When I grew up, crepes were the default dish when nothing else came to mind. We usually ate each crepe directly as it came from the pan as nobody wanted to wait around until a large stack was prepared. They were best that way: crispy on the edges, light and fluffy.

Many people have the perception that crepes are difficult to make. While it's true that before you get the hang of it, it can be a little tricky to turn a crepe or "flip it." Although once you get it figured out, it's really easy and your crepes will be cooked in no time.

If you have the time, it's nice to make the batter in advance to work out any lumps, however it you don't, they'll be just fine.

There are various ways to serve crepes: with fresh fruit and whipped cream; with feta cheese and smoked ham; with cottege cheese and fruit jam. Or, for a more elaborate meal, fill your crepes with a mushroom sauce, top with cheese and bake in the oven. The possibilites are endless!

Here is a recipe for a basic crepe batter:

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Butter, for coating the pan

Method:

First crack the eggs, add the flour, the salt and half the amount of milk in a bowl. Whisk well until most lumps are gone. Now add the rest of the milk, and whisk together. Let sit for 20 minutes or so if you have the time, otherwise no worries. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours in the fridge.

Heat a small crepe pan, or a flat cast iron pan. Add butter to coat. Pour 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove from pan. Either serve directly, or stack the crepes on a plate, cover with foil and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.

Tip! After the crepes have cooled you can stack them and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months. When using frozen crepes, thaw on a rack before gently peeling apart.

*Savory Variation Add 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs, spinach or sun-dried tomatoes to the egg mixture.

*Sweet Variation Add 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of your favorite liqueur to the egg mixture.

• Make a batch of crepes for 4 people (double this crepe recipe for example)- about 10 crepes or so in all
• 1/2 pound of thinly sliced ham
• Spicy or Dijon Mustard
• Swiss Cheese
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 cups milk
• about 3 oz frozen, chopped spinach
• 1 lemon
• salt & pepper
• fresh parsley

• 1 batch of crepes (about 12 crepes)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• about 1.5 lb cooked thickly cut ham
• 2 tablespoons sweet vermouth
• pepper
• 1 pack of feta

To bake crepes with a filling not only makes for a very taste dish, it's also great if you want to prepare in advance. You can make a whole bunch of crepes hours before eating, make a filling, roll them up and save them in the fridge. Then you simply bake the dish for about 30 minutes before eating. This is great if you're having company, or if you just want to plan ahead.

If you haven't tried filling and baking crepes, then it's certainly about time since they are so delicious. You can really experiment with various fillings depending on what you have on hand, our favorites include mushroom sauce, shrimp sauce, and spicy sauteed beef (of course not together). But, the sky's the limit, crepes is such a versatile dish, it goes well with most flavors and ingredients such as fish, meat, chicken and vegetables. We like to make a basic bechamel sauce and fill it with various ingredients.

4 servings

Ingredients:

• enough crepes for 4 people (about 12)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 pack of mushrooms (button or a combination)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 4 cups milk
• salt and pepper
• grated cheese (mozzarella, cheddar or Monterrey Jack works well)

Method:

Put the oven at 375 degrees.

Saute the sliced onion and the mushrooms in the butter for about 10 minutes, or until the mushrooms are starting to brown. At this point sprinkle over the flour, cook for an extra minute or two, then slowly add the milk, a little at at time and stir constantly to avoid and lumps. Let come to a simmer and let the sauce thicken up. Taste with salt and pepper.

Butter a Pyrex dish, Place some of the filling on each crepe, then roll it up, place it in the dish. Repeat with all the remaining crepes, and try to distribute out the filling evenly. Top the rolled up crepes with grated cheese and bake in the oven for about30 minutes or until the cheese start to brown. Serve with a green salad on the side.

We recently wrote about all sorts of recipes for different types of pancakes and this one for corn meal pancakes is the most unusual we came up with.

When we first tried it we just added the corn meal, flour, baking powder, salt and milk to a bowl, gave it a stir and then added the diced cheese.

This is a small amount of batter and we simply divided it in two and then heated up a non-stick pan with about 1/2 tablespoon of butter and fried it for about 2-3 minutes on each side.

At first we thought the corn meal was a little crunchy. So next time we tried the recipe we let the milk and corn meal soak for about 10 minutes before we added the other ingredients. There was very little difference in the corn meal, but by then we ended up liking the crunchiness of the corn meal so it did not matter.

If you are looking for a little less crunchiness then we suggest soaking the corn meal in milk for about 30 minutes.

In terms of the cheese we used, we like the mild flavor of jack, as well as the fact that it melts very easily. You could really use any kind of cheese.

We topped our pancakes with 1/2 an avocado, sour cream and some salsa. We think some cottage cheese, bacon bits or even syrup would be great choices.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup yellow corn meal
• 1/4 cup white flour
• 2 ounces diced monterey jack cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (5 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg, separated
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoon melted butter

Method:

Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yolk, the buttermilk and the butter.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until the peaks are stiff.

Slowly start to incorporate the liquid into the dry ingredients. When both they dry as well as the liquid ingredients are well incorporated and the batter is smooth, gently fold in the egg whites.

Spread the batter on a very hot waffle iron. Close iron top and cook until the waffle is golden on both sides and is easily removed from iron. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree F oven until ready to serve.