So Much Depends Upon Delicious Crêpes and Warm Coffee
By Erik Dow
Another day to attend class remotely. Another day for an online zoom call with one of my bosses and fellow coworkers. Another two thousand plus words in total due by next week. Another day, looking at my screen. The amount of time I spend looking at a computer screen throughout the day is not healthy. From class to work meetings to assignments, it all takes place on my laptop.
Do not be mistaken, for I have everything someone could hope for in the midst of a global pandemic. Food, a warm place to live, a wonderful support group consisting of friends and family. However, throughout the pandemic, I have experienced (much like anyone reading this) an extreme increase in change. Change in my daily habits, change in my work/social life, and changes in living spaces (as I have been housed in a few different locations ever since this pandemic started). One of the largest and most impactful changes in my life, however, has been the switch to being a remote online student. This is where the most change- and the most lack of control-takes place in my life. Whether you are a student, an educator, or just an average American citizen, chances are you don’t currently feel in control. When overwhelmed and discombobulated, I remember back to one of my favorite poems, The Red Wheelbarrow.
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
-William Carlos Williams
This poem reminds me of how the most simple aspects of life are what hold the most meaning. It also reminds me that it is important to take time in your weekly routine to do something that makes you happy. Whether it is admiring a red wheelbarrow, or making a delicious breakfast, the simple aspects of life bring the most joy.
Technology is important, but too much of anything in life can potentially turn into a bad thing. Something that I truly miss from attending Plymouth State while being in person, were the scheduled meals I would lay out for myself throughout the week. Breakfast would take place on Saturday and Sunday because I usually did not have time to get breakfast on any weekdays. Not only have I not had breakfast in the Plymouth State Dining Hall in over two years now, but I haven’t been on campus ever since the school’s first shut down due to the virus in March of 2020. I genuinely miss the warm Saturday mornings on campus. I would see beautiful morning sunrises as beams of light shine through the trees on top of Hippie Hill. After that, it was off to D-Hall to meet my girlfriend for breakfast. Not being able to take part in that pleasure (being a remote student from home now) has had a larger effect on me that I would like to admit. Ever since this pandemic has begun, I have rarely found times where I would start a day off by preparing breakfast for myself. However, that all would change on February seventeenth of this year.
For some unexplained reason, I awoke that day craving a trip to the dining hall with my girlfriend. Sadly, being about an hour and a half away from the university made it so that I could not satisfy my craving for both delicious breakfast and nostalgia towards the dining hall. I made my way downstairs and approached my mother who was making coffee in the kitchen. After explaining how much I missed dining hall breakfast visits, she asked “Why not just make breakfast yourself?” I usually did make breakfast in the morning for myself ever since I have been home. However, with my busy schedule, I rarely ever have the free time to indulge in a truly delectable meal (usually my breakfast consists of two pieces of toast and maybe an egg or two.) My mother was aware of this but did not know how much I missed my scheduled weekend breakfasts at Plymouth. Being an active and amazing mom, she quickly searched online for an easy to make crêpe recipe. After which, she retrieves a cutting board from the top shelf cupboard and begins to slice open a fresh juicy pineapple. My mom proceeded to point to the fridge and say, “Get what I need to cook bud; we’re making ourselves breakfast.”
Now every Saturday morning, among the chaos of preparing for a busy day at the restaurant and participating in online courses and assignments, I make time to create a fresh plate of crêpes and a delicious piping hot cup of coffee. Today I will not only be sharing this wonderful crêpe recipe with you, but I will also share my mother’s homemade recipe for a sweet pineapple topping! I hope that you, too, can take time out of your busy schedule to get into the kitchen and make something delicious for yourself. Before I begin, please keep in mind that I did find this recipe online a while ago and eventually wrote it down on paper. This amazing and easy to make crêpe recipe is not of my creation. However, the melted pineapple topping is something both my mother and I created. Its sweet and tangy fruity taste will make any breakfast one to remember. That being said, let’s get started!
Figure 1. All necessary ingredients.
I choose a white ceramic bowl given to my family by my grandmother before her passing, to mix all desired ingredients in. A cup and a half of flour will do, as you don’t want your delectable crêpes too doughy. Next, two cups of milk (my personal choice is lactose free, but you can use whatever you’d like). Then a tablespoon of sugar, followed by half a teaspoon of both salt and vanilla extract, and three tablespoons of melted butter. Not room temperature, not soft, but completely melted butter is what you need. Then comes the most delicate and precise portion of any bakery item. The absolute pinnacle of importance that requires both precision and accuracy. I am of course talking about the cracking of the eggs (four to be exact.)
Figure 2. Mix ingredients in a bowl.
After intense mixing (seriously, mix the contents of the bowl until it is in a liquid state) you must ready your frying pan. I would recommend using a nonstick frying pan, as using a skillet would result in messy piles of uncooked liquid crêpe batter. Spray your pan down using sprayable vegetable oil, or just melt a teaspoon of butter while sliding it across the pans surface. Next, delicately pour a third cup of batter onto the pan. Unlike pancakes and waffles, cooking crêpes takes little to no time at all. About thirty seconds on one side, then flip and wait another thirty seconds. Repeat the process until all of the crêpe batter is gone.
Figure 3. Cooking
Figure 4. Finished stack of crêpes.
After you have created your small mountain of mouthwatering crêpes, it’s time to move over to the melted pineapple topping. Fresh pineapple, sliced into small, two-inch pieces. Be certain that there is no rough outer skin/peel left on your slices of pineapple, as the leathery outside of the fruit holds no flavor. After your pineapple is sliced and set aside, place a metal pan atop your stove. Temperature settings differ from oven to oven. Overcooking the pineapple will turn your slightly melted topping into a mushy paste. Whatever heat dial on your stove-top displays, set it to medium temperature. Next, after placing your slices of pineapple into the pan, follow up with pouring two tablespoons of brown sugar (add a teaspoon of cinnamon if you enjoy living on the wild side). While the fruit and the sugar get formally introduced, a separate concoction must be created. Pour exactly a half of a cup of water into a small dish. Add one tablespoon of cornstarch and mix vigorously until completely liquefied. Pour the corn starch water concoction into the pan with your pineapple, brown sugar, and optional cinnamon. Cook at a medium temperature over the stove top for ten to fifteen minutes (or until what’s inside the pan resembles a slightly melted “jam” type of appearance.) Remove from the pan when finished and gently drizzle (or plop, depending on the grace of your pineapple topping pouring skills.) I personally chose to fill my crêpe with the pineapple topping before rolling them up, looking good enough to be served at a fancy restaurant!
Figure 5. Ingredients for pineapple topping.
Figure 6. Delicious final product.
Congratulations! You just successfully made your first batch of crêpes accompanied with a delicious, melted pineapple topping. Pair them with a nice warm cup of coffee, and you have yourself a wonderful break from the daily online grind that is pandemic living.
I understand that a lot of people feel the same way that I do. I also understand that not everyone likes crêpes as much as me. If you got something out of the recipe, that’s wonderful. If you did not, that’s okay too. You need to find your own “break” from the daily grind of life. A routine, something that you can always do and fall back on when you know you need it most. It might seem silly, but I promise you (in today’s world especially) control is something we all need, even if it comes in the smallest forms possible. As I stated previously, it’s the simple aspects of life that give the most joy and hold the most meaning. Your ideal “thing” that you choose to do is in fact your very own “Red Wheelbarrow” so to speak. For my girlfriend, so much depends upon her isopods and the life they produce. For my parents, so much depends upon a beautiful day of cross-country skiing. For myself, however, so much depends upon delicious crêpes and warm coffee.
