Submitted by Mark Metzler, Winona Minnesota

My Uncle Allie was a towering man. He stood 6-4 and had broad shoulders. A hard-working farmer and great baseball player, he wasn't the type of man who you'd normally think would love being in the kitchen.

But he loved to bake. He'd make breads, cookies and cakes. His favorite was lefse. Each year he'd bring a big bag for my family, and each year we'd finish it off in a hurry. As I grew older, and especially after his wife died, I'd stop in to see him whenever I was in Stoughton, a town famous for its Norwegian heritage.

As the years went by, he continued the tradition of giving my parents a big bag of lefse, and my brothers would help my mom and dad polish it off. I never got enough, and I think he sensed my disappointment. After all, he was my godfather, and he was suppose to watch out for my well being. So, during my trips to his house he'd pull out another bag for me a bag that I would put in the trunk of my car and take to wherever I was living at the time.

"Don't tell your brothers. We don't want them to feel bad," he'd say. I never did. But now I feel a little lonely. It's not because my brothers didn't get enough lefse as far as they know, they did. It's that I never asked him to teach me how to make lefse.

A few years ago he died, and I no longer have that secret bag to take with me when I leave town. Certainly being without my Uncle Allie has left a gap in my life. Still, whenever I have lefse especially great lefse like I get from lefse time there's a moment when I'm transformed, and I can see my uncle standing in front of me.

Submitted by Linda Isaacs Jamestown, ND

Growing up in Minnesota in a Norwegian community, we're connoisseurs of lefse. And our whole family agrees that the best lefse in the world is made by my mother-in-law Evalyn. So we were thrilled when she was able to join much of the family at a 'mini family reunion' in Washington in 1997.

We came from Oklahoma , our daughter's husband was stationed there in the Navy, and two of my husband's brothers and their families live in the Seattle/Portland area, so we had several big family parties. Evalyn, at 92, flew from Minnesota all by herself and was the center of the family festivities. Our Norwegian menu included lutefisk, and we required everyone to taste it, even the little kids and some of them actually came back for seconds!

We not only watched her making lefse, but we video taped it, along with her comments on how to do it. And we wrote down all the tips we could get, which now are a permanent part of our cookbooks. It helped sometimes my daughter and I make lefse which gets the highest compliment from my husband, 'It's almost as good as Mother's!'

She's now almost 102 and still lives in her own apartment. She doesn't make lefse any more, but when any of us need advice on how to do it, she's our authority!

 

Submitted by Carol Peterman Surprise, AZ

My 80+ year old uncle just taught me how to make lefse. At age 58 it was my first attempt. I am now hooked, as I love lefse. This is a memory that I will cherish, and will continue to polish my lefse making skills.