Dr. Pepper Crock Pot Ham

We spent this Thanksgiving with my husband's family, so my mom came to visit the weekend before to get her grandbaby time in.  I wanted to make a Thanksgiving-like meal.  Something significant and tasty, but not turkey and stuffing.

I love ham.  I love Dr. Pepper.  I love smelling lovely things cooking all day in the slow cooker.  When I went to the store, ham and Dr. Pepper were both on sale!  I did a search for Dr. Pepper ham and it turns out lots of people have tried this combination.  What I did is below.  It turned out a fantastic, juicy treat - one of the best hams I've made!

For sides, I combed through my November Food Network Magazine.  I chose Celery Root, Potato, and Pear Gratin; Pumpkin-Parmesan Biscuits; and Roasted Green Beans With Pancetta and Yogurt.  If you haven't tried celery root, you should - it's lovely.  The gratin was tasty, but a little time-consuming to make.  Next time, I think I'll just roast the celery root.  The biscuits were amazing, and I will definitely make them again.  I can never find pancetta, so I used turkey bacon in the green beans.  The yogurt sauce was nice.

Dr. Pepper Crock Pot Ham

1 shank ham, whatever size fits in your slow cooker (mine was about 7 pounds)
1/2 - 1 cup brown sugar
1 8 oz. can pineapple, chunks or tidbits
1 - 2 cans of Dr. Pepper or other dark cola

Trim some of the fat off the ham and cut into pieces so that it will fit in your slow cooker, if needed.  Put the ham, flat side down, in the slow cooker.  Rub brown sugar all over the ham.  Pour the can of pineapple, juice included, over the top.  Pour the Dr. Pepper over the top and around the sides.  I like to have the crock pot at least half-full of liquid, or else things tend to burn, so I used about 1 and a half cans.  Cover the slow cooker (with the lid if it'll fit, with a couple layers of foil if not), and cook on high 4-5 hours or on low 6-8 hours.

I forgot to take a picture, so it'll have to wait until I make this ham again.