Ham Balls (really - give this a shot)

All those people raving about their Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes and other such nonsense need to come around to the totally retro Ham Ball.  Don Draper would be a happy man to come across these at a cocktail party.  Your family will be thrilled to have these for Sunday dinner.  It is a bit of work so it's not an every day option but, when you get down to it, it's candied meat... and that should be a little extra work and you definitely should NOT eat this every day.  That being said - WOW.  It's just so good.

This recipe is courtesy of my dear friend, Renee Doba.

1 Pound Ham - Hormel, nothing fancy but get the nice, lean stuff.  This needs to be ground - I'll explain later
2 Pounds Ground Pork
1 Cup cracker crumbs (Club Crackers is the norm but I think Ritz would be fine - as long as it's a sweet/buttery cracker)
1 Cup milk
2 eggs - beaten

Glaze:
2 Cups  Brown Sugar
1 Cup White Vinegar
2 tsp Dry Mustard

You won't find ground ham in your grocery store and my butcher gave me some bogus song & dance about eColi and the Feds saying he can only grind beef.  If you can get them to do it, super.  If not, use a home meat grinder (Haha -- if you have one, you're WAY cooler than me!) or just mince it and then put it into your food processor (in small batches) and grind it into tiny bits.  Don't go so far that it's pasty.  Just to where it's kind of "fluffy" but holds together when you pinch it.

In the same food processor (no need to clean it, it's all going together anyway) grind up your crackers into crumbs.  (Oddly, this step also makes it WAY easier to clean your food processor.  You're welcome.)

In a large bowl, mix your meats with the cracker crumbs. 
In a big liquid measuring cup, meaure in your milk then add the eggs and beat the whole thing together.  Pour into your ham mixture and work it all together.  The mix will be VERY soft.  That's okay.

COOKING UTENSILS:
If you have a wire rack that you can rest over a rimmed baking sheet, that's best.  Spray EVERYTHING with cooking spray.   I lined the pan with foil as well (Reynolds makes non-stick foil and it is nothing short of a miracle).   Roll the ham into golf ball sized balls and space evenly on the wire rack.  Give them a bit of space but not too much because they'll shrink.

Bake at 350 for 60 to 90 minutes (depends on how much they cool down when you do your basting). 
Here's the thing though - you're going to baste these little beauties EVERY 15 MINUTES!  Don't skip it - it's what makes them amazing. 

I took them out after the first 15 minutes for their first baste and they'd firmed up enough that I flipped them over.  Turns out that they'd actually gotten a bit flat on the bottoms so when I flipped them they had a nice way of holding onto the glaze.  SO --- give that a try.

Baste every 15 minutes until they smell divine and are at about 170 degrees internally.  Serve with mashed potatoes and green beans. 

These are SO good.  Really.