a mini honeymoon for valentine's day.

When I mentioned the idea of going to Paris for our honeymoon, my fiancé (now husband) gave a little shrug. He wasn't really interested in the romantic city as a destination until he realized the wealth of edible wonders that awaited us there. As soon as he discovered that we could eat our way through Paris, it was all decided: Paris, here we come! And we went. And we ate. And drank. And were merry (and married).

Now, I'm not going to lie, we ate some amazing food. But, to be honest, some of my favorites were the snacks that we ate while walking or sitting on a park bench. There is nothing like a crispy baguette with ham and cheese eaten on a bench while people watching. Or a pain au chocolate to munch on as you saunter down the cobblestone streets toward the louvre. And of course, one of my favorites, the crepe. We had many a crepe on our trip. We ate them as snacks, we ran through the rain to get them and it was the only thing that I could stomach on our second to last day in the city when I came down with a mysterious stomach illness (which turned out to be a bacterial infection from the lovely chicken sandwich that I had eaten the day before), so I had one for breakfast.


So now that we are back in the states, our chance of finding a crepe vendor on the corner is pretty slim. And the stand at the Mall of America just seems too anti-culture for my taste. So when I received a crepe pan from my mom as a valentine's day gift (okay, begged for one as a valentine's day gift) I made immediate plans for our first valentine's day dinner as a married couple.


Crepes it was. Nothing fancy, just the french classics: ham and comte cheese, nutella and banana and a single citron et sucre to satisfy my need of a little freshness at the end of the meal. Being my first time making crepes, I was a little nervous at how they would come out... and they did end up a bit too thick for my taste. But the flavor was nice and, with a crisp glass of champagne and a bit of dark chocolate to finish off, it was the perfect valentine's day meal. Savory and sweet and romantic.


Crepes
Adapted from Alton Brown

2 Large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons melted butter
Butter for coating pan

Combine all ingredients in a blender and pulse for ten seconds. Refrigerate for at least one hour and up to 48 hours. Heat a non-stick pan and add butter to coat the bottom. Pour enough batter into the pan to make a thin layer on the bottom after swirling the pan. Cook about 30 seconds our until the first side is lightly browned. Flip and cook the other side until it is also browned to your liking. Lay the crepes flat to cool or place in a warm oven to keep warm.


Now fill your crepes. You can be as creative or as simple as you wish. My fillings for the evening were:

-cubed, thick country ham with shredded comte cheese
-nutella chocolate hazelnut spread with sliced bananas
-a squirt of fresh lemon juice sprinkled with sugar

I hope that you enjoy your mini trip to Paris.