crepes and a booked vacation

one of the things that made me most upset when i learned i had to live gluten free was the loss of crepes. i love crepes, and they are something special to me. sometimes, on a sunday, my husband will get up before me and make a beautiful crepe batter. we slowly make and eat crepes and just have a lovely morning--doing nothing! i particularly like cinnamon sugar crepes, or ones with honey and almonds, or cheese and jam, or... never mind, i like crepes with anything!

an interesting crepe anecdote is that when we were in japan almost 2 years ago on vacation, we learned that the japanese also love crepes. in fact, in japan, they like almost anything french but then they give them a distinctly japanese twist. so the crepe i had (which was quite large, i might add) was as follows: a piece of lettuce covered with cream cheese, then a scoop of tuna salad, covered in pizza sauce.

i know, your gagging right now. but honestly you can't knock strange japanese food combinations until you try them. we learned while traveling there that they really are food geniuses! truly! look how good it looked!

but i digress...

recently, i found out that a friend of mine is allergic to wheat. this is also a new thing to her. now this is slightly different because she is not gluten intolerant. but in many cases, we eat the same things :) she loaned me a cookbook her sister got for her upon her diagnosis called nearly normal cooking for gluten-free eating by jules e. d. shepard. it has some not so great recipes, but it also has some fantastic recipes--like GLUTEN FREE CREPES! i had experimented with making crepes again with lackluster results. but i tried this recipe and it has the taste and texture of real crepes! i'm in heaven :)


crepes

2 tbsp flour (again, i use namaste perfect flour blend)
3 eggs
3 tbsp plain soymilk
1/2 tsp salt

1. combine in a small food processor. cook in a crepe pan or small non-stick skillet until beautiful and lightly browned on both sides.

i filled mine with crumbled tofu "sausages" (again, my tofu balls), sweet potatoes and cheese. lee's had his filled with spiced chicken and apples. then we had dessert, of course! mine is the subdued, yet beautiful crepe with pink sprinkles. those of you who know lee are not surprised by his crazy dessert crepe!


and to the other part of my story today: thinking of crepes made me think of japan. japan made me think of vacations. lee and i just booked our summer vacation :) at the end of june, we will be headed to virginia where we will hike approximately 40 miles of the appalachian trail lodge-to-lodge, in shenandoah national park. i am so looking forward to it. from there, we will slowly make our way to some beach, while sipping wine and taking in some historic spots. i already feel relaxed. i can't wait for june 23rd!