Stromboli Ring — The Kind of Thing You Bring When the Whole Family Shows Up

Morels Tuesday. Found a flush near the old oak. Worked at the construction company in Lexington this week. The body holds. Most days.

Connie at the vet clinic, four shifts this week. Her back is tired. She does not say so. I see it. Mama is 86. She is the toughest person I have ever known. She still cooks every day in the company house in Evarts.

Baked ham with brown sugar glaze. The standard for any gathering.

Travis called Tuesday. The landscaping company is busy. He sounds tired in a good way. Amber called Sunday. Things are good. James sends his regards.

I went to bed at nine. The wood stove still warm. The dog at the foot of the bed.

I checked the truck oil Saturday. The mileage on this truck is criminal.

Read the paper at breakfast Tuesday. The county news is not great. The mines have not come back and they will not come back. The young people leave. The hollows empty. We stay.

I split a half-cord of wood Saturday. Slowly. The back does not let me work fast anymore. It got done. The wood was for the smokehouse.

Travis sent a photo of Earl Thomas riding on the mower with him at a job site. The boy is wearing a Hensley Landscaping T-shirt that's too big. Three generations on a mower. I saved the photo.

Worked on a basement remodel job in Lexington. The work was good. The pay was good. The body is tired.

I sat at the kitchen table Tuesday night working on the recipe project. Mama's soup beans. I cannot get the words right yet.

Amber sent the kids' school photos this week. Nadia is taller every year. Marcus has Amber's serious face. Little Betty has Mama's eyes.

I sat on the porch with bourbon at sundown Friday. The fog rolled into the hollow the way it has every fog of every year. The porch was the porch. The bourbon was the bourbon.

Connie cut my hair on the porch Tuesday afternoon. She has been cutting my hair for forty years. The barber in Pineville cannot do what Connie does, which is also love.

The dog — old Beau, fifteen years old — slept by the wood stove all afternoon Tuesday. He used to be a hunting dog. Now he is a heating pad with opinions.

I went up to Earl's grave at the Evarts cemetery Saturday. Brought a beer. Drank half. Poured the rest on the dirt. Some traditions are mine alone.

Drove to Pineville for parts Wednesday. The hardware store man knew me. We talked about the weather and the price of feed. Forty minutes for a five-minute errand. That is rural Kentucky.

Sunday service at Harlan First Baptist when we go. Pastor preached about Ruth and Boaz. The choir sang. Connie wore her gray dress.

The creek was running clear Sunday afternoon. I watched a kingfisher work the riffle. Did not move for an hour. Some Sundays the watching is the worship.

The neighbor up the road — Old Roy, eighty-seven, lives alone — had a small heart scare. We took him soup beans Tuesday. Cornbread too. He cried a little when he ate. We all cry over soup beans eventually.

Drove the truck to the dump Saturday afternoon. Saw three deer crossing the road on the way back. The mountains have been giving back this year.

Connie read aloud from a novel Tuesday evening while I worked on the bench. Some Appalachian writer she had picked up at the library in Whitesburg. The voice was the voice of where we live. We listened together.

Mama’s baked ham has always been the standard — the dish that signals a real gathering, the one that says everybody is supposed to be here. I can’t always pull off the full ham on a Tuesday night after a week of construction work and a body that’s ready to quit by eight, but this Stromboli Ring scratches the same itch: it’s warm, it’s built around ham, and it feeds a table without complaint. Connie likes it because it’s done in under an hour. I like it because slicing into that ring at the table feels like an occasion, even when the occasion is just us.

Stromboli Ring

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 28 min | Total Time: 48 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 2 tubes (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent roll dough
• 1/2 lb deli ham, thinly sliced
• 1/4 lb Genoa salami, thinly sliced
• 1/4 lb pepperoni, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup roasted red bell peppers, drained and patted dry
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds or everything bagel seasoning (optional)
• Marinara sauce, for dipping

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place a small oven-safe bowl or ramekin in the center to use as a guide for shaping the ring.
2. Arrange the dough. Separate both cans of crescent dough into triangles. Arrange the triangles in a spoke pattern around the bowl, with the wide ends overlapping near the bowl and the pointed ends extending outward like rays of a sun. Press the overlapping wide ends together to seal the base of the ring.
3. Layer the fillings. Working around the ring on the wide dough base, layer the ham, salami, and pepperoni evenly. Top with roasted red peppers, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Sprinkle Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes over the cheese.
4. Fold and seal. Remove the center bowl. Fold the pointed tips of the dough triangles up and over the filling, tucking each tip under the wide base on the inside of the ring. Press gently to seal. The filling will be mostly enclosed but some exposure on top is fine.
5. Apply egg wash. Brush the entire surface of the dough with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or everything bagel seasoning if using.
6. Bake. Bake on the center rack for 25–28 minutes, until the dough is deep golden brown and cooked through. Tent loosely with foil after 20 minutes if browning too fast.
7. Rest and serve. Let the ring rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve warm with marinara sauce on the side for dipping.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 390 | Protein: 18g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 30g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 980mg