Help me get my dinner cooking times organized for tonight, please!

[monster2]

I have just one oven, I do have a toaster-oven-microwave that could "hold" a dish or heat a dish it just can't go very high.  I am cooking a ham, spaghetti squash au gratin, steamed broccoli and pop overs.  I think I should put the ham in first and get it hot, then turn the oven way up for the popovers, when the oven is hot I can take out the ham and cover it, put in the popovers, and when I turn down the oven for the popovers put the squash in for the last 20 min, (it's already cooked, just the cheese needs to melt and I want it hot)  Or should I cook the squash in the toaster-oven-microwave ?  I am wondering if I should just skip the popovers and do frozen rolls or something instead, it's the high oven temp that is throwing my stuff off, everything else is not that temp sensitive.  I know, I am really overthinking this but what say you guys?

[nadra24]

How long do the popovers have to cook?  I'd do those last, because the ham and the squash will retain heat better than bread or rolls do.  I'm a sucker for hot bread products and I'm less picky about how piping hot my food is, so there's that.

[monster2]

technically the popovers need about 40 min, will the ham hold that long?

[nadra24]

I think so.  Usually you want to let meat rest before you cut it, so it's normal for a roast or a turkey to come out that early.  I don't think ham needs to rest, but it should retain the heat just fine.  I'd cover it in foil and stick it in the microwave (just to keep it warm, not to heat it further!) until you're ready to slice it. 

The thing that's hardest about popovers is that you can't really open the oven to put something else in for the last 10 minutes so they're both hot.

[crazypants]

Try doing the ham - then doing the popovers. Then complete the ham with a 5-10 minute broil just to heat it up and make sure it's piping hot.
If you think it will toughen the ham, par cook it to 90%, do the pop overs, then do the remaining 10%.
It'll be fine.

[Run Amok]

I would do everything except the popovers and then serve dinner when the popovers are done. They need to be eaten right away, so kind of tricky regardless. The other stuff will be fine, just not piping hot. I would spend that time getting everything ready to hit the table as soon as the popovers are out.

[diablita]

I would do everything except the popovers and then serve dinner when the popovers are done. They need to be eaten right away, so kind of tricky regardless. The other stuff will be fine, just not piping hot. I would spend that time getting everything ready to hit the table as soon as the popovers are out.

1!

[crazypants]

Monster, do you have a lot of experience with par cooking food?

That could be the plan here.

[cgraz]

I would do the ham in my crockpot to free up the oven. I've done that for Christmas brunches before and it worked great,  if you have a big crockpot.

But I think my comment is too late if this was for last night's dinner. How'd it work out?