Crepes--Definitely 'Good Eats'

4/26/09: Reheated Chicken Taco and Sloppy Joe leftovers (see my Sloppy Joe experience here) that we previously froze. And for dessert: crepes from scratch.

• Sources: The crepe recipe came courtesy of Alton Brown, the host of Good Eats on Food Network.
• Defining moments: Well, just saying, "I made CREPES," is amazing and jaw dropping for me. Crepes sound so exotic and impossible to make, but I quickly discovered that they're not all that bad. And I mustn't forget that this would be my first time making an Alton Brown recipe. I've been watching him since we first switched from cable to Dish Network, so that's, um, eight years. You can see that I am more of a watcher than a doer.
• What I learned: Crepes don't stick! I've heard again and again that crepes are notorious for sticking and that is why everyone uses a non-stick skillet. In the beginning I thought that I wouldn't be able to do the crepes well because a) we don't have a non-stick skillet, and b) I was going to use our large, family-of-eight-sized griddle. As soon as I was done making the crepe batter I decided to just make one tiny crepe using our everyday stainless steal pan. Guess what? No sticking whatsoever and since I didn't notice any tearing problem I made the choice to not refrigerate the batter, as the recipe says to do. According to the recipe, refrigerating the batter for an hour will remedy any crepe tearing.
  

I did 1 and 1/2 times the recipe and cranked out seventeen crepes in all but only managed to serve fifteen. Gosh, I wonder what happened to those two? :) Yes, I did sample my first one! I had to try it out. And the second one. . . Well, he died a miserable death in a pan that was way too hot. I learned.

Here are my personal crepe making instructions: preheat pan (I used a 10") to medium-high heat, spread a teeny-weeny bit of butter in the pan or use cooking spray, pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the pan and spread it around, wait 10 seconds, start lifting the edges a little with you spatula, wait until you see bulges forming and flip, keep flipping until both sides are a bit brown. See the photo below.

• How it tasted: "Bon," as the French would say. We had it with Smucker's triple berry ice cream topping and whipped topping. Yummy!
• How about a 2nd time? Once you have three pans going at once you can make a lot of these in a short amount of time. So, yeah, I think it is possible for me to make them again and highly probable to find people to eat them.
  

Oui, Madame, we have ze crepes on thee menu. :)

Mr. Twinkie, Meet Mr. Peach

3/29/09: Sponge Cake with Peaches and Whipped Topping

• Sources: Annemarie's Betty Crocker cookbook. The title of the sponge cake recipe is "Inexpensive Sponge Cake." The idea of adding peaches and whipped topping came from the book also.

• Defining moments: First time baking sponge cake. And what I hear from Papa, this would be the first time he had homemade sponge cake. Last but not least, I am using our frozen peaches from last year! Yay!

• What I learned: I learned that frozen peaches may not be as firm as the canned ones but they sure are good, nonetheless! I also learned that decorating a cake is, well to put it mildly, FUN. :) Especially when it comes to layered cakes.

The recipe said to use boiling milk for the sponge cake but after some advice from Annemarie I decided to heat the milk to the almost-boiling stage. I add the milk to eggs so you can see why I chose to do it this way. Scrambled eggs in a cake batter. . . I've never seen it before in real life but I did catch a glimpse of it on a Food Network show. Hehehe.
One last thing: I learned that whipped topping came in a box! Never knew that one. I used a boxed version called Dream Whip.

• How it tasted: Better than a Twinkie, I think! I had a lot of good feedback and I now declare the Sponge Cake as my favorite type of cake.

• How about a 2nd time? I have 2 1/2 quarts of peaches left, so absolutely.

"In the golden lightning
Of the sunken sun,
O'er which clouds are brightening.
Thou dost float and run,
Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun."

An excerpt from the poem "To a Skylark," written by Percy Shelley. I was reading this poem for school around the time I made the cake and I believe it goes very well with the golden peaches and the clouds of whipped topping, don't you think? And the cake certainly did give joy to those who had a piece! :)