Southern MD Stuffed Ham

If you haven't had it, you really don't know what you are missing. Dad is the pro at making it and does so every Christmas. For several years now, I've wanted to send some to Annie & Steve (in Houston) because I remember her commenting about how much she loved it at our wedding. (Yes, it was a main course at the wedding reception.) I just couldn't figure out how to handle shipping it.

This year, Butch, Lacey & I are flying to Atlanta for Christmas. It would be my first Christmas without stuffed ham. That was enough to get me moving on how to ship it. (Yes, Annie, my own personal issues are what finally got my butt moving.)

Dad did the ham on Wednesday. The plan was to let it cool and to ship 2 boxes on Thursday via UPS. Well....due to the size of the ham and the weight of the ice packs, the cost was $117 to Houston and $101 to Atlanta. Um, no. We regrouped and repacked. I tried to send it through the post office via Express Mail (a.k.a., "sometimes overnight"). However, because both zip codes were too far from the airports, they couldn't guarantee an overnight delivery. So, I drove back to the UPS store and shipped a smaller package of it to Aunt Annie. It wasn't as much as we wanted to send, but it is a nice taste of it and didn't cost $117!!!

We'll be taking a cooler on the plane to Atlanta. We'll have to take the ice packs out and leave them in the car. Then, go through security. Then, get ice at a restaurant/fast food joint once inside security. Delta has assured me this will work fine. (Hopefully security doesn't hassle me.)

The package to Houston arrived safely today and (thankfully) was cold upon arrival, so it should be FINE. Whew.