March 2010 – Page 2 – ketchupface.com

I’ve never been to a Café Crepe and was unlikely to do so (paying top dollar for a flour, egg and milk pancake is not my idea of a good time).

Today, as I walked by the restaurant with Caden in his stroller, I was craving a normal, non-baby experience. The restaurant was spacious and empty so I made a B-line for the door.

An Americano and a crepe enjoyed while sitting in a booth surrounded by a black and white tiled floor seemed sophisticated and very adult (well, with the exception of the high chair and munchkin beside me).

So there we sat, in our spacious booth, looking at each other and chilling out. I didn’t have to worry about “my date” disturbing our neighbours and grabbing my water, coffee or cutlery. It was great.

The highlight of our restaurant experience was our waitress. I just wanted to hug her. She was sweet and “smiley” (not a scowl in sight). Pretty amazing considering Caden was throwing his 5th animal cracker on the floor as he scooped yogurt into the palm of his hand to smoosh on the table top. All that and our server didn’t desert me . She actually returned many times to see if I needed anything. (What a superstar!) Being a high maintenance Mommy (that’s anyone with a toddler); I thought she would have “hit the hills”. Instead, she suggested a custom crepe for Caden to try, microwaved my Americano when it got cold, and brought me hot water to warm a bottle.

As for the food, my Americano was good, (I think…I’m more of a latte person) and the applesauce, cinnamon and banana crepe ($6.85) was pretty good too. Caden had a few bites (more than I expected Mister Fussypants to eat) and I happily ate the rest. Not bad at all. I enjoyed my date thoroughly. This place would be fabulous for a Mommy group to meet. Me and “My guy” may have to hit this joint again for some Nutella…I hear that’s pretty good too.

Cafe Crepe
2861 Granville St.
Vancouver, BC
(604) 488-1326

Hours:
Sun-Thurs 8 am – 11 pm
Fri & Sat 8 am – 1 am

Website
Menu

That’s what I wanted to know last Saturday morning.

I woke up, threw on my clothes grabbed a baseball hat and headed out the door. My destination: Kerrisdale Community Centre. My goal: register my son in “Music Together”.

For those of you who don’t know…

“Music Together is an internationally recognized early childhood music program. Originally offered to the public in 1987, it pioneered the concept of a research-based, developmentally appropriate early childhood music curriculum that strongly emphasizes and facilitates adult involvement.”

I was curious; do parents really line up for days to get their kids into certain programs?! So far I hadn’t experienced that kind of craziness.

Upon my arrival at 7:30am, I noticed the parking lot was full. That seemed a little odd. I walked through the doorway of the gym and sure enough there were fifty people standing in a Disneyland-esque line winding through the gym (20 minutes later 75 people). Some brought chairs, some laptops, others blankets but mostly I saw coffee. Damn it all anyways, why hadn’t I brought a cup of the liquid lightening…sigh?

As I sat on the gym floor studying the faces around me, I was happy knowing that I had already secured a spot at St James Community Square for this program. Strange but true, I had a spot but was hoping to cancel it and get a place at the Kerrisdale location.

At 8:00am sharp, everyone was handed a “Timesaver Slip” (a new term for me). On it was a registration time and a number. I was #3 at 10:00. In other words, I would be the 3rd person to register at 10:00am. (Basically, they were telling us to go away and come back later. I’m sure there are fewer irate people as there is the illusion that you are no longer in line but let’s face it, you’re still waiting).

So there I was, still waiting but wandering down the street with a latte in my hand. Walking, window shopping, relaxing with time to myself, no yelling & screaming, no whining, and best of all Daddy was babysitting and giving “the little one” breakfast (for a change). Wait a second… of course, lining up at 7:30am on a Saturday is GREAT!

I returned to the community centre at 10:00am and immediately got the class I wanted with no problems. It was over and done. I was almost sad to go home. So much for my peaceful Saturday morning, it was time to head back to my darling 19 month old boy with the energy of 10 men.

Online registration may be a snap, but this was a good experience for me; almost cathartic I’d say.

P.S. I found out later that the line up also contained people wanting the last 5 spots in a KidsPace class. Some of those people had been in line since 3:00am and did NOT get a spot in the program they wanted, OUCH!! I’m sure those people wouldn’t be as optimistic about the experience as I was.

Links:

Kerrisdale Community Centre

Westside Music Together

St James Community Square

These cookies were unreal and tasted as good as they looked. Although, the star cookies veered away from the Hawaiian theme; I loved them anyways.

My good friend, Beth, graciously offered to make cookies for each Baby Shower guest using the cookie cutters, I’d ordered online. The presentation of these cookies was out of this world. Each guest received a cookie cutter and a package of homemade cookies. When I look at the pictures, I’m still amazed at the job she did.

If you’re interested in making something similar you’ll need:

Cookie Recipe (see below)
Icing Recipe (see below)
Baby Blue Sanding Sugar
Cellophane Bags/Ribbon
Icing Pen
Cookie Cutters

Sugar Cookies

The secret is in chilling the dough which results in a cutout cookie with defined edges.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt (omit if you are using salted butter)

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

Instructions:

In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
Mix in vanilla and milk.
Stir in flour, mixing just until flour is incorporated.
Form dough into two disks.
Roll each disk between two sheets of parchment paper to approximate desired thickness (usually 1/4 inch).
Place rolled dough on flat sheet and refrigerate at least 2 hours, until thoroughly chilled.
When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 F.
Line cookie trays with parchment paper.
Carefully place dough on cutting surface, and peel off top layer of parchment.
Smooth dough with rolling pin if required.
Cut using cookie cutters, placing on the parchment lined sheet, with at least an inch of space separating each cookie.
Return cut cookies to refrigerator to ensure dough is chilled (about 10 minutes).
Bake cookies approximately 7 minutes, until bottom edge is barely brown.
Cool completely before decorating.
Store cookies in airtight container up to one week.

Royal Icing

4 egg whites
4 cups sifted icing sugar
1 tsp lemon extract

Beat egg whites in large glass or metal bowl at high speed until foamy.
Gradually add sugar and extract.
Beat until thickened.

Thanks again, Beth, those cookies were super yummy. I could use one about now, it’s 12:34 am and all I have is a stink’n granola bar.

Cafe Crepe on South Granville perfect for the toddler with discerning taste.

Lining up at 7:30am Saturday morning for a Music Class…insightful or insane?