VT I misread your post (sleepy eyes), the first time, so when I make them they'll be not only tiny nicks but tiny dogs, so I'll have to call them puppydog tails and snails (shrimp).

Mary, that does bring back memories! Boston, lots of lovely walking, lots of nearby lovelies, and the hotplate. No fridge. Tiny bathroom-type sink. Hotplate atop metal cabinet. I was so poor (and young) that what I mostly made was oatmeal, and every sandwich I took to work was PB&J.

Oatmeal in a thousand varieties. Any other cash I had went to savings, except for twice a week luxuries-- two favorite restaurants (cheap) at the ends of two favorite walks. One a dinner joint with a HUGE salad bar (real salad, not the now-popular buffet crap) for much-needed VEGGIES. They had an early-opening lunch special once a week where I got my vitamin B's (incl beef). The other a wonderful breakfast joint called The Buttery. A little hole in the wall with soft-scrambled eggs perfectly done and endless coffee served by waitresses happy to let me sit for an hour or more playing caffeinated solitaire. Oh my, that was heaven! Happily alone, hundreds of miles from stressful HOME.

Happy for the hotplate, and yes! It did have to be plug-juggled to moderate heat! Wonder it never burned the old building down, and I'm sure they were in every room, too. It was a big-ole building full of what I guess are called in the UK "bedsitters." Here they were called SROs-- single room occupancies, shower down the hall, etc.

~Susan