The last time I was in Anne’s kitchen, she fascinated me with stories of her mom and her apple dumplings. I have made them twice now. My husband, Jerry, loves them with ice cream.
Before I left that day, she agreed to tell me about her dad, the man married to her exquisite mother turned artist, for Father’s Day.
“I will be in touch,” she said as she walked me to my car. “We loved his crepes, especially with our homemade strawberry jam.” I could barely wait.
Oh, but wait I did. One week went by. Then two. By the third week, I was sitting on my hands, howling at the moon.
“I am sorry it took so long!” Anne told me as we sat at her kitchen table. “We are having a very busy summer.”
“Oh, I didn’t notice,” I said, my iPad already open, fingers on home row, ready to type.
Charles Sauber, and the glorious German egg pancakes he cooked in his electric skillet, were well worth my wait.
He mixed enough batter to make at least three for each of his 15 children, frying bacon and sausage all the while; it was easy math, even for me.
“Wow, I bet he fed you guys in shifts.” I said with a laugh, certain I knew what I was talking about.
“No, Janet. Dad kept them warm in the oven until they were all made. Every meal at our house was a tablecloth sit-down affair.”
“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “And the area priests, they came too?”
“Yes, of course.”
But Anne’s father was a star in more than crepe making. He was a visionary. A man of invention. Mr. Sauber brought needed things into existence.
One of his first patents straightened out clothing snaps bent by wringer washers. They sold well in mail order catalogs around the country.
He patented wheel chocks for large trucks, a hand-held crop calculating tool sold in grain elevators, a hockey game for kids, a grill scraper used at McDonalds.
He designed the Big Buoy, the precursor to all the swimming pool noodles on the market today.
And he brought Sauber Manufacturing to life in 1968, a company that innovated and manufactured equipment used by utility companies.
“Wow. Was your mom involved?” I asked, again certain of the answer, but this time I was right.
“Absolutely,” said Anne, “but, as always, she stayed in the background, refusing any recognition.”
When his wife’s health health worsened, Mr. Sauber adapted a golf cart to house a 20-gallon water reservoir with an attached wand, so she could scoot about to water her flower beds.
After she passed away, he carried her last painting up the cellar stairs and hung it in the entrance of his company. All the others live in the homes of her children and grandchildren.
Mr. Sauber took to the road with his electric skillet, showing up at the front doors of his family to cook crepes. “My boys loved it,” said Anne. “Now they make them for their kids.”
In the fall of 2016, Mr. Sauber passed away too. He was 96 and lived 11 years more than his wife. He had 49 patents (Albert Einstein had about 50), and his company was a big success.
Today his son, Jim, runs Sauber Manufacturing in Virgil. It employs 100 people.
I made Mr. Sauber’s crepes for Jerry’s birthday last week. He was a happy husband. And they are just as heavenly as Mrs. Sauber’s apple dumplings.
Alas, it was time for me to say goodbye to Anne. I did not want to. I enjoyed our kitchen talks more than I can say.
Mr. Sauber’s Crepes (or German egg pancakes)
(makes 10)
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
½ tablespoon sugar
1 tsp vanilla (or a cap full according to Mr. Sauber)
2 tsp lemon juice (Mr. Sauber used concentrate)
1 cup flour
4 tablespoons butter, divided
Whisk together all but the flour and butter until smooth. Stir in flour until no lumps remain. Let rest for 20 minutes.
Warm a 10-inch nonstick pan (or electric skillet) over medium heat. Melt 1 tsp butter, spreading it until it begins to foam.
Whisk the batter again, then ladle ¼ cup in the center of the pan. Immediately lift off the heat and swirl to coat the bottom. Cook until just set and the underside golden, about one minute. Using a spatula, loosen the sides of the crepe and gently flip. Cook another 45 seconds until lightly golden, brush with butter, roll. Repeat, melting a bit of butter between each. Serve with jam, powdered sugar, fruit, whipping cream, Nutella, or whatever your heart desires.
Do you have a special recipe with a story to tell? Email me at janetlagerloef@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you.