Perhaps you’ve heard of the mystery of the docked ham. It’s the story of a young girl who couldn’t understand why her mother cut off both ends of a ham before putting it in the oven. Her mother couldn’t explain why she did it, but insisted that since her mother had done it that way, it must be the way it was done.

Well that didn’t satisfy the daughter, so she went to Grandma to find out. But her grandmother had the same rationale. The truth had to rest with the great-grandmother. Fortunately, the originator of the tradition was still living and alert. Her reason? When she was cooking for her family, she didn’t have a pan big enough for most hams. Her remedy was to dock the ends of the ham until it was short enough to fit!

So the mystery of the abbreviated ham was solved. Will the young girl get a bigger pan or follow the tradition? What would you do?

Tags: Change, tradition