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Are you planning to serve ham for your celebratory Easter meal? Ham was always the classic choice at my house when I was growing up. But, honestly, I had no idea why. So to prepare for writing this blog, I did what we all do nowadays – I hit the internet for some quick, unscientific research.

I read that while Europeans often choose roast lamb for their Easter dinners, ham is traditional in much of the U.S. In earlier times, meat was slaughtered in the fall and since refrigeration wasn’t available, they cured what they couldn’t eat fresh. Curing takes a while and the first cured hams were ready around Easter — perfect for a celebratory meal! I also read that ham may be more traditional for Easter in the Southern U.S. because pork, in general, is more prevalent here. Regardless of why ham makes its way to your dinner table, we know you will be very pleased with the Wellshire Spiral Sliced Glazed Ham found exclusively at Whole Foods Market.  Wellshire’s pig farmers raise their animals to meet all of our high quality standards: no antibiotics — ever, no animal byproducts in feed, no gestation crates, sows provided freedom of movement in farrowing pens and bedding is required to satisfy their natural rooting instincts. Our standards set you up for a great product and Wellshire takes it further by using a recipe for preparing their ham that’s been in the family for a very long time. In fact, their spiral sliced ham was one of the very first products they shared with their customers. The ham is made without added nitrites or nitrates, artificial ingredients or preservatives. No water is added so it's full of flavor and each ham is slowly smoked and hand glazed. They are also available in either boneless or semi-boneless, so you get more meat for the value. Now that you have a great ham, make sure you don’t dry it out by overcooking! The Wellshire Spiral Sliced Glazed Ham is fully cooked already. You can serve it straight from the package; however if you prefer to warm your ham prior to serving, follow the basic instructions on the bag — heating for about 7-8 minutes per pound. If you are like me, you plan to have leftovers after preparing a big meal. Give yourself a bit of break the next day, right? Here are two delicious ways to serve up any leftover ham: Ham with Buttermilk Chive Biscuits and Lentil Soup with Smoky Ham. So, are you serving ham? What will you serve with it? Do you have any ideas about why ham became an Easter classic? Let me know.