Cooking School: Crepes

Needing a break from soups, I decided to make crepes as my cooking school project this week.

I did not have high expectations. I am not a particularly good flipper. I make pancakes about twice a month in this household, and yet, I am still a complete spaz when it comes to flipping batter on a skillet. It almost always comes out a little messy and lopsided.

I always imagined crepes to be the epitome of flipping food, so I made sure Dan was out of the house when I attempted this one. I couldn't stand the idea of him making fun of me as I tried to make this work. I was doomed to fail.

The recipe said that even for the most experienced crepe maker, the first one is always a dud. My first one did look a little weird and slimy, but I was pleased to see it come out of the pan in one piece. I started nibbling on it while I was making the others, and it looked weird, but it sure tasted good.

To my complete astonishment, the next few crepes came out perfect. I would put the batter in the pan, swirl it around, wait 30 seconds or so, and then using a spatula, I went around the edges and flipped it around with such ease, it felt like an out of body experience. Was this really me, making these delectable circles of joy? Could it really be this easy?

I decided to test my skills and try to flip one in the air, like pizza dough. When the batter was ready, I lifted the pan and whipped it in the air and lo and behold the little crepe flew in the air and landed SPLAT right back into the pan. It totally got all bunched up wrong, but I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the glee of flinging food in the air (and feeling a bit relieved that I was able to catch it--also not one of my strong suits). Plus, like the first one, it still tasted pretty good.

I was pretty full from the "bad" scraps by the time I sat down and started playing with the fillings. But I was so excited putting my little creations together that I ate until my stomach hurt.

Some variations I made over the weekend (using what I had lying around the house):
Creme fraiche, lemon zest and honey
Creme fraiche, lemon zest and blueberries
Plain yogurt and blueberries
Nutella and bananas
Nutella, whipped cream and cinnamon (next time, I might top with some powdered sugar)


So. Good. But. Could. Not. Take. One. More. Bite.