Crumpler, crepes and melted keys

The Crumpler "Sinking Barge," which I hope will prove a worthy replacement for my much-loved, but now worn-out — and discontinued! — "Beer Back". Crumpler product names are, hands down, the most creative in the world. — The Crumpler “Sinking Barge,” which I hope will prove a worthy replacement for my much-loved, but now worn-out — and discontinued! — “Beer Back”. Crumpler product names are, hands down, the most creative in the world.

Gluten-free crêpes filled with a little sour cream and garnished with raspberry preserves and unsifted (clumpy) confectioner's sugar. — Gluten-free crêpes filled with a little sour cream and garnished with raspberry preserves and unsifted (clumpy) confectioner’s sugar.

Lesson learned: Never, ever use your laptop keyboard as a resting place for anything but the tips of your fingers. I severely warped my “I,” “J,” “K” and “L” keys last night by placing a piece of parchment paper on them laden with almonds I’d just toasted in the microwave. Who’d have thought that almonds could get so hot? Or keys be so sensitive? Ye gods. Replacement keys (at $5 each!) have been ordered.

My beloved Crumpler backpack is on its last leg. What’s worse, Crumpler no longer makes the model that I’ve been using for the last several years, a model that’s perfectly suited to my needs. So I’ll order another model, one that’s a little too big and not the ideal color. Sigh.

On the plus side, I’ve perfected a recipe for gluten-free crêpes. This is significant because crêpes had been one of the two things that I’d actually missed from my pre-GF days. My two holy grails. The other, still eluding me, is cinnamon rolls. Here’s the crêpe recipe:

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp. egg whites
2/3 cup whole milk
2 tbsp. walnut oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch salt
1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill white rice flour
butter
DIRECTIONS: Whisk wet ingredients together, then whisk in rice flour a little at a time. Bring a 12″ non-stick pan to temperature over medium-high heat. When a drop of water beads up and dances across the pan, it’s ready. Melt a dab of butter in the pan, spreading it around. Give the batter a quick whisk just before pouring about 1/3 cup into the center of the pan, immediately tilting the pan in a rolling motion to spread the batter thinly and evenly. When the outer edges of the crêpe start to turn brown, it’s ready. Don’t cook the opposite side. It should flop out of the pan easily, but if it doesn’t, use a spatula to loosen the edges. Continue, adding a dab of butter to the pan and whisking the batter before each pour. If you don’t do this, the rice flour tends to settle to the bottom of the bowl. Makes about four crêpes.