This is the very first entry of my very first blog. I’ve been writing in journals forever. They are a mixture of my daily routine, a monthly news round-up, the excitement of Christmas, trip plans and the occasional recipe. I decided the recipes needed to be released and the perfect one to start with was lefse. It brings us together and keeps us family. I do have a theory about white food and Norwegians. I think it’s the snow. We love potatoes, bread, almond paste, pickled herring (well, that’s not true of us all), and on, and on. Remind me soon and I’ll tell you the story of getting a bowl of rommegrot for my mom when she was sick. So the recipe for lefse……
Once a year, the cousins get together at Paul and Linda’s house to make lefse. We aim for the last Saturday of October. It’s an incredible amount of work made fun by the company, the champagne and the nibbles. Paul, Linda, Greg and I get together on the Thursday night before to cook and rice the potatoes. We usually do about 40 pounds. The potatoes need to be thoroughly cooled before we can proceed. We start the process at 10 a.m. Saturday morning. Everyone brings a bottle of champagne, a nibble and an apron. We roll until the potatoes are gone, usually making about 12 dozen pieces. Everyone takes lefse home, but I don’t think anyone enjoys eating it more than Hillary.
Everyone must pass the lefse test before marrying into the family.
Lefse Recipe
6 cups riced potatoes
1 ¼ cups flour
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Place the riced potatoes into a large bowl. Thoroughly rub the dry ingredients into the potatoes. Add the milk. Combine. Place dough on a well-floured pastry cloth and form into a log. Cut into 16 slices. Roll out into an approximately 12 to 14 inch circle. Bake on lefse grill heated to max. Flip once. Cool between several layers of towels to allow it to cool as slowly as possible and avoid crisping up. As it cools, fold in fourths and overlap edges to keep soft. Freezes well with waxed paper between each slice.
* From the Recipe Box:
Typically, we boil 30 to 40 pounds of potatoes. A few years ago I had an epiphany and decided to try baking them to keep them dryer and fluffier. Eureka! It worked like a dream. Millions of Norwegians are rolling in their graves. We also quit ricing and started using the Kitchen Aid shredder. Easy squeezy. As a purist, I prefer the ricer but this gets the job done so fast. Paul, Linda, Greg and I do potatoes on a Thursday so they are well chilled by Saturday, Lefse Day.
The key to properly made lefse lies in tradition. You must have lots of Champagne, hors d’ouevres, and your favorite cousins to help.
One year, a friend of Chris’ asked to participate. We don’t normally allow outsiders, but she was a fun friend. We told her the rules: bring Champagne, an apron and an hors d’ouevre and that’s all. She arrives wearing this beautiful long, red wool coat and we’re all going WTF! She looks around, asks if there are any guys here and then drops her coat. All she’s wearing is an apron and she’s holding a bottle of Champagne. What a hoot! The amount of Champagne consumed is directly related to the quality of the lefse. 40 pounds of potatoes makes approximately 12 dozen pieces of lefse.
And remember: From quiet homes and first beginnings out to undiscovered ends, there’s nothing worth the wear of winning but laughter and the love of friends. Big Kiss, Lynn
From the Recipe Box 