Super Easy Brown Sugar Baked Ham

Christmas week, and the truck is packed for Thibodaux. Same drill, second verse: brisket in the cooler, bread pudding on Danielle's lap, three children in the back seat in various states of excitement (Luc: controlled; Colette: organized; Rémy: nuclear). The drive to Thibodaux is part of the ritual now — the sugarcane fields, the bayou bridges, the moment you turn onto Mama's road and see the cottage with the lights up and the porch light on and Mama standing at the screen door the way she always stands at the screen door, like she's been waiting since dawn.

This Christmas, I gave Mama the portrait. Colette's drawing of Joey — the one from the mantel. I'd had it framed. Proper frame, acid-free mat, behind glass. Mama opened it on Christmas morning and went completely still. She looked at the drawing for a long time. She touched the glass where Joey's face was, gently, the way you touch a thing that is precious and fragile and more real than a photograph. She said, "C'est lui." That's him. And then she held Colette and didn't say anything else, and Colette hugged her back with the natural empathy of a child who knows, somehow, that she's given someone something that can't be bought or returned or replaced. The drawing hangs in Mama's bedroom now, next to the wedding photo. Joey twice: once in a photograph, once through his granddaughter's colored pencils. Both real. Both him.

Réveillon was magnificent. Gumbo, ham, my brisket, dirty rice, bread pudding, pecan pie. Midnight mass at St. Joseph. The hymns in French. Rémy falling asleep in the pew by 12:30 AM. The drive back to the cottage with three sleeping children and a wife who dozed against the window and a sky full of stars and a heart full of something I can't name but that smells like gumbo and tastes like bread pudding and feels like the screen door closing behind you when you've been gone too long and you're finally home.

Christmas morning: Luc got his video games. Colette got a professional watercolor set that made her eyes go wide. Rémy got fishing lures — a whole tackle box full — and treated each one like a jewel, holding them up to the light, naming them (the red one is "Papaw"). We drove home the next day with leftovers and fig preserves and the knowledge that another Christmas is in the books, and the cottage is still standing, and Mama is still cooking, and the fig tree is sleeping in the winter soil, waiting for spring, the way we all are. Joyeux Noël, cher. The lights are on and the door is open. Come in.

Every dish on Mama’s Réveillon table has a job. The gumbo is the welcome. The bread pudding is the goodbye. But the ham — that brown sugar baked ham sitting in the center of everything — that’s the anchor. It’s the thing the kids pick at before dinner is called, the thing Mama slices thin and wraps in foil for the drive home, the thing that makes the whole cottage smell like Christmas before you even get through the screen door. This is as close to her version as I can get, and it belongs on your table the way it belongs on ours.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1 (8-10 pound) bone-in, fully cooked spiral-cut ham
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 325°F. Place the ham cut-side down in a large roasting pan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake low and slow. Bake covered for 1 hour and 30 minutes, allowing the ham to warm through gently without drying out.
Make the glaze. While the ham bakes, combine the brown sugar, honey, Dijon mustard, melted butter, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring until smooth and bubbly, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat.
Glaze the ham. Remove the foil from the ham. Brush half the glaze generously over the entire surface, making sure it drips down between the spiral slices.
Bake uncovered. Return the ham to the oven uncovered and bake for 30 minutes. Brush with the remaining glaze and bake an additional 20-30 minutes, until the glaze is caramelized and the internal temperature reaches 140°F.
Rest and serve. Let the ham rest for 15 minutes before slicing. Spoon any pan drippings over the slices when serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Super Easy Brown Sugar Baked Ham — The Réveillon Table That Brings Us Home