You want lefse?
Submitted by Cordell Haugen

Growing up in a Norwegian immigrant family in Northern Minnesota, lefse was always an important ingredient in our lives. Not the small little lefse rounds that are now available in markets and popular with people of all backgrounds who know good food when they taste it, but the big ones that my grandmother used to make. It was in the early 1940s, during World War II, and visits to my paternal grandmother were major outings. Gasoline and other rationed items were in such short supply, that no one went far, or often. Grandma lived on a small farm about seven miles from the little town where we had lived since my father lost our farm during the Great Depression, before I was born. Grandpa had died in 1903, when my father was only eight years old, and Grandma was really a link with the past. Her English was limited to a few phrases, only those most necessary to the hard life to which she had become accustomed.

The one I remember most was 'You want lefse?' Yes, she had that sing-song 'brogue' that people make fun of today when they joke about Minnesota Norwegians. But to us it was like the voice of an angel. When she asked that question, she was singing our song. My brother Jim and I were the youngest in the family, and we were always less frightened of our grandma with her stern countenance when she made such an offer. We would nod our reply and wait for a sign. She would almost smile, then point to the bedroom, which opened off of the living room. It was our cue.

We'd run the few steps to her bedroom, lift the spread and from under the old frame bed, we would slide out a huge box that kept the treasure. It was cold in there, far from the only stove in the home, and clearly the best place to store the staple. She didn't have an ice box. We would open the box and there, between sheets of wax paper, were dozens of huge lefse, folded once into half-rounds each about 20-22 inches across.

From her seat next to the old wood stove, on top of which she baked these gems, came Grandma's voice again. 'One,' she said firmly. 'One,' she would repeat in a voice as stern and commanding as her facial expression.

We would each take one, cover the top layer again with the wax paper, and fold closed the dish towel made from a flour sack. We'd close up the box and timidly find our way back to the kitchen, where our mother had butter and sugar ready to finish up our treat.

If we ate the whole thing, Grandma would wait for what seemed forever, then ask 'You want lefse? And we'd repeat the exercise. Usually, two was all we could eat ... two each, that is. But, if we were really hungry and she thought we could handle a third, the exercise was repeated. By then, you could see a smile of pleasure on her face.

She knew the way to our hearts. She never hugged us; never kissed us; never told us that she loved us. But we knew. If she didn't love us, why would she have treated us to her lefse?

Great Lefse Story
Submitted by Roberta Scot

This is a photo of Dawn Crawford (left) and Roberta Scott (right) who have been friends since college days. We began our annual lefse making get togethers many years ago, as both are from Scandinavian backgrounds. We both live near Boise, Idaho and Dawn's Mother is in Ohio. Tradition has it we were always trying to duplicate the lefse we grew up with. Each year Dawn sends a batch of our lefse efforts to her Mother. The first few years our lefse was thick, hard or rubbery with black spots! Initially her mother wondered what it was between the layers of wax paper, but eventually it began to look and taste more and more like lefse! We began by using a cast iron skillet and regular rolling pin with whipped (using beaters) potatoes. Boy - have we evolved over the years!! We added the pastry cloth and rolling pin (Roberta is always the roller) and then the lefse sticks. Dawn has always been the one cooking. Dawn gave Roberta a lefse griddle for Christmas and with all the right tools we are now making delectable lefse! The funny part is year before last (photo above) was the year to try out the new lefse griddle. We also borrowed a German-made heavy duty ricer from my friend Carla. I followed a recipe that came with the griddle and riced the potatoes. The dough was just creamy, soft and wonderful!! When Dawn showed up at my home to begin cooking our lefse, she showed up in near matching outfit to Roberta! How funny! We both had on green courderoy pants and black shirts! With 'dualing lefse sticks' we present out photograph that represents a wonderful, long friendship with memories of annual lefse get togethers. Wherever we end up living in the future, I will always take my lefse griddle and head to Dawn's before Christmas to continue this tradition! Last year's lefse was nearly perfect to our childhood memories. Dawn's Mother got her annual batch as usual and now recognizes the improvements that actually looks and tastes like real lefse!! The correct tools and years of practice, along with a fond friendship, makes the finest lefse!

Lefse Terror
Submitted by Lise Fleming

Sons of Norway District Six Treasurer LaVonne Kerfoot was going to teach two 'virgin' lefse makers (Mary Jo Martinsen and Lise Fleming) how to make lefse from start to finish. We were to meet in the evening on December 22 to prepare the potatoes and then again the next morning to roll and bake the lefse.

Lise had bought a brand new stainless steel, 'top of the art' potato ricer plus the entire lefse making implements that she was eager to Christen. Early in the morning Lise's phone rang, it was LaVonne who said that she was not feeling well so 'you girls are on your own!' Sheer terror set in!!!!! How were we going to pull this off without LaVonne there to guide us???

A quick phone call to Mary Jo and we decided to go ahead with the lefse making anyway since we had the recipe and LaVonne was just a phone call away.

We met at 6:00 pm and looked over the recipe, it said to boil the potatoes but we had no clue if they should be peeled before or after the boiling. So here was our first phone call to LaVonne who informed us that we peel the potatoes afterwards because 'you would not burn your fingers otherwise!'. After boiling the potatoes, peeling them and burning our fingers, we were excited to try out the new shiny potato ricer. In the beginning it was going along fine, we took turns with the ricer. Suddenly it got harder to turn the crank so we took it apart. To our surprise, the brand new ricer had broken. We looked at each other and said, 'what are we doing now' since we were only about halfway done ricing the potatoes.

Another phone call to LaVonne. To our relief, she said that she would bundle herself up and bring over her ricer right away. What a pal....... within 10 minutes she dropped off her ricer so we were able to finish up preparing the potatoes. She really saved us!

Mary Jo and Lise met early the next morning to roll out and bake the lefse. The first couple of lefse they rolled out stuck to the board, had odd shapes and burned because the grill was too hot. Another phone call to LaVonne and she gave us tips on what to do.

The flour was flying everywhere, we were a mess but little by little we got the hang of it and pretty soon we felt like pros. The lefse shapes became rounder, they did not stick on to the board and they were baked to perfection. We felt pretty proud of ourselves for mastering the lefse making.

We split the lefse lot 3 ways and we anxiously awaited LaVonne's verdict on how well we did. She said that we did an excellent job. Not bad for two 'virgin' lefse makers!