Recently, however, various trips and family obligations have kept me from this decadent routine.  This past weekend, I stayed at a friend’s house on Saturday night, and while I knew that the sleeping-in part would not be a problem, the breakfast was up in the air.

Most everyone who loves food and eating has some sort of routine that they hold sacred.  I have my Sunday Mornings, others have “Roast Chicken Thursdays” or make their salad the same way for every lunch.  Caroline, the friend with whom I was staying this weekend, has a breakfast routine of her own.  She pours cereal – usually mixing two or three different brands – into a pasta bowl and douses it with about a quart of milk, leaving it to sit for a bit before sitting down to the table with a carton of fresh berries and diluted O.J.  Far be it from me to cast aspersions on her breakfast – everyone has their own comforting food traditions – but I was craving my own form of Sunday Morning catharsis.

As we wandered into the kitchen that morning, she went into the pantry to grab her cereals, and I went into her closet to grab the Joy of Cooking.  She shook her head at me with a smile and we went our separate ways.  As she got out a bowl and a spoon, I took down her food processor from the shelf; as she grabbed berries and milk from the fridge, I withdrew eggs, lemons and apple cider.

Eventually, my friend’s husband wandered into the kitchen and I think I lured him to my side of the battlefield, because soon he was flipping crepes alongside me.  When all was said and done, however, and I took my seat at the breakfast table, Caroline passed me a big mug of steaming hot tea and all was right with the world.

Crepes with Apple Cider Syrup, adapted from the Joy of Cooking

For the Crepes:
2 eggs
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. lukewarm water
pinch of sugar
pinch of salt

For the syrup:
1 1/4 c. Apple Cider
1 Tbs. Light Corn Syrup
2 Tbs. Brown Sugar
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Add all of the ingredients for the crepes into the bowl of a food processor or the pitcher of a blender.  Mix until fully blended and a bit frothy at the top.  If using a food processor, pour mixture into a pitcher – or leave it in the blender pitcher – and let sit for 30 minutes so that the liquids absorb the flour.

In the meantime, pour all of the ingredients for the syrup into a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir until blended.  Turn the burner on medium until the mixture comes to a boil, then turn down the heat to maintain a rapid simmer.  Reduce until mixture reaches a syrupy consistency.

When the syrup is where you like it, warm a nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Wrap a tablespoon of butter in one sheet of paper towel, and rub the bundle over the pan to grease it.

Pour some batter into the pan (1/4 cup should be plenty, but it depends on the size of your pan) and immediately tilt the pan around in a circle to spread the batter across the surface.  If you have a wooden crepe-spreader-thingy, all the better. 

Cook for about 1 minute or until the edges of the crepe easily separate from the pan when you pass a thin metal spatula around the perimeter of the skillet.  Flip the crepe and briefly cook it on the other side.  The crepe should be lightly browned.

Remove the crepe to a plate and drizzle with the apple cider syrup and (if you like the crunch) some demerara sugar.  Other winning toppings: lemon juice and sugar; jam of preference; and sweetened cream cheese with cinnamon or finely zested orange peel.  Then, what I like to do is fold the crepe in half and then in half again so it looks like a triangle.  Top it with some berries or whipped cream and voilà – the perfect Sunday Morning!

(This post first appeared on my other blog: http://www.frommytable.com ) check it out!

This recipe makes a rather large loaf, so make sure you’ve got enough people to feed – this stuff is also really good toasted and topped with some vanilla ice cream.  I think if I were to make this over again, I’d add a little more vanilla and some more cinnamon, so I’ll adjust the recipe accordingly.  Overall, I was very pleased with this recipe, though the next time I have that many blueberries sitting around, I think I’ll be bold and try making jam.  Enjoy!

Recipe:

• 3 cups Flour (I used all-purpose whole wheat flour)
• 1 Tsp. Salt
• 2 Tbsp. Baking Powder (use less if you want a more doughy bread)
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 Granulated Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 3 Tbsp. Canola Oil
• 2 Tsp. Cinnamon
• 1 Tsp. Nutmeg
• 2 cups Blueberries (1 mashed, 1 whole)
• 1 cup low fat (1%) Milk
• 1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract
• 2-3 Tbsp. Real Maple Syrup (OPTIONAL – will add more sweetness)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 5″x12″ baking dish (non-stick preferable).

In a medium bowl, whip eggs with the 2 sugars (and maple syrup if using) – make sure there are no lumps in the brown sugar.  Add milk and oil and mix together.  Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla to the mixture and combine.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking powder.  Slowly add the flour mixture 1/3 at a time to the wet ingredients, combining after each addition (mix the two together until they come together and that’s it, no need to over mix here).  Once the batter is together (it should be fairly thick) fold in the blueberries and combine.  You could conceivably add other fruit here too (chopped fresh strawberries would be good but it’s up to you).

Bake at 350 for approximately 60 minutes until an inserted knife comes out clean.  Let cool for 10 minutes, slice and serve however you like!

Makes about 10 servings