Fresh Cooking=Happy People: Island Crepes: A family favorite!

Growing up crepes were a regular. My mom made them for us kids all the time. I never got tired of them. She always made them well, and had all kinds of yummy toppings and syrups for them. Mmm. Good memories. I love a good batch of homemade syrup. It is so much better than the grocery store variety. It just tastes like home. Today I made some coconut syrup. It was so delicious. What a fun way to wake up in the morning! It felt like breakfast was a celebration. What are we celebrating? Hmmm. Life I guess! We are all well (for a change) and happy, and heck! School is about to start! Woot, woot! That is worth celebrating for sure. My daughter is in desperate need of a good structured learning time. She is so smart I can hardly keep up with her. Thank goodness for teachers who do all the prep work for me. I am happy and excited to work with my kids after school and be their best cheerleader and helper, but man... I am no homeschooling mommy. I think it would melt the last remaining brain cells I have. There I said it. :)

So yes. We are partying this morning with something flavored from the islands. "Island Crepes" sounds about right to me! Let's begin then, shall we?

Hello my pretties!

Lets start out with the coconut syrup! Use a large stock pot and heat it to medium-high. (Make sure you use a LARGE stockpot, because the mixture will double in volume when you whisk in the baking soda!) Pour in a can of light coconut milk and add in the corn starch. Whisk it together well. Next add in corn syrup. Mix well.

Next add in the sugar. I used sugar in the raw, but you could use granulated sugar if you don't have raw sugar.

Whisk that together well!

Next we will pour in some sweetened shredded coconut.

Oh la la. It's coming together nicely!

Turn up the heat to high. Next add in the baking soda. Whisk well and watch it double! Keep stirring constantly. Bring syrup to a rolling boil and then remove it from the heat.

There she goes! Getting bigger by the second! Don't worry, if you used a large pot it won't overflow. It goes back down to its reduced volume when it is off the heat.

Add in vanilla and give it one last stir! And there you have it!! A gorgeous quart of coconut syrup! YUM!

Alright! Onto the main event. The crepes! This is an art people. I have spent all my life (eating or making these...) and I feel like I know a thing or two about them. So I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

First, lets mix together the dry ingredients. They are pretty simple. Flour, sugar and salt.

Give them a nice little stir, and then onto the milk...

Stir the milk in well and make sure it isn't too lumpy.

Next add the eggs. Whisk them in well.

Squeeze in fresh lemon juice. (I use the juice of 1/4 of a lemon).

Next add vanilla. This is super important. You almost can't have too much vanilla. :)

Pour in your melted butter.

Give them a little stir, and you are ready to rock and roll!

I use a medium sized skillet. I have used a legit crepe pan, and just about everything else under the sun to cook them in, and the good old medium sized skillet works best in my opinion. I just like it, OK?

If you are obsessed with toasted coconut like mwa, then toast up your leftover coconut at this point. It takes only about a minute, and is totally worth it!

Oh. Yum. Yes, I will eat you......

OK. Back to the crepes. Heat that pan to medium heat. You might have to tinker with the heat as you go. If it is too hot you will get little bubble holes in your crepe (which you don't want.) And if its too cool it will take way too long to get that nice golden color. Find that happy medium and stick with it. Now, I am naughty when it comes to making crepes, and I use butter to line the skillet between each and every crepe. It is a must. It gives it the gorgeous golden design on the crepe, and makes for some great flavor. But, let your conscience be your guide. I'm pretty sure my mom never used butter with her crepes, and we all still loved them. :)

Once you butter the pan pour in 1/3 cup crepe batter and swirl it around to coat the entire bottom of the pan evenly.

Watch for the golden brown edges and then flip the crepe using a very thin spatula. Cook the other side until golden and remove from pan.

Oh yea! Pretty little golden crepe! Note: your kitchen smells wicked good right about now....

To keep the crepes warm, place them on a plate and cover them with a kitchen napkin or tin foil. If you are making a larger batch you might want to heat your oven to 150 degrees and place them in a Pyrex to warm them until your crepes are all done.

While you are making your crepes, might as well multi-task and stir together some Chobani Greek yogurt (coconut flavor) with some crushed pineapple. When you are just about ready to serve, toss this in the microwave for 1 minute.

All you have left to do is slice some nectarines and arrange all your toppings for a lovely Island Crepe bar! We just toss all the goodies on the table and let everyone have at it! Lol. You should have at your table the following:

-Hungry crew, ready to snarf up this goodness!

-Hot crepes

-Coconut syrup

-Sliced nectarines

-Toasted Coconut Shavings

-Powdered Sugar

-Whip cream (optional)

-Coconut yogurt-crushed pineapple mixture