Crepes!

I really really like crepes.  I particularly love having an excessive number of leftover ones to keep in the fridge so I can wrap anything and everything in one for the next week.

This week's crepe invasion started as many do- I have way too many strawberries.  Three pounds of strawberries, to be precise.  They were only five dollars and I couldn't resist!  But now I have to figure out how to eat three pounds of them before they get mushy and gross.  Therefore, Joe gets sucked into over an hour of crepe cooking!  He's a very good sport about all this, really.

Before you get started, know that they take a long time.  At least they take me a long time, because as I said, I make about 5 times more than I need (I doubled the recipe below).  Dozens of crepes!

The recipe itself is simple.  Mix together 1 cup flour, 1 tsp sugar, and a dash of salt in a small bowl.  Mix 3 eggs and 2 cups of milk in a big bowl, stir in that flour mixture until smooth and a little frothy. Add 2 Tb of melted butter.  Pour a few tablespoons worth into a buttered pan on medium heat, flip when browned, and serve as you like!

As a note:  the first crepe is always terrible as it picks up all the pan's butter and looks ugly.  But from then on your pan should be just greased enough that you can just keep on churning them out.

 after you pour, turn your pan to get an even layer

You can tell this one's ready to flip as the edges are crispy, it looks mostly cooked through, and the underside is browned nicely.

 perfect!

stack 'em up! 

My all-time favorite filler is nutella and strawberries.

Simply spread your nutella in the middle:

throw on your berries:

And roll up burrito-style!

we always eat while cooking. 

Banana Muffins!

Okay so I totally love banana bread, but I never have a whole bunch of brown bananas.  I mean they sell them when they're practically lime green still, and Joe eats them like it's a contest, so I'm lucky if there are any left by the time they get to the point of brown spotting that I like them.  But I often get one  or two very sad bananas left behind.  My favorite recipe from my friend Beth calls for 4-5 bananas.

So I made some adjustments and have a recipe for 2 bananas that makes 6 muffins or one small loaf.
It's perfect!
The full recipe is at the bottom.

Ingredients:

flour (all-purpose or bread)
baking soda
cinnamon
allspice
salt
sugar of your choice
1 egg
applesauce OR vegetable oil
bananas
sour cream
vanilla extract

The Steps:

Mix your dry ingredients in a small bowl:
1/2 + 1/3 cup of flour- bread flour makes it a little loftier, but all-purpose is just as delicious- just use what you have.  Add a dash of salt, and as much spices as you like.  I put in a lot of cinnamon and allspice because they're my favorite.
Set this aside.

Mix 1 egg and 1/2 a cup of sugar.  I prefer brown sugar, but use white sugar or honey depending on what I have around.

Add 1/4 cup of applesauce or 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.  I prefer the applesauce as it's healthier and less greasy feeling, but -again- use what you got.

Now add your bananas, 2 hefty dollops of sour cream, and a dash of vanilla. You can go generous on your 'measurements' of these things.

Sometimes I just use a potato masher in the mixing bowl and make my life easier.  Especially when my banana goes from brown to black and leaky before I get around to bread making.  If they're soft and ripe you could squish them with the side of your spoon.

Slowly stir in your bowl of dry ingredients.
Add nuts if you're into that kind of thing.

Pour into your pan/muffin tin, which you should grease and flour (I use Pam spray) or put in those handy paper liners.

don't worry about those banana chunks- they'll be delicious.

Bake!  About 30 minutes at 350.

I think bread flour was the source of the extra fluffiness in this batch. 

 mmm...   melted butter.

The Full Recipe:


1/2 + 1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon (at least)
1/4 tsp allspice
dash of salt
1/2 cup sugar of your choice
1 egg
1/4 applesauce OR 3 TB of vegetable oil
2 bananas
2 TB sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Set oven to 350.  Grease and flour your pan.

In a small bowl mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt.  Use cinammon and allspice to your taste- I like a lot but make it how you want it.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl mix egg and sugar.  I prefer brown sugar, but white or even honey can work fine.  Stir in applesauce or vegetable oil.  Add mashed bananas, sour cream, and vanilla, mix well.  Mix in the flour in increments, add nuts if you like them.  Pour into pan and bake about 30 minutes until browned or knife comes out with a thin coating of batter on it.