Crepes in the Red, White and Blue

And all of a sudden, as with any trip, you're plunged right back into the reality you left behind. At first it all looks a little strange, the pizza and nacho-crazed, massive freeway-driving American culture. But after a day or so, it all comes back. The only thing that remains the same is American pop music, which was a continuous soundtrack no matter where I went. My room here is a massive collision of 3 different time periods - my life in California, the boxes of my New York life (still-packed up), and luggage from my trip. It's only now that I'm feeling the real pangs of missing New York, even though I'm excited to be here.

To ease the transition, my little brother, the resident crepemaker around here, made some for breakfast. He's pretty much good for constant crepe and chocolate chip cookie making at any given moment. The crepes were very good, and we ate them the way we were taught in my family, with a little suger, butter and lemon juice.

Here's the Sommer family recipe - which is slightly modified from an old cookbook we have and has stood the test of time. The key to crepes is getting the right temperature in the pan, using plenty of butter and having a little patience, since you're doing them one at a time.

Basic Crepes
4 eggs
1 cup flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla

We use the blender usually, where you combine all the ingredients and blend for a minute, scraping down the sides if you need to. But you can also do it by hand, beating the eggs first, then adding a little flour and sugar, and milk and water alternately, until it's totally smooth.

They say to chill it, but usually I'm too hungry to to that. It probably makes for better crepes though.

Pour a little batter into a medium hot skillet (a small one with butter already in it). Then, picking the pan up, tilt it around until a thin layer of batter covers the bottom. When you see a bit of color on the bottom of the crepe, flip it with a thin spatula or knife. If it sticks, you needed more butter. It happens pretty quick, and once you see a little color on the other side, it's ready to eat.