A pithy comic strip about life, love, lust and puthy cats.

Est. 1985

Extra, Extra!

Green Ham and Eggs

By Jimmy Johnson

Generally, you can add “nutrition” to that list of subjects best avoided outside your inner circle, but sometimes I really like to take a chance in the strip, you know? By coincidence, I cooked a ham yesterday. It wasn’t some watery pink thing that you might as well eat right from the package, because it isn’t going to get any better. It was a monster ham that came in a cloth bag and weighed almost 18 lbs. I had always wanted to tackle such a ham but never had. When I saw it in the grocery store, I just had to have it. It had been cured somewhere in North Carolina, but I still had to bake it for five hours. That part was easy! The part that wasn’t easy was removing the enveloping skin and fat, as per the instructions on the bag. I now know why they make footballs out of pigskin. I vividly was reminded of something during the process. I was reminded of a passage from Anthony Bourdain’s best-selling breakout book, “Kitchen Confidential.” He was discussing the pressures on those who work in busy restaurant kitchens, one of those pressures being, If  you don’t show up for work, you’d better bring a note from the coroner upon your return. He concluded his discussion with (I’m paraphrasing.), “I won’t even talk about blood. Let’s just say we cooks cut ourselves. A lot!” The ham turned out well! We won’t even talk about blood.

Recent Posts

Ghost of Christmas Past

This holiday Arlo & Janis comic strip from 2022 is similar in concept to the new strip that ran yesterday. I thought the latter ...

Spearhead

I have produced a number of comic strips related to Veteran’s Day. Especially in latter years, I have tried to emphasize the universal experience ...

Dark Passage

Remember: it’s that weekend. The return to standard time can be a bit of a shock in the late afternoon, but I rather enjoy ...

What’s old is old, again

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to build a web site, but there are similarities. Everything needs to be just right, or ...

Back to the ol’ drawing board

I don’t have a lot of time this morning. I wasn’t going to post anything, but I’m tired of looking at that old photograph ...

Thursday’s Child

On Sunday, I teased you with the suggestion there are more changes coming here. There are. They will appear soon, and I think you’ll ...

19 responses to “Green Ham and Eggs”

  1. Tejas Jack Black Avatar
    Tejas Jack Black

    You can tell great cooks from good ones by their fingertips, or lack thereof.

    1. Jimmy Johnson Avatar

      My culinary education took a giant step forward Tuesday.

  2. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

    I am glad that you got a cured ham….Never purchase a sick one.

  3. MontanaPhil Avatar
    MontanaPhil

    Know how you can tell if there’s a vegan in the room? Don’t to need wonder…they’ll tell YOU.

  4. Jeff in Ann Arbor Avatar
    Jeff in Ann Arbor

    I have one of those hams hanging the the basement that I bought on a whim at a country store and diner in rural Virginia 18 months ago. It’s protected by an extra paper bag. I hope that it’s continued to age well. Planning on eating it this spring.

  5. Sideburns Avatar

    Possibly the best reply when somebody tells you that they don’t eat red meet is, “Oh? You like your steaks well done?”

  6. John Thompson Avatar
    John Thompson

    happy PI day.

  7. emb Avatar
    emb

    Saturday is St. Urho’s Day.
    Somebody, maybe last year’s resident, nr the Great Spirit Bluff peregrine nestbox: https://explore.org/livecams/birds/falcon-nest-cam Somebody else please tell me how I can view the postings I missed while I was away. Peace,

    1. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
      curmudgeonly ex-professor

      Check your email. I sent the information and link.

  8. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

    Early this morning, I posted this on yesterday’s strip while it was still today’s strip:

    I like to think of pi as God’s number.

  9. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

    Jimmy:

    Was the ham a country ham? Salt cured and then smoked?

  10. Alan in Seattle Avatar
    Alan in Seattle

    pi is certainly fine, but its very best thing is in e^(i*pi)=-1

    I can just sit and smile, contemplating that

  11. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    One of the (many) things I miss about not still having my parents is the many trips we made to our home town in the fall of the year to visit relatives, enjoy seeing the autumn tree colors, and purchasing the salt-cured, smoked country ham we would have for our Christmas Day and New Year’s Day meals. My dad had a source of hams he claimed rivaled the ones his dad cured in the smokehouse on their family farm.

    Hint: Slices of real salt-cured ham should be soaked in water a while and rinsed prior to frying. Yeah, I know the hams can be baked or boiled, but then how you gonna make redeye gravy to go with your ham and eggs and homemade biscuits? (Hey, I never said it was health food. 🙂 )

    1. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
      Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

      I had forgotten about the redeye gravy! It was incredible.

      My mom also fried the country ham in a cast-iron skillet. Nothing better.

  12. Old Bear Avatar
    Old Bear

    I like Cheddar with my Pi (Apple of course)

    Mom cut the ham skin so it was 1″ squares (It looked like she measured)
    then put a Clove in the center of each square. Man that was good
    When the Ham came out of the oven we would chew on the fat & the crispy
    skin.

    St Urho’s Day Saturday.

    http://sainturho.com/origin.htm

  13. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    Heard around the house recently:

    J: Have you noticed that Girl Scout cookies don’t seem to taste nearly as good as they did years ago?

    G: Yes, I have. To paraphrase Wednesday Addams from the movie, perhaps they are no longer made from real Girl Scouts. Or, more likely, they’ve changed bakers…to the lowest bidder.

  14. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    Ghost, I think the Girl Scouts formerly used different bakers depending on what part of the country they were in. Now, they are most likely all made by the same baker. Probably one of the big name outfits.

  15. TruckerRon Avatar

    Mark, that’s nearly true. According to USA Today: “Girl Scout cookies are made by ABC Bakers in Richmond, Virginia and Little Brownie Bakers in Louisville, Kentucky.”

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/allthemoms/2019/02/15/girl-scout-cookies-find-buy-cost-online-ordering-why-cookies-are-different-by-location/2783565002/

  16. joedon Avatar
    joedon

    JJ – You must have had a big crowd for dinner – or now a lot of leftovers.