This is part of the invitation to our final summer achtertuin get together.

A good way to spent some time together, get some more recipes from our friends and celebrate my birthday!

Betsy 2 is the second attempt on a home dried ham.

My first attempt was a disaster, a salty bite. the dogs didn't even want to eat it.

Lets hope this one is better.

The making of a ' Parma ham'

Buy the largest leg of pork that you can and carefully trim away any small tags of meat, leaving the exposed flesh as tidy as possible. Put it in a tray on a bed of coarse salt and cover it completely in salt, taking care to work salt into any crevice, especially around the hip bone and the shank end. Leave it in salt for as many days as it weighs in pounds - twenty days for a twenty pound leg. Check it every couple of days and replace any salt that the pickle washes away, concentrating on the hip bone and shank. These are the two areas where rot can set in; salt stops it from happening.

When the time is up wash off the salt and dry the ham carefully. No harm in replacing a little salt around the hip and shank. Hang it up in a cool place and wait a year, two is even better. Try to avoid a draughty place as it will make your ham rock-hard in just a couple a months. Check it from time to time; it should be always dry and sweet smelling. Any sign of mould or weeping must be treated at once with more salt. If all is well after a month or two then you've won; you're on the way to a Parma ham. At this stage you can pretty it up by rubbing olive oil onto the skin which will give it a lovely golden colour. Rub the exposed meat with olive oil and sprinkle chilli powder over it, working it into any cracks until you have a smooth covering. Apart from making it look nicer and adding a little flavour, it stops the interest of flies during the summer.