that you set out all day and they rise and get real big and fluffy (my favorite!), and honey glazed carrots. And for dessert...APPLE PIE!!! Oh I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it!
Here is me, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law posing with all our food.
Everything turned out great and it really helped boost my cooking confidence. Next time I won't stress so much...well actually I probably will, but maybe the next time it will ease up some! Haha! Like they say, practice makes perfect!
I'm going to share the honey carrots recipe with ya'll. I'm not really a big fan of cooked carrots, but this stuff was pretty darn good! I got this recipe from http://www.honey.com/
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs. carrots, pared, trimmed and cut into narrow 2- to 3- inch sticks
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup butter, cut into pats
- 1/4 cup dry sherry or apple juice
- 1 teaspoon rosemary, crushed
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Place carrots in 10-inch skillet with 2 cups water; cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 8 minutes or until carrots are tender. Drain water. Add honey, butter, sherry or apple juice, rosemary, thyme and salt to skillet. Cook, turning carrots in sauce until glazed and hot, about 6 minutes. Makes 8 servings.
