We visited my grandmother and aunt in southwest Detroit virtually every weekend. We children played and got into trouble while the ladies sat in the kitchen for hours gossiping and snacking on a babka.
It was at my grandmother’s house where my aunt first introduced me to peanut butter toast. I had had cinnamon-sugar toast, of course, and plain buttered toast, but never had I experienced the delight of melting gooey peanut butter on toast. It was an degustatorily epiphanic moment in my life. I felt reborn and needed to share my excitement with others.
When we returned home, I went up the street and met Lorrie and Brenda, the Lawson twins. I happily shared with them the good news: peanut butter toast! So delicious! Neither had experienced the divine pleasure of this magnificent concoction and wondered about the recipe. Does one apply the peanut butter to the bread before it is toasted, or after? I admitted that I didn’t know for sure. But it would make sense to apply the peanut butter to the bread before toasting. That way, the toaster would melt the peanut butter into perfection onto the bread.
The following weekend while at my grandmother’s house, I asked my aunt about the steps in preparing this delight. “Does one apply the peanut butter to the bread before it is toasted, or after?” I asked.
“Oh, after toasting, of course,” she said with a laugh. “Imagine the mess the peanut butter would make if it melted in the toaster!”
This was very important information that I needed to share.
When we returned home, I ran to Lorrie and Brenda’s house to explain the proper steps and to warn them of the possible danger of reversing them. Alas, it was too late. The angry look on their faces made it clear they were not delighted with this belated clarification. They had already attempted to make peanut butter toast. Indeed, the peanut butter had melted onto the toaster coils and then onto the crumb tray below, creating a vast amount of smoke in the house and a very dirty toaster. And that day, Mrs. Lawson was very, very disappointed in her children.