Yes, I Watch Cooking Shows During My Workouts

A lotta people can't grasp the concept of watching cooking shows while working out, but I find that it's the perfect thing to watch. You don't need to really listen so you can have your Ipod on. AND it totally motivates you to work out harder so you can EAT the yummy food you're seeing! During my lunch workouts, I usually watch Lidia's Italy on PBS. It's not my favorite cooking show, but it's on at the right time and Lidia does grow on you after a while. She's like the perfect Italian mother who's just so HAPPY making big pots of pasta and stews! She also travels around Italy and since I won't be going there anytime soon, I feel like I'm getting "cultured" in some way. I'll admit that I probably won't make most of Lidia's recipes cuz she does everything the traditional Italian way, meaning pasta dough from SCRATCH! BUT sometimes she dows inspire me to go out of my comfort zone. One particular episode that caught my eye invovled Crêpes. Lidia's version was a bit complicated, but I thought I'd do some research and see what I could find. WOW, there was a LOT of info on Crêpes out there! Apprently, there were French versions, American versions, sweet or savory, rolled up like a burrito or stuffed and baked in the oven. I even watched a few videos on YouTube! After MUCH research, I finally settled on this simple recipe that uses a blender for easy mixing. The key is to let the batter sit for at least an hour before cooking the Crêpes. I also found that you really have to let your pan heat up before brushing it (VERY well) with melted butter and adding the batter or else it will tend to stick, making them not so pretty. (It's kinda like making pancakes, where the first one is never as nice as the rest of them!) I decided to make mine savory by stuffing them with a ham, Ricotta and mushroom mixture. Overall, I would say that Crêpes are pretty easy to make as long as you have the patience and time for them. They're definitely gonna make it on my brunch menu again soon!