Poached Egg on Toast

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On days when I would spend the night at my grandmother's house, I could always count on this being my breakfast the following morning. Dot had a knack for knowing what we'd want. She could make a mean poached egg. It sounds so simple, and maybe it is. However, the poached egg on toast remains a food I lovingly associate with my late-grandmother. She got a lot of pleasure out of preparing this breakfast for her grandchildren. In retrospect, something tells me that she delighted in making this for my grandfather, Victor, who many years earlier had passed away. I think that Dot felt good about making poached eggs on toast because it enabled her to think of Victor. Dot's routine with us was to poach the egg in a special piece of poaching cookware. After toasting some bread, she would place the hot poached egg on the toast and lay it before us. As if on cue, and as if knowing the answer already, she would ask, "Do you want me to cut the egg for you?" She would then take a small knife and cut the egg and toast into four parts, making it easy to eat. How delicious!

In a 1980s interview I did with Dot, she described her morning routine:

5 AM wake up, get the paper, make my coffee and some toast
6 AM walk 2 1/2 miles (w/ Stacia)