As many of you surely know already, the trickiest thing about making crepes is cooking them, and even that can be fairly easily mastered -- heck! If I can do it, so can you!

The morning wasn't quite pretty enough, so I whipped up a batch of crepes, threw in some fresh raspberries, rolled up each crepe, squeezed a little lemon juice over them, and sprinkled some Splenda on top. Et Voila!



The recipe is so simple:

1 cup flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Whisk together until well blended, maybe even a little bubbly. The consistency should be such so that it just coats the whisk wires as it drips back into the bowl. If it's too thick, add a little more milk.

Have a hot frying pan ready, the shallower the better. I use a regular one and I manage to flip the crepes one handed fairly well...most of the time.

Spray a light coat of cooking spray onto the pan and then pour some of the batter into the pan, turning the pan as you pour so that you get a nice, relatively even layer of batter in the pan. Once the top turns a darker shade of beige and the edges start turning in, loosen the crepe by giving the pan a little shake. If it seems nice and loose, you're ready to flip! Try your skills with a one-handed flip, or get a large turner under the crepe to do it pancake style. Give it 30 seconds or so on the other side and then flip the whole crepe onto a plate to keep warm in the oven while you putz your way through the rest of the batter. Re-spray the pan before your next pour and away you go!

This recipe usually yields about 5 large crepes, and 3 crepes make a decent breakfast portion. If you have a smaller skillet, you can make more, smaller crepes.

These are simple, unsweetened, good for you crepes. They go well with sweet and savory extras alike. You can smother them in syrup, use them to sandwich a cooked egg or omelet, or even stack them for a crepe gateau or crepes suzette. My preference? Fruit, lemon juice and sugar/sweetener. Pair that with some pressed coffee, some smooth jazz and some "me time" and you've got a morning that's pretty darn close to being perfect.

Enjoy!

Inspired by Patricia Zapata's work at http://www.alittlehut.com, I made a simple bit of cut paper art for the wall in my bedroom. It's very subtle against the light blue wall, but it sticks off the wall just enough to tell what it is (I hope!).

The frame is a repurposed frame-like accessory from a big fluorescent kitchen light (I think), so it's not built to hold glass. I'm sure I could get crafty enough to figure something out, but it works as is for now.

Inside the frame windows, I cut out tree shapes on the bottom row and cloud shapes on the top row. I tried to make the clouds look like they could actually be the foliage for the trees that has somehow lifted off the branches, by placing them more or less directly over the tree branches below.

While I'm not nearly as gifted with line and with an exact-o as Ms. Zapata, I enjoyed making this and I am impressed with how it turned out.

What do you think?

This is how it sits on the wall:



A little detail from the left side:



And a little detail from the ride side:



Thank you for checking it out.

Ya-hoo! I made a bag! As far as categorization, it's a hybrid of diaper/messenger/purse varieties with inspiration from Jordy and other talented Crafsters. I needed something more portable than the huge diaper bag we had, and yet something big enough to hold the essentials plus my wallet, phone, nursing apron and a little something to keep my toddler occupied. I am not a purse-toter normally, and I'm not much of a girly-girl either, so I wanted something simple, easy, practical and with a hint that I'm not completely un-hip.

The outside is a blood red wide corduroy and the lining is bright pink with a dark red vine pattern. I used a layer of interfacing to give it a bit more sturdiness. Keep in mind, this is my first bag project and I am still an amateur sewer. Here are some pics!

Here's the front view:


Here's the side to show off the strap and cording around the flap:


The flap is open to show the velcro closure and the lining:


The inside: six pockets and a nifty key ring:


I enjoyed making this and it has stood up well so far to being pulled, hung, filled, and generally abused.

Thanks for looking!