March 05, 2007

For the Love of Food, Be On Time

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It’s confession time. I’ve had a crepe pan since Christmas and this was my first time using it. What was I waiting for? This thing is awesome! It was my most successful crepe making venture yet. So without further ado, I give you apple cinnamon crepes topped with lightly whipped cream. I decided to make this for Sunday brunch and had everything ready, but nobody to serve it to. That wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. My dining companions were told to arrive in time to eat at 10:30am. I was so pleased with myself for having everything ready on time too. The crepes were staying warm in the oven, the apple cinnamon sauce was resting in a covered pot on low heat and the coffee was hot. With everything ready, all there was left to do was wait. And so I waited. And waited. And waited. And I paced around, knitted some of my sweater, fed the cat, checked my email and waited some more. Patience is not my forte, I was starting to get irritated. It wasn’t so much that they were late, but that all of my efforts and my fabulous crepes were going to go to waste. If we were going out for brunch and they were late it wouldn’t have been a big deal. The trouble was that when they eventually arrived, they were going to want to eat. At that point I would be more inclined to give them cereal than my brunch which would have been wonderful an hour and a half ago, but not so much now. There’s a reason why professional kitchens have to orchestrate things carefully so that all plates are finished at the same time, because people want their food hot and fresh and will blame the chef if that’s what they get! My dining companions finally arrived at noon and they insisted that my crepes would still be good and that they would love them. I grudgingly agreed to let them eat, but what I really want to shout was NO CREPES FOR YOU!


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I tried to control my rage and to think about happy things, like this crepe cake that I’ve been wanting to make for ages but didn’t think it was possible. Now I’m confident that I can at least get the crepe part right, even if the rest of the cake is a disaster. Actually, I’m pretty sure that when I make this cake, it will have a serious lean to it, not unlike the Tower of Pisa. But that’s for another today. The crepe recipe I used today was a super easy one from Bon Appetit and the Apple Cinnamon Sauce was just a hodge-podge concoction that I threw together, feel free to improvise your own.


Easy Crepe recipe from Bon Appetit.


Apple Cinnamon Sauce


3 apples, peeled and sliced

¾ cup fresh pressed apple juice, plus more if needed

½ tsp cinnamon

½ cup sugar

2 T cornstarch


Combine first 4 ingredients in a sauce pan, bring to a boil, add cornstarch mixed with a little apple juice. Stir and simmer until thick. If it gets too thick, add some more apple juice or water to thin it out.


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25 comments:

jasmine said...

I sympathize with you re: late friends...it's a very big pet peeve of mine--especially when they don't phone to let you know what's going on.

I'm usually tempted to serve them cold leftovers...

j

K and S said...

That is a pet peeve of mine too. Not too mention I would have been starving waiting for them! I think you should invite me to your next gathering, I'll definitely be on-time!

Anonymous said...

yeah, friends being late when you are waiting with dinner/brunch ready is not cool at all, no soup for you!
But we never do let them go without, I mean, at least we must get some joy out of it, even if we are feeling a bit cranky.
You know what you should have served them? The salad you did and hated so much! announcing something like "I thought we should do a healthy brunch today and I figured this cold option would be perfect because it wouldn´t suffer if someone was late", ha!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Brilynn, I can relate to your anger with late guests. It drives me up the wall too. Those crepes look great and somehow you knew exactly what I was craving for!

Christine said...

Those crepes look delicious. You can tell when a crepe has turned out well by looking at the edges and yours look crispy, thin and fabulous. I may have to rethink getting a crepe pan. It may become a required kitchen tool...

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

It's obvious dear you need a new set of friends. Just let me know when the crepes will be ready and I'll be 20 minutes early and waiting at the table. Thank you!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

oh, and what kind of crepe pan is that?

Anonymous said...

I doubt I'd be able to get anyone to get to my place at 10:30am for food. Also, unless it was something I'd prepared in the night before, I doubt I'd have much ready at that time of the morning except a bacon sandwich ;-) So good on you for getting something like that together so early!

Still, late guests can be a pain. I can suffer it if they come bearing half decent bottles of wine though.

Freya said...

I hate it when people are late. I once had to throw out a whole batch of monkfish kebabs that had slowly but surely withered under the grill because our guests (trendy types from London) were 2 hours late! And this was considered normal!
I want to make a crepe cake too!!

Cheryl said...

I wouldn't be late if you were making those for me.

I'm glad you didn't make any of your precious bacon for them either, they don't deserve it. :)

Looks tremendous.

Anonymous said...

It's my number one pet peeve, too. If I say dinner is at 7, then that means the actual food will be ready at 7.

Your crepes look fantastic though - I have an unexplained, secret fear of making crepes and biscotti but you've given me proof that crepes CAN be made :)

Veron said...

Oh, ya really! Crepes shall not wait...heck any food will not wait. Lovely crepes by the way. I have a crepe pan too that I have not used in years. ...I think it's about time I dust it off and put it to good use instead of having to go out to have crepes.

Anonymous said...

Sigh...I know, it's such a tightrope knowing exactly how to organize things so that everything will be ready when it's supposed to be...

These crepes look so yummy! You have the coolest toys! :)

Anonymous said...

I haven't made crepes yet, I don't know why, but maybe you will inspire me to. These look very good!

Lis said...

We are SO going to make that crepe cake!!!

As for the crepes you've just made. Had I been you? I would have ate ever last damn crepe at 11:00. When my lazy ass guests showed up an hour and a 1/2 late, I would have made them eat All Bran.

But that's just me.

Anonymous said...

Hi Bri! Wow, those crepes look amazing... I love the apple/cinnamon combination! Let me assure you - I would never be late for something like that!

Peabody said...

I can't stand, can't stand, can't stand when people are late...especially when I am cooking.
Those do look wonderful and I would have said no crepes for you.

Carol Blymire said...

Nice job -- those look fantastic! I invited friends over for brunch one time, and after 25 minutes of a no-show I called the neighbors and invited them over to enjoy. My friends got here nearly two hours late, and I was loading dishes into the dishwasher. The next day, they sent flowers and a VERY generous gift certificate to a fantastic restaurant here in town. It took a long time to put them back on my invite list for anything, but they've never been late ever again.

Anonymous said...

Brilynn -
As always, such a gorgeous creation! If I were ever invited to your house for a meal, I would be certain to be EARLY! I would hate to miss out on anything great you might be cooking up!

Elle said...

yeah, late folks are a pain. I used to tell one of my sisters that dinner was two hours earlier than the actual time. Only way to get her there when the food was warm.
The crepes look beautiful. Cream Puff has a neat recipe with crepes recently posted. A piece of cake now that you have crepes down :)

Anonymous said...

For shame!

The next time that happens Brilynn, you just call me. I will comfort the crepes ... I mean you.

Yes. That's what I meant.

Can I have some crepes now???

Anonymous said...

me too, pls don't be late! oh those crepes look devine. apple cinimon and cream, so lush and yummy. major drooling going on here. MAJOR.

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

I'll add to the pet peeve list -- husbands who, when you call them for dinner (yes, I do most of the cooking these days), manage to wander off just when your meal is ready! I used to think my husband was the only one who did this, but his uncle came to visit a few years ago -- and did exactly the same thing!

Erika W. said...

Well, I know what's for breakfast this morning!

An hour and a half late?! And no phone call at the bare minimum? You are a very gracious hostess. After about 45 minutes I would have decided they weren't coming and eaten myself. Wow.

Eva said...

As Erika said: I would have eaten them myself, too. And I can eat a lot of crepes! So your guests can be pretty happy that they got more than just clean-licked plates!