Ce soir, j’ai fait des crêpes! (Tonight, I made crêpes !) C’était délicieux. J’aimerais vous donnez une recette (I’d like to give you a recipe) but it’s not the precise measurements that matter.  L’esprit de crêpe (that is a made-up expression) is more important than the crepes themselves! (There’s still a recipe here, quand même.)

J’avais un babysitting (I had a babysitting job) for two great kids, Rose and Timmy. I promised Rose we would make dinner, but we didn’t have time to faire les courses (go shopping). So, what was in le frigo?

Des œufs (eggs), de la farine (flour), du lait (milk) et du beurre (and butter)—bref, des crêpes ! I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to make them before, but you should. Like right now.  Especially if you have une petite fille (a little girl- okay, Rose, a medium girl) to fouiller le frigo (search the fridge) for tasty things to mettre dedans (put inside).

We used un fouet (a whisk) to mix a cup of flour with two eggs, then slowly added du lait and de l’eau. Il faut ajouter pas mal de liquide—you need to add a good bit of liquid, or else you’ll just make pancakes.  Une pincée de sel (a pinch of salt) is a good idea too. Heat une poêle plate (a flat skillet), ajoutez du beurre (add some butter), et versez un peu de pâte (and pour some batter) ! A minute on one side, puis faites-le sauter (then flip it, or literally, « make it jump »). Once it jumps, you can add your fillings, or wait and remplir les crêpes (fill the crepes) all at once.

Rose wanted dessert first, so we made our crepes in this order:

1. Citron sucre (mon préféré!): Lemon juice and sugar
2. Pépites de chocolat avec du citron : Chocolate chips with lemon
3. Pépites de chocolat et banane
4. Confiture, fait maison : Home-made jam !

Then my sense of responsibility kicked in, and we started to faire des expériences (experiment) with dinner crepes. This is when la fouille (the excavation) came in:

1. Fromage: cheese
2. Fromage et tomates cerises: cheese and cherry tomatoes
3. La spéciale Rose: the Rose special, fromage, tomates cerises et persil frais (cheese, cherry tomatoes and fresh parsley)
4. Riz et côte de porc : Rice and pork chop
5. Fromage et œuf : Cheese and egg. Super-classic, you pour the batter for the crepe, let it cook on that side for a minute, flip it, sprinkle cheese, and crack an egg onto it. The egg cooks through the crepe and c’est délicieux! La sauce piquante (hot sauce) adds a lot to this one, although you will make purists cry.

Crepes are the rare food that is both élégant enough for your parents and délicieux enough for your late-night cravings. I once made croissant grilled cheese sandwiches at 4 in the morning, after a night of karaoke and hailstorms in the Southwest. But from now on, que des crêpes (nothing but crepes). If you try it, tell me what you mettre dedans! Bon appétit!