crèpes à la français.

One of my favorite things that has happened in my life was the summer after my senior year when I got to spend two weeks in France. It was amazing. I took four years of French in high school and our French club took a trip every two years. I was so excited when my parents said I could go. Those two weeks were the best two weeks of my life up to that point. I had had kind of a rough end to my senior year (read: really tough break up and lots of stress), but that trip made all of that go away for awhile.

This is one of my favorite pictures that I took. We spend out last 3 days in France in Paris. Notre Dame was just one of the many sights we visited. We spent our first few days in Normandy and visited the World War II museum and the American Cemetery. Then we went through the Loire valley and visited some castles. We went to southern France and went to the beach for a day and then traveled up through Dijon to Versailles. Then Paris. I loved Paris. I’ll make it back someday. I miss the sunsets.

Anyway…all that to say: CREPES! Every year in French class we would have crepe day on or around Fat Tuesday. My teacher was from France so she knew how to make crepes. She was the best and crepe day was the best day of class. In France you can get crepes anywhere. It was the best. We probably had crepes once a day. They take a little bit of work, but those guys make it look super easy.

This is how my stove looks while making crepes. (oh, hey tea pot!) Batter, butter, crepe pan. All essentials. Well, not necessarily a crepe pan, but a large skillet.

Crepes are meant to be really thin. When you put the batter in the pan you HAVE to swirl it around the bottom right away. The pan needs to be pretty warm to keep the batter on the pan. It isn’t as difficult as it sounds. I promise.

This is what a perfect crepe looks like. I’m not gonna lie….I had to throw one away. I was a little bit out of practice. Don’t worry. I have it down again…you were worried. I can tell.

Toppings. Also a very important part of crepe making. I prefer Nutella (shocking!) and whipped cream. “Une crepe avec Nutella, sil vous plait” was a very common phrase during the trip. But you can top crepes with anything you want; even just granulated sugar. Chocolate chips are good and white chocolate chips are better. Make them your own. (that seems to be a common theme this week.)

These are awesome. Make some crepes. Watch a ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ marathon. Smile. Figure out what to wear to a parade wedding (more on that later).

P.S. I totally caught that fly.

Crèpes à la français

makes between 12-15 crepes

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 Tablespoons oil

butter for the pan

toppings

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a different bowl whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and whisk. There will be some lumps but that’s okay. Whisk in the oil. Heat a skillet or crepe pan over medium heat. Melt about a teaspoon of butter in the pan. When the pan is hot ladle enough batter into the pan to just cover the bottom and swirl around right away to cover the entire pan. Cook until the top is set and the bottom is golden brown. Flip and cook until the other side is golden brown. Remove from pan and top with desired toppings. Either roll or fold and serve warm.

You can keep batter in the fridge in an airtight container. Just stir before you’re going to make the crepes and use it within two days.