It is told that the cook at St. Inigoes, a negro slave, wanted to serve something appetizing and pleasant to the Jesuit Fathers after their long and stringent fasting. She used what was available; a country cured ham, fresh greens from the gardens and fields, spiced with condiments from the kitchen and plenty of home grown hot red pepper, which had been ground with a mortar and pestle.

It is known that the emigrants from St. Mary's to Kentucky in the late seventeen hundreds carried the custom with them and their descendants still have stuffed ham on Easter Sunday.

Today an old country ham is too valuable to stuff so a corned ham is usually used.

1 (14 lb.) corned ham
2 med. heads cabbage
4 lbs. kale
2 lbs. onions
1 bunch celery
1 (2 2/3 oz.) box mustard seed
1 (1 3/4 oz.) box celery seed
5 level tbsp. salt
6 tsp. red pepper flakes (less if you don't like it hot)

Chop onions and greens; mix seasonings with greens. Pierce ham, starting with butt end, with 2" pockets on a 45 degree angle from top to bottom. Alternate 3 pockets, then 2 pockets, etc. to hock end, making sure slits are not parallel. Press seasoned stuffing into slits with thumbs until slits will hold no more.

Put ham in a cloth bag or old pillow case; add all leftover stuffing, tie. Put ham into a large pot and simmer or boil slowly for 20 minutes to the pound. If a cooked ham is used, reduce cooking time by 1 hour. Turn heat off and let ham sit in it's own liquid and cool enough to handle (about 2 hours). Take ham bag out and set in a pan to drain. Remove ham from bag and place on a large platter. Take excess stuffing from bag and pack on top of ham. Place in refrigerator overnight. Serve cold.

Oven Method: Place ham in several layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. Wrap very tightly around ham. Cook 20 minutes per pound in 325 degree oven. Allow to cool in foil. Serve cold.