Crepeliciously Delicious!!!

I feel I have been a "pleaser"  all my life!  

I have been a very good daughter, my mom can vouch for it!!  

I have been a very good sister...I think my brother, grudgingly and forgivingly will vouch for me!!  "S", please say "yes"!!!  

A wonderful hubby pleaser, hubby will happily vouch for that one, if I promise to dish out endless supply of gourmet eats all his life!!!  My kids....yes...they will scream out that I am the best mom in the whole wide world ...... 

                                  Errrrrr.... maybe that was a bit of a stretch there!!  Maybe as long as I let them watch endless hours of TV, arrange play dates all the time, do not bother them about their school work and say yes to everything they think is fun under the sun.....Yes!  I will be the best mom on the block!!!  

Alas!  Reality check:  I am a mean, task master....which I am hoping one day they will come to realize it was after all orchestrated towards their betterment in life!!!!!!  Till then I am willing to wait for them to hand over the coveted prize of "best mommy award" to me!  

                                                                                  But, I do try to please them...I do! I do! I do!!!   Especially with food!  Today was no differnet!  Came back from school and after the usual wanting to do something....I grudgingly let them watch tv, so could get some quiet time for myself.  I urged them to help themselves to some snacks...healthy junk option (huh??!!!).....hahahhahha!!  But, they were bored with all my regular options and could not stand the fact that I was admiring my own pictures shamelessly on facebook and bantering  smart comments back and forth with friends!    They had this strong, saddistic desire to put me to work!!!  

                                                             So, my daughter came up with this idea..."hey mom, can you make me some crepes, those yummy chocolaty ones for IHOP??"  huh!  IHOP..eh???!!  Now, she has bruised my small ego big!!  I had to come up with a better recipe than them....IHOP, ofcourse!!!  I went to the internet, looked around, pulled up the first one....and tweaked it big time!  

It called for less flour, upped it!  More eggs...nah...hate the eggy smell...so decreased the egg!!  There was oil....do not like the sliminess of the oil in the batter, so did not bother to add that!  Love the sweet flavor of vanilla which magically sweetens things without adding any sugar....so included vanilla....pretty much had hit everything on the list...hahahaha...my dear friends........ did you realize....there are very few ingredients to a good crepe recipe.....some flour, milk, and egg???!!  Viola!!!! Can you believe.... these gorgeous little silky roundels can be whipped up with just 3 basic ingredients!!!!   So here it is......

You will need..... 

1 Scant cup of milk (I used 1%), 3/4 cup of loosely packed all purpose flour, a pinch of salt, 1 whole egg, and 1 tbsp good quality vanilla essence!

 Add all the above ingredients into a jar of a blender, and blend well until combined.  Blend at low speed for 30 seconds and high speed for another 45 seconds and this is how it should look...with lots of bubbles!!

Your crepe batter is ready!!!  No resting time required, these can be spread into silky sheets of soft indulgence and they come together in no time!!!

Cautionary Pointers: 

Use a well seasoned pan

Heat is always on medium-medium high

Start making the crepe just before the pan starts smoking

Use a brush to moisten the pan with either oil or butter (I used bland canola oil ...about 2 tbsp in all)

Be alert...these thin sheets cook up very fast!

Now follow the picture to make a crepe.....

• Add 2 tablespoons of the batter into the pan.  
• Swivel the pan around to spread the batter around in the pan.  
• Wait for the edges to uncurl away from the pan, and small bubbles should appear in the crepe.  
• Gently lift the edge, nudging with a spatula. and gently coax it out of the pan.  As you get couple of these done, you will be able to literally pluck it out of the pan with your fingertips and flip it around.  A nonstick pan helps the process to go smooth!!!   
• Flip it around and let it cook for 30 seconds or until you see tiny bubbles from beneath.  
• Now, transfer the crepe to a serving platter. 

Work with one crepe at a time..... you could apply chocolate hazelnut spread aka Nutella or strawberry preserves.  My kids went the whole 9 yards....they squeezed a jolly god amount of the whipped cream on top of the chocolate spread, rolled it up and enjoyed them!!!  

