I hope this summer finds you well and happy. It is hard to believe that the year is half way over. Where does the time go?

I recently attended a conference in Washington DC and heard a story that I would like to share. A husband is watching his wife prepare a roast for Sunday dinner. He noticed that every time his wife cooked a Sunday roast, she had a specific order in which she did things. She would season and seare the roast on all sides in a frying pan. Then she put a layer of gravy at the bottom of the roasting pan. Next, she laid the potatoes all facing the same direction and seasoned the tops of them. The roast was placed on top of the potatoes and carrots and onions were stacked around it. She would then pour more gravy on top until it was about an inch from the top of the pan. Her final step would be to cut a strip off the top of the roast about the size of a dollar bill and throw it in the trash. The lid was then placed on top of the pan and the roast was cooked for the desired time.

Now, the husband was curious about this ritual--especially why at the very end she would cut off the strip on the top and throw it away. He asked his wife and her reply was “I am really not sure; but, I think it is to let the juices rise to the top and make the meat more tendered. I am not sure though. This is just how my mom taught me to do it.” The explanation sounded good to him and he didn’t think much of it until the next week when he ate at his mother in-law’s home for Sunday dinner.

As he sat there visiting, he was quite surprised to see the exact same steps were followed as he watched the roast being prepared. It even tasted the same as the roast he had eaten just a week before. At dinner he asked the same question to his mother-in-law. “Why do you cut the strip off the top of the roast right before you put the lid on and put it in the oven and throw it away?” “I’m not sure. I was just taught to do it that way by my mother. I think it is so the meat cooks better,” she replied. The husband’s curiosity couldn’t take it any longer, so he picked up his phone and called his wife’s grandmother. He asked her about the ritual that she had passed down. Why do you cut the sliver of meat off the top of the roast before it goes into the oven?” “I used to do it that way for years but I don’t do it anymore.” Was the grandmother’s reply. “WHY” asked the husband. “Because I broke my old pot and bought a bigger one. Now my roast fits in it just fine.”

I share this story because it made me think about what traditions I am teaching my three young children. When you really think about it, what we do today has a lasting effect on not just us, but on the people we have contact with each and every day. Whether it is traditions and habits of brushing teeth, praying, giving service, saving money, working hard or whatever it may be. These habit or traditions are passed on—good & bad. I hope to do a better job of encouraging the people I associate myself with to have more good habits and traditions to pass on--particularly my kids. I am grateful to have had so many people help me make some of the traditions I now use in my life today.

I hope your summer is going well. Please let me know if there is anything I can ever do for you. I am never too busy to answer a question or to help one of your referrals. Wishing you the very best as always.

 Love,

Kenny Parcell