Out of the Mouths of Geriatrics: Burnt Toast

 I'm still learning all the little intricacies of my new home. During my second week, I re-learned how to make coffee. I used to make it as a teenager on a regular basis. However, since my teen-aged days are 22 years in the past, I will confess to forgetting how to accomplish that particular house-making skill. Additionally, I've learned the patience required in filling the pillbox of a person suffering from numerous afflictions. And, I've also re-learned how to use several appliances.

Yesterday, I learned the toaster. I know, I know--the toaster is easy, yeah? Well, it turns out--on this toaster--that the dial cannot be turned higher than a two or the toast will burn. This fact is ESPECIALLY true if you've toasted more than one piece of toast in succession. Usually, I make sure that Guy and Gal have their food and medicines before I sit down to eat. As this is the case, it happened that yesterday my toast happened to be the last one popped into the toaster. It was the third piece--in a row. Needless to say, one side of my piece was severely burnt.
I didn't really want to waste the piece of bread because it is not only really delicious, but also really expensive bread. Those of y'all who know me won't be surprised to learn that I was going through this "shall I or shan't I" discussion with myself out loud. So, Ginevra--the eldest of Gal's three kids--immediately instructed me not to throw the bread away, but--instead--to take a knife and scrape the burnt part off the toast. I tried it. It worked really well. Seriously, Ginevra should know! This burnt toast dealio with the knife has been part of Oak Street's Standard Operating Procedure for quite a while.
Seems that when Ginevra was a youngun', she was eating breakfast at a friend's house after a sleepover. When her friend's momma presented them with the toast portion of their breakfast, Ginevra became very upset.
"That isn't the right way to make it!" she exclaimed vehemently. The friend's momma, uncertain as to how she might have fouled it up, asked Ginevra to explain.
"Well," said Ginevra in a didactic manner, "that just isn't the right way to do it! My momma takes it out of the toaster and scrapes the black stuff off of the side!!"