                                                               These are so delightfully light, delicate, thin, silky sheets, they disappear in no time!!  Was very hard to keep aside a few for the pictures!!  If it is easy and quick to whip these beauties up it is super easy to devour them, takes no effort at all!!! 

  
Enjoy making them with ease with this easy recipe!!  The flair of crepe making (please.....it is not rocket science!) will come to you within the second or the third crepe.  Enjoyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Super Bowl Favorite -- Guacamole!

Guacamole...

green goddess dip...is the name I christened it when I first had it in a small Mexican place in the lazy breezy fantastic town of Fresno!!!  Every time I savor it (my version), I feel, I am taking a bite of Fresno!!!  I am about to digress a bit here....

                                                                Fresno cozily situated in the central valley in the sunny California boasts of it plush produce!!!  Such produce that I have not seen anywhere else....I am yet to step into Florida!!  So, my apologies dear Floridians if I happen to brag too much about this golden city!!!  

                       I visited dear Fresno city after 13 long years, and as I was whizzing past the streets...I was shedding tears and missing my hubby!!!  I was visiting for my aunt's daughter's wedding, with my 2 chipmunks...they were aghast to see me get so emotional (actually being emothional kinda runs in my blood...that is a different story alotgether!)  about a city!!!   SanFransisco was the first city I set my eyes on and then Fresno was the first city I set up and played house for the very first time in my life!!  And that is special right??!!!  

                       And ....... Guacamole was the first snack I had in this country.  

                                                               We, newly weds, would lazily drag ourselves out of the bed by11:00 AM....after a marathon movie night the previous night....and then have a hearty late lunch ...and about 5 would head out to tour the city.....with its couple main boulevards and main streets and tonnes of charm!  We continued this tradition for about a couple months till hubby dear got bored of his paid vacation/honeymoon!!!!!      

                                                                       On one such outing, I think the first day...we stepped into this mom and pop owned Mexican place and hubby ordered guacamole!!!  I fell in LOVE with it...he, the waiter,  came to our table and made it in his little mortar and pestle.  He added the spices, and seasonings according to our taste!!  Quite fancy for a small shop like that....but was indulgence, nevertheless!!!! 

                                                      I make exactly like him minus the mortar and pestle, I use my trustworthy fork and a sturdy ceramic/stainless steel bowl and rely on perfectly ripe avocados to oblige under my mashing prowess!!  I figured after tasting countless varieties....they do come in different textures/spice levels/colors et al.  This is my favorite and hope so, that it will become yours too!!!! 

You don't need very much apart from the avocados!

Here is what you will need --- 

3 Avocados, 2 Thai peppers, 2 small onion, minced, 1 tomato minced, 2 garlic cloves, minced, 1/4 cup lemon juice, adjust to taste, salt to taste and a couple sprigs of cilantro for garnish!

Now...onto de-stoning. the Avocado....use a sharp knife to go around the avocado, your knife will not go through the avocado...there is a perfec little spherical stone in the middle!!!!  Now, twist the top and the bottom in opposite direction and separate the 2 hemispheres!  Pat the knife with a strong pat on the stone, and gently coax the seed out!  Now using a tip of a paring knife....score the avocado in a graph manner.  Using a sharp spoon, scoop out the flesh of the avocado into a bowl.  Act fast, avocados brown as soon as they come in contact with air.  So drizzle a little of the lemon juice, and mix well.

Add the chopped avocados to the onion tomato mixture, add the lemon juice in little increments...according to your desired taste.  Add salt.  And mash the entire mixture with a fork...today I used a potato masher.  Mash it till you get a desired consistency!!

Transfer the dip onto a serving bowl, garnish it with some cilantro and serve with your favorite tortilla chips!!!  

Now...you are fabulously ready for your party...I am too...I am going to my friend A's house, where they have this fabulous home theater, a well stocked bar and tonnes of munchies!!! But, I have a feeling...I am going be socializing with all the ladies, nurse or gulp a few drinks, snack on the munchies, gossip, snatch a clip or two of a movie between endless conversation!!!  Sounds like a lot of fun.....I better go find out who is playing who tomorrow!!  Kidding.......have fun people!!!!  And as always .... do not forget to drop in a line.......
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