Breakfast at the Inn

On Saturday and Sunday mornings I sneak out of the house before everyone else awakes and drive into town to cook breakfast for the guests at The Inn at 400 West High. This gorgeous B & B right in the heart of beautiful Charlottesville is owned by my mother-in-law and we get some of the nicest guests!

I have been enjoying creating beautiful and tasty breakfasts and I thought it would be fun to share a few here.

To no one’s surprise, crepes are usually a hit. While it takes a bit of practice to cook a beautiful thin crepe and they usually impress the guests, they are not actually so very difficult. Here are a few things I have found to help:

Amanda’s Crepe Tips

• Butter in the batter! I melt a good chunk of butter into the batter and then cook on a non-stick frying pan. This is one of very few times I endorse the use of non-stick, but in this case it is very helpful. Putting butter on a non-stick pan is pointless, but butter is essential to a good crepe!
• Add some milk and then add some more. My method of cooking the crepes in a frying pan is to pour a cup of batter and then swirl the pan around to coat the bottom. Having a thin batter makes all the difference.
• A hot pan. Heat up the pan before cooking. Not smoking hot – don’t harm the pan. But if you start too soon before the pan warms up the first few crepes will be sub-standard.

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My favorite way to eat crepes is with apples, particularly apple sauce or apple butter. So that is how I often serve them as well. The ones above have apple slices that were baked with cinnamon and then lightly fried in butter (butter just makes things delicious, what can I say?!), along with real maple syrup for the inside, with an apple butter topping and a caramel drizzle. A shake of powdered sugar adds the finishing touch.