Thursday, September 26, 2013

The Fall Theme Continues!!!!

I love fall. I live in Apple Country, it's really called that, "Apple Country, USA" because we're along the shores of Lake Ontario and the huge body of water due north keeps our falls mild, long and warming daytime temps vs. chilled overnights... perfect for grapes and apples! So the Finger Lakes region of NYS grows grapes...



But here in the lake plains overlooking Lake Ontario, we're Apple country! And that means fall is just washed in GOOD FOOD!!!!

But I wasn't going to talk apples today... I was going to talk about Chicken Paprika, an old Blodgett/Herne family favorite, but I already did!!!  Go HERE to see this amazing, easy and deliciously inexpensive recipe!!!!

So today we'll talk crepes.

I made crepes for Beth because she was very pregnant... Now we have a baby and his name is Finn and he's adorable...

This is Grandma Blodgett and Finn... Grandma made the cool rooster towels folks won for the release of "Falling for the Lawman".... She's amazing. ANnd the kid's cute, too!

Crepes are a family celebratory thing. We love crepes... They're delicious! But no one can afford crepe-calories all the time, so we save them for special things like crabby pregnant women. (She won't see this, she never comes here, she only listens to Ree Drummond when it comes to cooking...)

Whatever, Beth!!!!  :)

Anyway, if you can make pancakes, you can make crepes. Although I always burn a few. It's tradition.

Here's the Betty Crocker recipe and it's the best and easiest one I've ever tried:

1 1/2
cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1
tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2
teaspoon baking powder
1/2
teaspoon salt
2
cups milk
2
tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1/2
teaspoon vanilla
2
eggs

Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the rest and stir well. It calls for an egg beater but I just use my whisk because I can use the exercise.  ;)
  


 I use a 9" stainless steel frying pan to make crepes... It's a good size for flipping and I like my crepes flipped.  Melt about 1 tablespoon of butter in the frying pan over medium heat. Don't worry if it gets browned... but BLACK is not good, black butter is nasty, remove from heat and Try, Try Again....(I sneaked that shameless plug in there for Virginia's benefit, LOL!)  Okay, now you take about 1/3 cup of the batter and pour it into the pan, then lift and rotate the pan so the batter pretty much covers the bottom... Put the pan down, things cook better with heat, come on, we knew that, didn't we?

Now let the crepe cook on one side, making sure it doesn't burn (I find that heat +pan+butter varies how long so I just watch... and then I get tired of watching (I'm ridiculous because the whole thing takes about a minute and a half... really, I annoy myself) and then when the bottom is cooked and the top looks "dry" I flip the crepe... I like both sides cooked, I don't like mushy crepes, so I'm weird... That's not a big surprise, right???  :)  But the walking away thinking I can wipe a nose or wash a pot means I burn a couple of crepes every single time. This is not Betty Crocker's fault, nor in any way, shape or form can she be held responsible. It's me...

sigh.

Okay, the crepe is ready! Slide it onto a plate, top with filling in the middle, then fold the sides up, in and over the topping and flip the whole thing... seam-side down on the plate. And that's how they serve them at places like Perkins and Le Peep and fancy French crepe places.



I've never been to a fancy French crepe place but I bet they're... fancy.

My Goddaughter Megan as we color trees like the ones the first European settlers found when they came to this far-off land so they could go to whatever church they wanted...


Top with more fruit topping and whipped cream.  And more whipped cream if you want, because if you're breaking diet code with crepes???? The whipped cream is the least of your worries!!!


Notice that Elijah's tree is "spring green' and Meg's is summer green.... Details, details.  :)

Mom's rooster towels with crocheted edging and Falling for the Lawman... a perfect couple!


Mary Ruth's tree is definitely fall-toned! And McKenna was home with an ear infection so she was the teaching assistant for the day.
Hey. You know what they say? A change is as good as a rest!  :)  McKenna did a great job teaching these little ones, she'll be a great Mom and a wonderful example!!!

So I may have forgotten to take pics of the frying process.... but you can see the crepe although it's got strawberry filling instead of apple, but we don't argue with VERY PREGNANT PEOPLE here. We smile and nod...

And cook!

8 comments:

  1. what's the filling? jelly? do they sell 'crepe filling' at the store?!
    I"ve never understood why crepes were so fattening - they're so thin and 'light'
    Susanna

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    Replies
    1. This one had strawberry filling, Susanna. Some folks just heat up strawberries and add some sugar and then use that... I heated them up and added about a tablespoon of cornstarch to 3/4 cup of sugar and a tablespoon of butter, then let it thicken as it heated. You can use that formula for apples, strawberries, blueberries, peaches... You're just thickening the juices to make it more like pie filling.

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  2. Crepes are another one of those items I love, but have never tried to make. My MIL used to make cheese blintzes that were amazing. So you may have inspired me here, Ruthy. I just might need to give 'em a whirl.

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    Replies
    1. I did a post on cottage cheese crepes, Mindy... it's in the archives here... and for those you just take small curd cottage cheese and cream cheese, warm them together, add about 1/4 cup of sugar and a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and warm... then pile into the crepes. It's like the ones they used to make at Perkins restaurants, I'm totally copying them!

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    2. I should say I use equal amounts of the cheeses... like 4 oz. cottage cheese and 4 oz of cream cheese. They won't blend until warmed, but it works great... and makes me pretend it's almost a grilled cheese sandwich!!! :)

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  3. Back in the 70s I had one of those crepe pans that were cheaters. You dipped the appliance in batter, turned it over and watched it cook on the non stick side. Not explaining it well. French food was big in the 70s. Quiche of all kinds, crepes, etc. I did escargot for my seventh grade French class project and got an A+. And totally humiliated the tough Fonz type guy in class who refused to try them.

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    Replies
    1. I remember that craze!!!! "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche" time, right? CRAZY FOR QUICHE!

      Yup, that's when I discovered crepes at Perkins. Love at first sight!

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  4. Ruthy,

    I don't know about crepes, but that Chicken Paprika has been a standard for us ever since you posted it, no matter the season. Thanks!

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