Things were a little stressful last week. And one morning, when I had to run out of the house to drive the teen to a class and do some urgent errands with no time to grab breakfast, I started to have this thought.

What I need right now is some cinnamon toast.

It's funny what sticks with us as our personal choice for comfort food. As a kid, I probably only had cinnamon toast a couple of times. But I clearly remember how perfectly my mom's old scalloped spoon distributed the sugar and spice mixture.

At some point I seem to have acquired my mom's scalloped spoon (hope you weren't looking for it!), and when I'd finished the morning's running around, before I turned on my computer to check my email or do anything else to dive back into my crazy day, I took a few minutes and made myself some sweet, delicious cinnamon toast and hot, milky coffee.

If you've never had it, it's simple. Here's all you have to do:

1. In a toaster over (or actual oven, if you haven't got one), lightly toast some bread -- I prefer soft whole wheat to the all-white Wonder Bread of my youth.
2. Spread a thick, even layer of butter on the toast, letting it melt just a bit.
3. Mix up sugar and cinnamon in a 1:1 ratio -- any extra can be stored in an air-tight container and kept in the cabinet for emergencies.
4. Take a soup-sized spoon (scalloped, if you've got it), and shake a nice thick layer of the sugar/cinnamon mixture onto the buttery surface of the toast.
5. Pop back into the toaster for another couple minutes, until the sugar gets a nice crispy texture.

I've been told that putting the toast on a dish and pouring hot milk over it adds even more to the experience. I'll have to try it sometime.

What's comfort foods do you turn to when the day gets away from you?