Grandma and the Egg in a Cup

First, what's Egg in a Cup? Well, it's a softboiled egg placed in either in a special egg holder or you can use a shot glass--each  holds the egg upright so you can cut the tip off and dip your toast that was sliced into strips right into the yolk.  Grandma made a big production of choosing the egg, using only the same special little pot for the egg, and using her timer to make sure we didn't overcook it. A veritable cooking event to make sure it came out right. And then of course you had to time the toast properly so it was done at the same time as the egg. She cut the toast in perfectly sized strips that to this day I still can't seem to do as well as she did. And then you had to dip it just right so that all strips of toast had some yolk in which to dip them.

And it was the Meal of Salvation. Like so many small children, I was ultra picky and soon learned that if my Mom was making something I didn't like for dinner, which was pretty often, I'd skip (literally skip) over to Grandma's to ask if I could eat at her house and could I have Egg in a Cup. I don't know if that was her name (not so unique) but I didn't know it was also called a softboiled egg until I later worked in a restaurant.  Sure enough Grandma would say yes, and I'd be using their brand new touchtone phone to call home to ask my Mom if I could eat at Grandma's. Well, it didn't take long for them to catch on, because after a while I was asking to eat there 3-4 days a week. And who wouldn't? You ate what you wanted and also got dessert AND watched TV during the meal. You were with two people who thought everything you said was wonderful, and let you eat the cherry from their Manhattan.

Eventually my alternative dinner location was narrowed down to meatloaf nights (I still don't like it) and a few other disgusting menu items. Of course they weren't disgusting but when pretty much all you like is eggs, cheese, fruit and bread, most other things are disgusting.

And yes, my children have had many an "Egg in a Cup" during their young lives and I bet their children will, too.  Thanks, Grandma.