Hello Friends, Campers, and Gourmets!
Greetings! Gourmet Girl Denise here from Le Petit Saint Barnabé here in the Loire, France.
Today is Le Chandeleur or Candlemass here in France, always celebrated on February 2. Originally it was a religious holiday that celebrated the presentation at the temple of Jesus forty days after his birth, or the Purification of Mary. Many of the faithful would later celebrate with a pilgrimage to Rome to see the pope. The pilgrims would carry lit candles and when they arrived the pope would gift each person carrying a candle a crêpe. The crêpe represented the sun and an abundant harvest.
Nowadays, here in France, it is a wonderful excuse to eat both savory and sweet crêpes! Some are filled with Nutella for the children and for adults they are flamed with brandy, Cointreau, or any number of other spirits. Savory crêpes are often filled with ham, cheese, and an egg then sprinkled with parsley, and the sides folded inward. I made this for breakfast today! The egg is a gift from my lovely hens of course.
You can get really creative here because you can stuff crêpes with whatever your imagination can come up with. This one looks good!
Top those with a Bechamel sauce and you are good to go!
The current tradition is to flip your crêpe without touching it while holding a gold coin in the other hand. If you drop it you will have a year of bad luck. Scary! Like we didn’t already have a year of bad luck! Sheesh! One can however avoid this unpredictable scenario and purchase crêpes already made which are quite good and easy to find in the local supermarket. Here’s a recipe for sweet ones.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/143886/creamy-strawberry-crepes/
Today is also Groundhog day, and Mr. Punxsutawny Phil saw his shadow so it looks like all of you folks in the U.S.A. will be getting six more weeks of winter. Sorry about that! If it’s any consolation it’s pretty cold and rainy here in the Loire, France too. So I am going to light a fire and some candles and settle down to a crêpe dinner.
Cheers!
Denise, Gail, and Lindsey