The Best Ham Glaze Ever and Calphalon Cookware from Costco

A couple of years ago I discovered this fabulous ham glaze recipe with apple cider and bourbon from Sunny at the Food Network. It combines some great fruit and sweet flavors with a bit of bourbon to give it some flare. (Don't worry, the alcohol all cooks out.)   I make a triple size batch of it using Kerrygold butter from Costco.

Another great ingredient in this glaze is a good bourbon.  Per my brother John's recommendation, I use Maker's Mark.  Costco definitely has a great price on this fine bourbon.

As I said I make a triple batch of it.  We serve some on top of the ham but it has other uses. For example it is great on vanilla ice cream, apple pie or apple pie with vanilla ice cream!  There are probably other great ways to serve this wonderful glaze but there are certainly already plenty of good reasons for us to make a big batch of it.

There has been one problem with making a big batch and that is that our saucepan was only 2 1/2 quarts and that was a bit on the small size for making a triple sized batch.  Given that situation,  I started looking for a 3 1/2 quart saucepan.

I found some nice Calphalon pans in the $60-80 range online and then I thought to check out Costco since they sometimes carry some individual pans.  They didn't have any single pans like that but the following 12 piece set caught my eye:

The set includes the following:

• 8” Fry Pan
• 10” Fry Pan
• 2.5 Qt. Sauce Pan with Lid
• 3.5 Qt. Sauce Pan with Lid
• 4.5 Qt. Sauce Pan
• 3 Qt. Saute Pan with Lid
• 5 Qt. Dutch Oven with Lid
• 6 Qt. Stock Pot

While we have some nice cookware, this immediately caught our eye since we do have a few random pieces and not a complete set. Also, we noticed how incredibly compact the set is for this much cookware.  And the stacking is very secure due to a thoughtful design of the handles and the pans themselves as seen below.

And finally, the set was on sale for only $300!  Needless to say most of our old cookware is history and we now have this wonderful set that should last us the rest of our lives.

Costco is bigger than ever in our kitchen.  Not only do they give us top quality ingredients at a great prices but we have some outstanding cookware that will be with us for decades.

Chicken and Cilantro Mini Wonton Soup with Vegetables

Yes, it has been a long time but with being furloughed during the Covid19 pandemic I felt it time to reconnect.   I am starting out with a lovely, heartwarming soup that I have made a few times.  It uses the wonderful Bibigo mini wontons, some veggies, homemade stock and what ever seasoning you prefer.

I start out with your basic vegetable mix of onions, carrots and celery. I typically add some fresh garlic and sometimes some crushed red pepper.

 Then I add some of lovely wife's homemade chicken stock and bring it to a simmer. While we use homemade stock you certainly can used purchase stock or broth. However, homemade stock really takes any good soup and makes it into a great one.

Now the Bibigo mini wontons come in a resealable 3 pound bag as seen below.

 Here is a shot of them out of the bag.

I then add the wontons and simmer until they are cooked. I often season the soup with parsley flakes and the wonderful Malabar Pepper from Costco. But it really depends on your mood and you can shake it up however you like.

This  soup is easy, tasty and comforting.  This soup is always a good one to make but in these trying times its simplicity and wholesome really make it stand out.  I know we will continue to keep this a regular in our household.  

Enjoy and be safe and well!