Sometimes you need something crazy and a little scary to remind you what is really important in life. A reality check. So you can assess priorities with a little more perspective. 
All of that is my way of saying that a big Sunday breakfast is one of our re-discovered priorities. With potatoes sliced thin and pan-fried with scallions. And uncured bacon. And good eggs.
So to make things a little more special to herald the return of our big Sunday breakfast, I made crepes. We filled ours with those good eggs, scallions, and uncured bacon mentioned above. And to mine I added Jarlsberg cheese. But you could fill yours with anything you like. Anything that would make Sunday special. Like swiss, egg, and spinach. Or cheddar, bacon, & cherry tomatoes.
Oh, and if it seems like our breakfast couldn't get any better ... maybe the best thing about crepes for breakfast, is the extra batter that becomes crepes filled with butter and sugar for dessert. Because why should dessert be reserved for after dinner? Happy Sunday!
Simple Crepe Recipe
Be sure to cook your filling ingredients ahead of time. For dessert crepes (see above), on step three coat with a little butter and a palm-full of sugar.
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp melted butter
1. Whisk together flour and eggs. Slowly whisk in milk and water. Add salt. Slowly add butter. Whisk until fully incorporated.
2. Heat a pan over a medium-high flame. Butter the pan. Pour in 1/3 cup of batter and move the pan in a circular motion to coat the entire bottom with a thin layer of batter. Cook for 2 minutes.
3. Flip with a spatula. Cover with fillings of your choice. Cook for 2 minutes and fold over.
There is no new recipe to post this week. Which is sad, but also appropriate for the week that we had. So instead of skipping a post or trying to throw something together just for the sake of posting, I decided to post a quick thank you. We were dealing with some scary health-stuff this week, which I'm not ready to share, but I do want to say a sincere thanks.
To our amazing family who were here to help out with everything, which we so desperately needed. And to my fellow law students who sent me notes from missed classes and did a little extra work to make up for my slacking on a team brief. And to my professors who were so incredibly understanding that I had to miss some classes and even said they wouldn't cold-call me until I gave them the go ahead. And Tom's work that is more worried about him, than when he'll be back. Thank you.
So we're not totally out of the woods yet, but it is profoundly beautiful to be reminded in tough times that people are good. And compassionate. And will do the best they can to help.
I'm sure others (especially fellow Slovaks) have their own recipe for mushroom soup, but this is ours. It is the epitome of a family recipe. Not written down anywhere (except for now of course) and many many tweaks over the years by great-grandmothers, grandmothers, and mothers.
One of the great things about family recipes is how personal they really are. Each taste and smell evokes specific memories, but also a warm and cozy feeling. The other thing I love about recipes like this is how they change just a little bit with each generation. Some tweaks are just to improve taste, others are to make it a more perfect reflection of the cook. My grandmother added ketchup (a "secret ingredient") and my mother added malt vinegar right before serving, instead of the regular white vinegar as a nod to our love of British fish & chips. It remains to be seen how my sister and I will adapt this recipe as it settles into our kitchens, but it is exciting to think about. And certainly a wonderful inspiration in the kitchen.
Mushroom Soup from the Sedlar/Rash family collection
24 oz sliced button mushrooms, washed & patted dry with a paper towel
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 shakes crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 32 oz boxes vegetable broth
1 19 oz can vegetable soup
4 oz pearled barley
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 egg
a few drops of water
1. In a medium sauce pan heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add half of the mushrooms and cover. Cook for about 3 minutes. Remove the cover and cook for an additional 4 minutes.
2. In a large pot put 1 box of vegetable broth, vegetable soup, and cooked mushrooms. Cook second half of mushrooms as in step 1 and add to the large pot.
3. Place lid over the large pot and simmer on low for about an hour.
4. After an hour, add the barley and cover. Increase heat to medium-low.
5. When the barley is cooked through (about another hour), remove from heat and let rest for about 1/2 hour.
6. About an hour before you are ready to eat, put the pot on medium-high heat and add some more vegetable broth if the texture is too thick (it should be closer to soup than stew).
7. In a separate bowl mix the flour, cornstarch and egg with a fork. It will be a very thick paste. Add a few drops of water. The desired texture should be like a very sticky dough - if it is closer to a batter, you've added too much water and should compensate with more flour.
8. Once the soup is simmering, it is ready for the dumplings. Using a fork and knife, cut small (seriously, not too big) pieces of the sticky dough into the soup. Stir after each forkful or the dumplings will stick to each other. Use all of the dough.
9. Let simmer for about 30 minutes - the dumplings do not take long and will start to float when they are cooked. Add ketchup and stir.
10. Remove from heat and serve with white or malt vinegar to individual taste.
Sometimes you need something crazy and a little scary to remind you what is really important in life. A reality check. So you can assess priorities with a little more perspective. 
All of that is my way of saying that a big Sunday breakfast is one of our re-discovered priorities. With potatoes sliced thin and pan-fried with scallions. And uncured bacon. And good eggs.
So to make things a little more special to herald the return of our big Sunday breakfast, I made crepes. We filled ours with those good eggs, scallions, and uncured bacon mentioned above. And to mine I added Jarlsberg cheese. But you could fill yours with anything you like. Anything that would make Sunday special. Like swiss, egg, and spinach. Or cheddar, bacon, & cherry tomatoes.
