Kids Cuisine

Maybe it’s because my mom worked full-time for most of my childhood. Or maybe it’s because she wasn’t interested in cooking. Whatever the reason, I didn’t emerge from childhood with any memorable kitchen traditions to pass on to my kids.

But that’s where Barbara came in. A longtime family friend who much later on became my stepmother. “Grandma” Barb (I called her Babs) became a foodie in her 30s and, with her  stacks of cookbooks and spirit of adventure, had a tradition for every occasion.

No sooner were my kids old enough to toddle into the kitchen and make a request than she was ready for them. A specialty of the house: Princess Toast.

Her mother made it for her, or so the story goes. She made it for her own children, and for her grandchildren. My kids came to expect it whenever we were over. But they had to say please.

Here’s how you make it:

Toast bread. Spread with butter. Then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top. Cut into alluring triangle shapes and serve on a little plate with a milk accompaniment.

In 2004 Grandma Barb passed away unexpectedly. Her daughter wasn’t interested much in cooking, so I took it upon myself to rescue her pots and pans, and all of her 100 cookbooks. I took home a grocery store’s worth of spices (she used to sell Watkins), including her box of cinnamon.

Imagine my delight when about a year later, my daughter picked Princess Toast as her recipe for her Brownie Girl Scout troop’s cookbook.

Guess now we’ve got ourselves a kitchen tradition.