Crepes!
23 November 2003, 9:58 PM

Bow before me, for I have made crepes.

Oh, okay, so you don't have to bow before me, and maybe it's not that big a deal, but I'm enormously proud of myself. They always seemed like such a mystery, until I actually looked at a recipe.

See, they're very much like the Finnish pancakes I've been making for decades now. The only differences are that you strain the batter (no lumps) and add butter directly to the batter. Well, that and the pan. Otherwise, it's all the same: judging the consistency of the batter, the balance of flour and milk, judging when to flip them, and the technique for doing so...

I decided to try making them Saturday morning, and I didn't even need a recipe to follow. It was like second nature, and the lovely new Teflon pan made sliding them off and onto plate a breeze. I served my very first homemade crepes with warm cinnamon apples. Yum.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh...
23 November 2003, 9:44 PM

I've been on vacation since Friday. I'm not going back to work until Monday, and though most of this coming week with be spent with family, these last few days have been entirely errand/people/work/study free.

And, six months after moving into it, our house is finally to the point that we can actually sit back and read a book, enjoy a movie, bake some bread or just sit in front of the fireplace and be calm.

Oh there's still a couple of dozen boxes in the garage and the same in one of the extra bedrooms. There's still painting and electrical work, drywall and closet stuff to install. Yes, there's still a lot of work to be done, and it's probably going to be another year and a half before every little corner is settled and comfy, but all the main rooms are done to the point that we can have people over. They're done to the point that we can sit and enjoy them. They're done to the point that we're not constantly looking for something Very Important that's still packed in a box somewhere.

It's been lovely to just sit back and enjoy it all, to just read a book, play with the cat and just generally feel relaxed and content.

Just wanted y'all to know that.