Ham is good anytime, but if you're looking for a special recipe for your Easter dinner, give this one a try.

Ham

• 1/2 cup dried apricots
• 1/2 cup pitted prunes
• 1/4 cup seedless raisins
• 2 cups apple cider
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1 five-to-six pound boneless ham
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Crust

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 4 cups buttermilk biscuit mix
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 teaspoon dried mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg, slightly beaten

Raisin-Cumberland Sauce

• Pan juices from ham
• Cider or water
• 1/2 cup current jelly
• 1/4 cup seedless raisins
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons thin orange-skin slivers

Oven: 350/400 degrees

Combine apricots, prunes and raisins in a small saucepan. Add the apple cider and bring to a boil. Simmer five minutes, then let stand thirty minutes for the fruit to plump up and absorb the cider. Drain the fruits, reserving the juice.

Place the fruits on a chopping board and chop coarsely. Mix with the pecans, then pat evenly over the ham. Sprinkle ham with the cloves and ginger. Place the ham in a small, shallow baking pan. Add the reserved fruit juice, and cover loosely with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour and fifteen minutes, basting several times with the pan juice. Remove from the oven and cool slightly while making the crust. Reserve the pan juices.

In a large bowl, cut the shortening into the biscuit mix with a pastry blender. Add the sage, mustard, and parsley. Stir in the milk with a fork until the mixture is moist. Peel enough skin from a brightly-colored, thin-skinned orange to make 2 tablespoons when slivered. Add to the sauce, and serve with the ham.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead a few times. Roll out into a rectangle large enough to cover the ham completely, about 16x12 inches.

Place ham on one end of the rectangle and bring the other end up and over the ham. Trim off the excess pastry and reserve. Brush the edges with the slightly-beaten egg and seal the edges.

Carefully place the ham on a cookie sheet. Brush all over with beaten egg. Make a small cutout on top for steam to vent. Reroll the reserved trims and cut into leaf shapes. Arrange them around the steam vent, and brush with the egg.

Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Remove to a heated serving platter. Cut into quarter-inch-thick slices, preferably with an electric knife to help keep the crust intact. Serve with the sauce.

Raisin-Cumberland Sauce

Strain the pan juices into a one-cup measure. Add cider or water as necessary to make one cup. In a small saucepan, combine juices with the currant jelly and raisins. Heat to boiling.

Mix the two tablespoons of water with the cornstarch and add to the boiling sauce. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and is bubbly.