Jonathan said this should be subtitled: How to efficiently make a vast quantity of palascinta to make your family happy.
This recipe is for the thin pancakes that we Hungarians call palacsinta (pullah-cheenta) - similar to the French crepe, Jewish blintz, or thin Swedish pancakes.
2 cups milk
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Butter for frying.
Jam, lekvar (prune butter), or cinnamon sugar for filling.
I double the recipe to make about 26 8" palacsinta.
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a stick blender, or in a regular blender. It is very helpful to have everything arranged for easy cooking - I set things up like so:
I ladle the batter into a measuring cup to make it easy to pour from, and set it on a saucer to catch the inevitable drips. Since I make a large batch and have hungry people waiting, I use two frying pans to keep things moving. I have my butter close by, and a plate to put the finished palacsinta on. Usually people come up and grab them as I make them and fill and roll them for themselves.
Over medium-high heat melt a small dab of butter in the frying pan (or pans if you are using two). Pour in some of the batter - it will be thin, not like regular pancakes. The dollop of batter should be about like this much-
Then you pick up the pan and swirl it around to get the batter to cover the bottom of the pan like so-
Let it cook until the surface looks rather dry-
Then flip it over to cook the other side -this is where my second pan comes in - I flip it over right into the second pan to finish cooking. Then I go ahead and pour my next palacsinta in the first pan. This works out as an efficient system for me to keep them going and feed the family.
Edited 2016 to add: I don't really bother with the two frying pans any more. I just make them using one pan now and it seems to be fast enough to feed the folks. I get a little head start before they sit down to eat and it works out fine.
Continue to add a tiny dab of butter to the frying pan after each palacsinta.
Spread the finished palacsinta with a thin layer of jam or sprinkle with cinnamon sugar-
Roll it up and feed it to waiting hungry child-
Also very good with fresh berries and sour cream. If your fruit is on the tart side you can mix a little sugar into either the fruit or the sour cream.
Alternatively, for cheese filling mix up 1 pound cottage cheese, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Spread filling generously on palacsinta, roll it up, and place in a buttered baking dish. Bake in oven for about 20-30 minutes until filling is cooked.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar on top or dollop with sour cream if you want to be fancy.