#18 Make Crepes

             J’aime crepes.  I love crepes.  My first exposure to this delectable French pancake was as a kid.  Occasionally, my mom would make us crepes for desert.   My favorite filling was chocolate pudding, whipped cream, and walnuts.  Sometimes we would have ice cream in them, with bananas and chocolate sauce.  I loved the nights we had crepes for dessert. 

            Fast forward to the first crepe that wasn’t made by my mom.  This crepe was made by a street vendor in Paris…the home of the crepe.  It was bigger and thinner than the ones my mom made.  It was warm, coated with a thin layer of Nutella, and folded up into a triangle for easy eating while walking along the Seine and gazing at the Eiffel Tower. 

[Pause for my heavy sigh and quick pout]. 

Okay, I’m back. Since then, I’ve had some pretty great crepes in Portland (both at a food truck and at a creperie in the Hawthorne District) and San Francisco on Pier 39.  And, I’ve made my own, but it had been awhile. 

My family at the creperie in San Francisco

Crepe Food Cart in Portland, Oregon

So, on Saturday night, I decided to go to Paris.  Not literally, but imaginatively.  I would spend an evening eating French food, listening to French music, watching a French movie, and even wearing French perfume. 

                                                        Arletty sings "C'est Mon Homme" 

                                                          (translation: "This Is My Man")

I went to the store to get the ingredients I would need for crepes, as well as a new pan.   I’ve had the same frying pan since I moved into my house 8 years ago.  When I bought it, in my naivete, I thought, “I don’t need to buy nice pots and pans, when I get married, I can just register for them!”.    Good plan, Sarah, good plan.  I’ve been using the same set of cheap pots and pans since then, and I shudder to think of all the Teflon that I’ve digested over the years….they’re pretty scraped up.   So, I decided that I would at least buy a new frying pan….one that wouldn’t leave black flakes in my crepes!

My new pan

I downloaded some French music from the 1940’s…Josephine Baker, Arletty, and Edith Piaf.   I put on my new French playlist and got to work making crepes.  My secret ingredient (actually, my mom’s secret ingredient) for dessert crepes is almond extract.  YUM!  

I was too lazy to climb on my counter and get my blender out of the upper cabinets in my kitchen, so I just whisked it briskly (using the blender is good for getting out the lumps of flour).  My new pan made flipping the crepes really easy!  Usually, the first crepe is kind of like the first pancake in a batch…a flop.  But, the butter I coated the pan with, paired with the slippery surface of my new (unscratched) nonstick pan made for easy crepe flipping!  The trick is, you have to wait until the edges of the crepe start to peel up from the pan.  By this time, you can actually swirl the pan around and the crepe should slide around like a greased up kid on a slip-n-slide.  If you’re really good, you could probably flip it in the air, but I’m not very athletic, so I use a spatula. 

Once my batter was gone, about 6 crepes later, I put them in the fridge and started dinner.  And by dinner, I mean I sliced the baguette and the brie and plated it with some fruit (my kind of cooking!).  I settled into my couch for a little Cinema Francais! 

I found an article online entitled, “17 Feel Good French Films you Should Definitely Stream on Netflix”.  There were several movies that looked cute, but I settled on “Romantics Anonymous”, which would be appropriate for me, but it isn’t really what it sounds like.  In French, it translates to Les Emotifs Anonymes”, or “”Emotionals Anonymous”.  It’s about a man and a woman who are both painfully shy and anxious in social situations.  He carries a briefcase with extra shirts in it because he sweats profusely when anxious, and She sings a song to boost her confidence when feeling insecure.  They are also both chocolatiers, which is very French (have you seen Chocolat?).  Although it’s a rough go because of their interpersonal insecurities, they manage to bumble their way into a relationship….it’s very endearing. 

Halfway through the movie, I paused it (because you can’t just listen from the other room when the movie is in French) and fixed my crepe.  I made this one with nutella, bananas, whipped cream, and slivered almonds.  Mmmm.  I also enjoy strawberries and whipped cream, or lemon juice and powdered sugar, or even just a sprinkling of granulated sugar (this is when you really appreciate flavor of the almond extract). 

This one was breakfast on Sunday morning

Whether you’re in Paris or in your house pretending you’re in Paris, crepes are always a good idea!  Une magnifique idée!