Please Help

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

For Christmas Eve Dinner, I am making a ham, au gratin potatoes, roasted asparagus and cornbread. Unfortunately, I only have one oven. The temp for the ham is about 250 (I think) and the temp for the rest of the meal is at 350.

My sister suggested putting the ham in a crockpot since it is already cooked and I

[missy'smom]

For Christmas Eve Dinner, I am making a ham, au gratin potatoes, roasted asparagus and cornbread. Unfortunately, I only have one oven. The temp for the ham is about 250 (I think) and the temp for the rest of the meal is at 350.

My sister suggested putting the ham in a crockpot since it is already cooked and I

[RiceGuy]

The crock pot idea sounds like it'd work fine, although I've never used one, so I can't advise you about adding liquid. Perhaps cook it in the oven first, then use the crock pot to keep it warm while everything else bakes.

Perhaps another option might be to start everything else, then pop the ham in for the last x number of minutes, keeping the temp at 350. If you have a roaster w/cover, maybe put it in that so it'll have a buffer from the higher temp. Foil would work too. Covering it would allow it to stay in longer without drying out or getting overdone.

Not that it'd solve the entire problem, but if you have a microwave oven, you could heat and/or cook the potatoes in there, as long as you also have a glass/Corningware/stoneware baking dish of proper size.

[mbrookes]

I'm for doing the ham frst. Ham is generally served at room temperature, not piping hot, so that will give the juices time to resetle in the meat before slicing.

[Cathey]

Sounds like a delicious meal. I've had the same problem for years with one oven. Start by making a list of all oven meals, temperature and cooking time. I make the meat first, remove and let rest covered (good spot to rest is on the stove or away from a window draft). Re-position the oven racks and set new temperature. Then you can start adding the new dishes as needed.

I normally put the roasted vegetable pans on the bottom, just think they brown nicely. Also an extra help is a toaster or convection oven. If you use small enough dishes you can use that as an extra oven. Enjoy your Holidays.

My challenge this year is to make Yorkshire pudding with gluten-free flour instead of Pillsbury biscuits. Wish me luck.

Cathey

[love2travel]

It would also help having your glaze for your ham kept hot. I agree that ham is best served warm, anyway, as are many things.

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

Thanks so much for the replies! I think I will do the ham first and then the potatoes and asparagus at the same time. The potatoes will only take 30 minutes so I will cover the ham as suggested and everything will hopefully turn out great.

Cathey mentioned a convection oven. My microwave, as well as my oven, has this feature but I have never used it that way. (Embarrassing, I know!) I'll have to experiment after Christmas to see how it works. I didn't even think of it until a convection oven was mentioned.

Thanks again. I'm feeling a lot less panicky now.

Cathey, good luck on your pudding.

[fantasticalice]

If you have a big enough crock pot, I've used one before and it was better than delish! I smothered it wth brown sugar & pineapple, a cup of white wine. My family still talks about the "drunk pig"!