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Joyce Gemperlein in the Philadelphia Inquirer provides fine advice for buying and cooking ham. She says the most important thing is to do your hamwork. Here's a cheat sheet (or at least the hamlights):

• Get good hamferences: Buy your ham from a butcher you or someone you trust has dealt with
• Buy bone-in ham: The bone marrow suffuses the meat with big-time flavor
• Buy a shank-end ham: It's easier to carve and has sweeter meat