Morning conversation at Casa del Robins.
While enjoying our morning tea, my husband remarked that we hadn’t had crepes in a long time, and suggested we whip some up for brunch.
I said sure.
Hubby: “You could break in your new pans.”
Me: “What new pans?”
Hubby: “I guess I ruined the surprise. The pans I bought you as a…Thanksgiving gift.” (He then proceeds to take an interest in the orange juice squeezer as if it’s the first time he discovered we owned one.)
Me: Taking the orange squeezer out of his hand. “We never give Thanksgiving gifts to each other.”
Hubby: (Leaning back in his chair, looking sheepish) “How does a late birthday gift sound?”
Me: “Lame. Try again.” (We don’t give birthday gifts to each other, he prefers to buy me things when I least expect it. I know what’s happened, but I prefer to draw this out and see how far he’ll go before he fesses up).
Hubby: “Early Christmas gift?”
(We also do not exchange Christmas gifts with each other, see above explanation).
Me: “Again. Lame. Try again.”
Hubby: “Okay, okay. I got them last year, intending to give them to you as a surprise before Christmas, so you can use them for Christmas morning. I hid them, then forgot all about them.”
Hubby then gets up, leaves the kitchen and comes back with a big bag: “Here you go. They can be a down-payment make-up gift for those rare times I piss you off.”
This isn’t the first time he bought something, put it away and then forgot all about it. He once bought me a pair of ski goggles and then gifted them to me as a “just for no reason” gift. It was a loving gesture, and I did appreciate it, only problem was, when he found those goggles and gave them to me it was summer! LOL
My hero.
I love my new skillets! Lagostina are my favorite brand.
Introducing my new “just because gift,” or “sorry, I pissed you off gift.” But I like to think of them as another token and reminder that we live outside the box of traditional gift giving. It cements another moment in our lives when we laugh our asses off together (of course you know, I’ll be teasing the hell out of him for forgetting, and using innuendo’s whenever I can) at Casa del Robins.
Love is buying a gift for no reason, forgetting about it, then pulling it out when you have a craving for crepes. Oh, cripes, is right. 🙂
**Recipe for Crepes below**
Paper thin, Feather Light Crepes
Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups milk (or you can also use almond milk)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 TBSP butter, melted.
**Optional** If you like a little kick with your sweetness, add 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper. Your choice.
Directions:
In a bowl whisk together; flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon.
In another bowl, add eggs, vanilla, and 1/2 cup of milk and mix well together.
Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, whisking continuously.
Then gradually add the remaining milk, still whisking continuously.
Whisk in the melted butter.
Heat your skillet over medium-high heat.
Ensure your crepe batter is smooth.
Once skillet is ready, add the batter to the center of the skillet. Tilt pan to spread batter evenly until the entire bottom is covered. When edges peel off easily and begin to brown, use a spatula and flip the crepe over (carefully). Continue continue the other side for about 20 – 30 seconds, until lightly browned.
Remove from skillet and put on a plate and make your next one. Cover each crepe with some aluminum foil until you are all done.
Spread your filling all over the crepe, then roll tightly.
Filling:
This is where you could use your imagination, any combination of vegetables and cheese for a savory crepe, or for a sweeter crepe, jams, jellies, fruit, whipped cream, syrup. Anything goes.
The picture above is my husband’s crepe. He filled it with blueberry jam and topped it with pure maple syrup.
On mine, I filled with cubes of cooked ham and mozzarella cheese, and added some cayenne pepper to my batter.
FOR GLUTEN-FREE CREPES: Substitute the wheat flour for 1/2 Almond Flour and 1/2 Potato Flour (or you can use Gluten-free flour already mixed for you).
Selena Robins, Author 