kentucky natives.... tell the truth!!! (Lexington, Louisville: real estate, buy, costs)

[missymomof3]

I would never eat an uncooked ham. It is also wise to soak the ham in water for 24 hours before cooking to remove some of the salt. It is also a good idea to scrub it with a brush to remove some of the mold.

[Davart]

Originally Posted by lulabarbie

Its very true as far as people being very friendly when you go into the stores, and I'm NEVER in anybody's way even though I tend to not pay attention to where I'm walking at times....its just such a huge change of pace here.....
but speaking of country ham...its almost easter..and I have seen the hams hanging up and not refridgerated....I'm sure they're cured but do they need to be boiled before they bake?...I'd like to make one yet I'm nervous as to how to go about doing it....

It depends on if it's sugar cured or salt cured, salt cured you need to soak it about 2 days changing the water at least twice a day keep it cool and if it's summer add ice to the water. OH and first before soaking scrub off the mold ... MOLD! Don't be alarmed it normal and it aids the flavor. As Tom said there are a 1000 recipe for ham.
Even after soaking it will still be salty so slice it thin after cooking, to cook it place it in a turkey roaster and add enough Dr Pepper (Yes I said Dr Peeper) to go half way up the side of the ham (as long as it doesn't overflow the pan.) about a 2 liter bottle. You can add sweet pickle juice to this too, make a foil tent over the pan and cook at 400 (preheated) for 1/2 hour reduce to 325 and cook 1 1/2 hour, remove, turn over, tent and cook another 1 1/5 hour. It's about 15-20 minutes per pound and you can check the internal temp to see if it's 140 degrees and it's done.
Slice and serve ... you can also slice thick to cook for breakfast and place ham in skillet with 1/2" water and cook you can also use the water it was cooked in to make redeye gravy. But that's another recipe.

Sugar cured is cooked the same way just not much soaking is needed. Most ham's are salt cured.

[missymomof3]

If I remember right, the Whistle stop in Glendale puts red eye gravy on their hams prior to cooking and then serves it with, oh my goodness it is delicious!

[tomocox]

Hey Missy.... you have found some of Kentucky's finest! Red-eye or milk gravy and ham...... mmmmmmmmmmmm.... good! Especially with my favorites of homemade buscuits, and sliced home grown tomatoes.

[lulabarbie]

Wow...all this good southern food talk...I want to try it all..I've never had red eye gravy or the country ham or even collard greens, closest I got to southern was a hot brown sandwich and that was at the airport in Louisville!I'd love to impress family when they come down so I will try to attempt the impossible and learn...if not I'll see if I can find any good diners around to take them........but thanks for the tid-bits....I love the part about using tonic to bake the hams in...sounds like it would be just deliscious!

[Davart]

Originally Posted by lulabarbie

Wow...all this good southern food talk...I want to try it all..I've never had red eye gravy or the country ham or even collard greens, closest I got to southern was a hot brown sandwich and that was at the airport in Louisville!I'd love to impress family when they come down so I will try to attempt the impossible and learn...if not I'll see if I can find any good diners around to take them........but thanks for the tid-bits....I love the part about using tonic to bake the hams in...sounds like it would be just deliscious!

Remember with your collard greens, mustard greens etc. you need to put vinegar on them or they will taste a bit to bitter IMHO.

[missymomof3]

Originally Posted by tomocox

Hey Missy.... you have found some of Kentucky's finest! Red-eye or milk gravy and ham...... mmmmmmmmmmmm.... good! Especially with my favorites of homemade buscuits, and sliced home grown tomatoes.

Oh my, my mouth is watering! There's nothing finer!

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by mass_family

ok, so how true is it that the fine folks of kentucky dont really care for us yankees ( new englanders ) ?? my wife and i have been looking into getting out of new england for pretty much all the reasons your thinking and have mentioned on this forum. personally i cant stand most of the people or attitudes around here. we are from massachusetts, i am 29, she is 22 and we have a 6 month old daughter. i have been building houses for the last 10 yrs and love what i do. ive gotten alot out of reading all the posts but am still a bit confused. ive read both that the economy was good and bad. so, whats the construction industry look like there? i would LOVE to move to kentucky but if there isnt any work, then that wont happen. and theres also the part where the locals could just run us out of town lol we took a trip down to the london area and loved it.the people were great and extremely helpful. but made me wonder.... maybe they are just hopeing if they give good enough directions then maybe we WILL find our way out and not come back lol also had nice rolling hills, rivers, lakes, and trees. gotta have trees! i also saw something that made me say, yep, ill love it here. ATV's and dirtbikes!!! its something in my blood that i just gotta have. now ive been rambling but if you can pick out the few questions i managed to crunch in there somewhere id greatly appreciate it!!

There's a lot of houses being built around London all the time. I'm sure you could find work around here. Things are booming around here, despite the state of the nations economy.

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by censusdata

There is descent construction market in the London-Somerset area, has it is experiencing moderate population growth. It is still a lot less wealthy than Upstate KY (Lou, Lex, NKY), but then again the cost of living is a lot less. A 4 bedroom house down there might cost $40,000.

Uhh, $40,000?? Where on earth did you get that figure?? You will not find a 4 bedroom house here that cheap. That's just ridiculous. A nice, new 4 bedroom will more than likely cost quite a bit over $200,000. At least that's how much mine cost me, well over $200,000.

[censusdata]

Where I'm originally from (btw Somerset & Russell Springs) you can defiantly get a 4 bedroom house for that much. I have an uncle trying to sell a house w/ 2 acres and a barn for $50,000 and he can't find anyone to buy it.

A 4 bedroom house wouldn't cost $200,000 even in Lexington or Louisville. Around here $125,000 would be more like it.