Caramelized Pears in Crepes

I find it hard to get up in the morning and only have cereal. I mean, it's cold and so unimaginative. As a response, I often make breakfast. Nice and hot.

For this recipe, I simply caramelized pears in sugar, butter and a hot frying pan. I then prepared my crepes in another pan and stuffed them with the pears. Simple yet delicious.

Breakfast As Therapy

I look over my blog entries and notice that the amount of entries posted is directly related to circumstances of day to day life. For example, the last week or so has been a series of frustrations regarding broken furnaces, bursting pipes and the insuing frustrations of tenants. Put simply, it's been a rough and very expensive week. But once the heat was back on and the water was flowing through the pipes, I started cooking again.

For some, cooking is frustrating. The coordination of various processes which need to be timed so that everything comes out at the same time can be demanding. But for me it's like meditating. It demands my attention and creativity and plunges me into a set of steps which allow the outside world to melt away for 30 minutes. It's methodical. It's skill. It's an escape. And the best time for this is early in the morning before another day of work starts.

When craving something sweet in the morning, there's absolutely nothing that can beat crepes. Their chewy yet smooth, buttery texture is simple bliss. I bought some molasses last time I went to the grocery store. The rich, almost burnt taste of the molasses poured lightly on top of the crepes is pure indulgence. With regards to the recent events, I'd even say that it's a deserved indulgence.

Also in the line of indulgences comes the farmer's market. What you see above are poached eggs, apple sausage that tastes slightly of cinnamon and a slew of other spices, madawaska cheese, and heavy German multigrain rye bread. Along with a strong cup of coffee and a sweet glass of orange juice, the day is off to a great start. And the fact that I don't have to melt snow in order to clean the dishes is an even greater start to the day. It's really incredible how dependant we are on luxuries such as running water and electricity.

Crepes & Failed Ginger Beer

I don't care what your personal tastes are, crêpes beat pancakes any day. The shear versatility of crêpes as opposed to pancakes is one thing. But the texture is what really sets these two apart. Crêpes are smooth and buttery. Pancakes are puffy and soak up way too much syrup. Anyways, here's a recipe for traditional crêpes suzette.

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 tbsp sugar

Pinch of salt

2 beaten eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

2 tbsp melted butter

2 tbsp cognac or brandy (optional)

As you would with any pastry, mix wet and dry ingredients together seperately and then mix together. The crêpes mixture should be very liquid and lump-less. Simply pour enough of mixture into a frying pan so that the bottom is covered. The crêpe should not be thin enough to hold together and not thick enough to mistaken for a steak. Enjoy with maple syrup, fruit, brown sugar, caramel, or whatever you feel like. Plus, crepes can also be used in non-desert meals.

In other news, I took a stab at homemade ginger beer. I love the spicyness of ginger beer, how refreshing it is, and I also like the fact that ginger is excellent for the stomach. However, making my own ginger beer didn't achieve the results I'd wanted. It tasted funky to say the least. The recipe - which I got online - called for a 2 litre bottle of water, 2 tbsp grated ginger with juice, juice of 1 lemon, 1 cup sugar, and 1/4 tsp dried yeast. You let stand in a warm area for a day or so and the yeast produces CO2. That much was achieved. But the taste was just gross. Anyways, the only good thing about this is that it gave me a chance to talk about peeling ginger, something I learned on Food Network. Simply use the tip of a small spoon and scrape. This allows you to get around every bump which causes less waste. This technique, however, did not make for a better ginger beer. Maybe some things are just better when they're bought...