When I was just a young 'un' my grandfather - who will be from this point on referred to as Honey - made a special breakfast for us when he came to visit. French pancakes...probably better known as crepes.
Honey was a special, special man....very much ahead of his time...and a great teacher for all of us. His love shone through in everything he did and maybe that is why his French pancakes were so special.
So, in keeping with tradition I make French pancakes on special occasions...
maybe a birthday, a sleep over...or a
birthday sleep over!
This weekend the special occasion was....Mom wants French pancakes!
Out came the ingredients and we got started...
Here is the recipe that I have used for years
- 1 1/2 Cups milk
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 Cups flour (can be sifted or not)
- 3 tb melted butter
You can mix all these ingredients in a blender, a mixer, or by hand...then let the batter rest for a bit before you start.
I usually have two pans going at one time...I use my crepe pan (top pic) and a small cast iron frying pan ( because I am too cheap to buy another crepe pan! The crepe pan really works the best.)
With some melted butter at the ready and your batter nearby you are good to go...
I am by no means a superior crepe maker - but here's a secret -
they taste good no matter what they look like! Your pan should be warm (medium heat, but adjust as you go) and I spray with cooking spray for the first crepe. Put between 1/4 and 1/3 cup (depending on the size of your pan) of batter in the center of your pan...
and with a circular motion spread the batter out to just about fill the pan...
cook the crepe until it isn't wet looking anymore and the edges are beginning to brown a tiny bit. Sometimes you see crepes that are very pale and other times you see crepes that are golden brown...this is all a matter of taste - or in my case a matter of trying to manage two crepe pans, get the table set, cut up some fruit, get the juice out...you get the idea. Once you flip the pancake over butter the cooked side, give the second side a moment to cook and then fold it in half and then in quarters...buttering as often as you like!
We keep our crepes in a casserole or such in the oven til we are all done creating...that way we can all eat at once!
Here are a few kitchen pics to break up our crepe making instructions! The shelf above the stove (don't look too close - we forgot to dust it when we cleaned the kitchen!)
My corner shelf with some goodies I've collected, you can see our chalk wall in the background...and a glimpse of one of my favorite things in the kitchen...a chair from my kitchen set from Nonnie and Honey.
This is a cool old knife rack from my Auntie Sue's house (my Nonnie's sister) and it has accumulated a crazy array of items! When it was in it's prime there was a piece of glass that slid in and kept the knives protected...I repainted it but never replaced the glass - it works better as a catch-all this way!
Back to our crepe making....when Honey was down to his last bit of batter he always made us a special little treat...he would fashion little creatures or such from the batter and each one of us would have our own little gift on our plate. I am sure you can guess what is coming...we NEVER make French pancakes without making little creatures or such...so here Madison is making something...can you tell what it is going to be?
Yes....a palm tree!
Here is a step by step tutorial for making a crepe batter ballerina....
First step the ballerina needs a head...
...the body...
the all important 'ballet bun'...
the ruffly tutu...
beautiful ballet arms...
and some jumping legs...because to tell the truth we ran out of room for any other kind!
and Voila! a jumping ballerina for your plate! Good job Madison!
So...with all our French pancakes in the oven (thanks Lane for helping so I didn't have to do both pans and take pics!) and all our special pancakes ready we set the table and sit down to enjoy.
My plate...with a flamingo!!!
We love to put sugar on our French pancakes...sometimes syrup or jam...and then we use our fork to roll them up...Yummy!!!!!!!
We tried something new the other day on our pancakes - and it was delicious! The girlies put nutella and blueberries!
So there is a little tradition of ours...do you have one you want to tell me about? I'd love to hear!
xoxo Elizabeth
