Tag: Father’s Day

Food for Father – Summer Solstice 2026

Salad plate
Beef ribs, Yuca, and Corn on the Cob

Before this weekend I had not used my Big Green Egg outdoor cooker in 2026. I have been too busy cleaning and organizing inside and outside, trying to make this summer as enjoyable as possible.

The duo of Father’s Day and Summer Solstice occurring on the same day seemed like the perfect time to start my outdoor cooking adventures.

At Food Lion the other day I was looking for some type of beef to cook. I was amazed to see Beef Ribs! The meat department worker was right there putting out meat, and I exclaimed to him, “I can’t believe you have beef ribs. I have never been able to find them before now. I remember my parents preferring to cook beef ribs instead of pork ribs.” The meat department worker responded, “we occasionally get 1 or 2 boxes of them. I put out 6 packages this morning and now we are down to 2. Sometimes one person will see them and buy all of them. Next time you shop here, if you don’t see any, ask the butcher to look in back.”

I decided to also pick up 3 yuca roots (also known as cassava or manioc.) My mother used to make it frequently since her husband was from Paraguay. She would boil it. I have never made it until this weekend. Peeling it and cutting it up is a chore. Then I just covered it with water and boiled it, and drained it. It turned out just like my mother’s. I chose yuca over potatoes or bread because the glycemic index for it is very low, and as a matter of fact, all this food has a fairly low glycemic index. My husband was diagnosed with adult onset diabetes several years ago. He has been very good about eating the right food ever since then. He thought the beef ribs were a little too fatty. I loved them! They were slow cooked at low heat, so the meat was very tender. I used a dry rub for seasoning.

Happy Father’s Day and celebrate summer!

A Surprise Connection Between an Old Slide and My Father’s Name

This is a scan of one of my father’s slide. There was no information with the slide.
This picture was in a slide format found in my father's collection. It was a mystery since it was not labeled.
There were no other slides that seemed related to it. I did not know the location nor the year it was taken. It was mixed in with other old slides. I scanned the slide since the beauty of the location captivated me.

About a month ago I was surprised to see a picture on a co-worker's laptop that looked very similar to this one.
I asked her about it, and she told me that the wallpaper on her laptop changes periodically. I asked her if she knew the location. She said she thought it was Scotland. This information was enough for me to do a search.

As it turns out, there is a Dunnottar Castle located on Scotland's north eastern coast near Stonehaven. The castle is in ruins like the one in my father's picture. I wondered why my father had taken this picture. As it turns out, my father's name, William Keith, is very prominent in this castle's history. The castle is on land that the clan of Keith owned for centuries. Sir William Keith, the 1st Earl Marischal, began constructing this castle at the end of the 14th century.

Keith is the surname of the family that owned this land. Keith is my father's middle name, not his surname, though  Keith is what everyone called my father. My father's surname still has a connection to this castle because of the coat of arms of the Earl Marischal.