Lefse is very much a part of my family's tradition. We usually had lefse for Christmas, and if we were lucky and Grandma was visiting, we would have it at other times. My mother loved lefse, as did us kids. Although Mom was a good cook, she rarely made lefse. She would ask her mother , Grandma Berg, to make it and send it via Greyhound Bus to our home. That still puzzles me! When Mom would pick up the lefse at the bus station, which was NOT close to home, she would give each of us girls 1 piece and then save the rest for herself. ???? I think that still bothers me a bit and I am not sure why. You can tell I love lefse. I HATE mashed potatoes, actually, pretty much all potato dishes, but I LOVE lefse.
Lefse , pronounced lef-sa, is the Norwegian tortilla, kind of. Lefse is a family food, one my 1st generation Norwegian- American grandmother taught me to make. You need very little to make lefse. Shown above is the lefse rolling pin, with special ridges in it, the long flat stick for turning lefse on the griddle and lifting it, and the ingredients. Potatoes, flour, and a dab of shortening with a dash or two of salt. That is all.
The recipe: 2 cups riced potatoes, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 Tablespoon shortening, 1 1/2 cups flour( more or less) Boil whole and with peels, enough potatoes to give you 2 cups riced potatoes
When I can push a fork through the potatoes easily , they are done. I take them off the heat and drain them. While the potatoes cool a little I assemble the other needed items.
I get out my potato ricer. Found especially in Scandinavian stores and IKEA! I also begin to heat the griddle for the lefse and have cooling racks on the counter with clean, cotton dishcloths on them for placing the lefse after it is cooked.
Peel potatoes. The peeling comes right off after boiling. Rice the required amount of potato into a large bowl. ( above ) Add the shortening, salt, and half the flour, using your hands to do the mixing. This allows you to feel the dough and gauge the necessary flour and knead in the rest as needed while rolling the dough out. Note that too much flour will give you a hard and unpalatable lefse, the kind Norwegian jokes are told about!
This ( above ) is what the dough looks like when it is ready for the lefse rolling pin.
Shown above is the lefse stick, used for turning the dough during rolling out and also for lifting the lefse onto and out of the griddle. The griddle, pan, skillet, should be heating while you're rolling out the lefse. The size of my lefse is determined by the size of my cooking surface. I would love a large lefse griddle, but am willing to use my electric pancake griddle for the sake of saving a LOT of money. Shown below is the rolling out process. Flour the rolling pin and the rolling surface using ONLY as much as needed, turning frequently. When the dough is rolled out evenly I flip it onto the griddle with the lefse stick.
I can cook 2 medium lefse circles on my hot and ungreased griddle and while they are cooking I roll out other pieces. Cook til the lefse is lightly browning and bubbling, then turn and do the same on the other side. When the lefse is cooked through I turn it onto the towels on the cooling racks.
The coffee is brewing as the lefse is frying, the soft butter is near by as is the cinnamon and sugar mixture my Hubby requires. We have a few pieces while I cook up the rest of the lefse.
When I was in high school my Grandma Berg visited us and taught me how to make lefse. I make lefse often enough and although it is a family tradition to have lefse as our Christmas morning breakfast , I also make it a few times throughout the year. I have taught my daughter and daughters-in-law how to make it and several other women in our community. Lefse is a very integral part of my childhood and growing up years, and I think my Grandma taking the time to teach me something so wonderful also adds to the family tradition and memory.
We butter the lefse and you can put meat and cheese inside or cinnamon and sugar. Then it is rolled up and eaten!A Norwegian tortilla, but oh so much better to me.
Hubby's family , also of Norwegian American descent, put butter and cinnamon and sugar on their lefse. My family put butter and cheese or meat on the lefse. I still prefer meat and cheese, he still prefers cinnamon and sugar, but he is the one in the family with a sweet tooth. Lefse can be a dessert or a main dish. Potatoes, flour, shortening ...very, very economical and basic.
"Like lutefisk, lefse now serves as a badge of Norwegian ethnicity..." ,"Lefse was not available in stores during the 1940's and 1950's , when the custom of making it at home , handed down by oral tradition since pioneer days , began dying out.Suddenly Norwegian Americans were desperate to get it for the holidays, and , to respond to the demand, every town had at least one woman who became the local lefse maker. Like the itinerant bakers in Norway's preindustrial peasant society who traveled twice annually from farm to farm, the American lefse lady would cover three to five miles or maybe two different towns as she prepared the soft bread for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season." 'Keeping Christmas', by Kathleen Stokker
""When.....asked why lefse is important, a woman in Story City, Iowa, told him that lefse makes her remember former times in Norway "when things weren't always so good": Lefse is unique to our roots and more and more people are interested in their heritage. Lefse is a tradition, a thread running through our family." 'Keeping Christmas'
Lefse is indeed a thread running through my family. I taught my daughter and my youngest son's wife how to make lefse, after I bought them a lefse rolling pin, lefse stick and potato ricer, and my son's wife makes lefse for him quite frequently. I plan on teaching my grandchildren how to make lefse and while so doing will tell them about their great-grandma Berg who taught me. And of course there is this, I LOVE to eat LEFSE!
Blessings: family traditions, lefse, having a grandma like Grandma Berg
Since my husband and I were first married in 1973, I have made lefse for our Christmas breakfast. This means I am usually up very late , or very early making lefse. I suppose this means it is a tradition for our family. Opening our presents on Christmas morning, with fresh brewed coffee at hand, a plate of lefse near-by, and plenty of butter and cinnamon & sugar to cover each piece of this very Norwegian food just adds to all we enjoy on Christmas morning.
Continuing many family traditions is a way of reminding ourselves of all that is important within a family, within a culture, within a history we deem important and well worth reminding our children and grandchildren of. Of all my husband and I hold dear, the one thing we would hope and pray is for our family, and especially our children and their children on down to many generations...remember, "..for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you; you will find the baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger." Luke 2:11,12 ( art by our granddaughter KN)
