Singly Unique; Singly Happy: CREPES

I made about 30 of these for my students the other day, and I thought I'd share. I got some great pictures of them eating them, but I'm not comfortable putting their pictures on the web, so....

The story behind the Crepe Day holiday:

In France, February 2 is "Le Jour de la Chandeleur". (Origin from chandelier--light.) (It coincides with our Groundhog Day!) The origin of the holiday is very mixed! It has some Greek mythological things thrown in, but the Catholics made it into a holiday to celebrate the Purification of Mary--exactly 40 days after Christmas. (A Jewish women was required to go to the temple to offer "purification" sacrifices 40 days after the birth of a male child.) This became known as the holiday of blessings.

As time passed, tradition and superstition replaced the religiosity of the event. If the weather was nice on this day of blessings then an early spring was predicted and a good harvest. If on the day of the Chandelle the weather was bad, there would be 40 more days of winter and the harvest would be bad.

The crepe was added as to help celebrate this 1/2 way point of winter and day of blessings. It was round and yellow to represent the sun. It was the promise that spring would come again! So, now it has become know as "Le jour de la crepe."

Crepes are a tradition and major part of the French culture. They are very easy to make and can be served in literally thousands of ways. The most traditional way is to simply coat with a thin layer of sugar, roll, and enjoy. More commonly people add nutella, peanut butter, honey, jams....and they are often used as meals filled with cheeses, ham, sauces....all kinds of fun and delicious ways.

Crepes

4 eggs

1 1/3 c. milk

2 Tbls. oil

1c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix well.

Makes about 15 small sized crepes.

It is best to have an official crepe pan, but a regular frying pan will do! Crepe pans are completely flat and light with a very small lip making it easy to flip the crepes into the air!

Using a napkin or a paper towel lightly coat the pan with oil.
Use a measuring cup (about 1/4c.) pour mixture rapidly, while turning pan around so as to spread evenly.

This is how thin it should be. A crepe is not a pancake! The crepe will slowly begin to dry out. When the edges begin to rise, start trying to slide crepe around on pan. When it slides as you move the pan, it is ready to flip. (Sometimes you have to encourage it by using the edge of a fork.) Flip over. (I had no one here to take pictures of my flips, but I do flip them!) Let other side sit on hot pan for about 60 seconds.