Lefse!

I have nothing quilty to show right now, I need to move the wrapping paper stuff later today so I can work on clue 4 of the mystery.... however!  I finished up the lefse making for our Christmas dinner.  There are several different types of recipes of lefse, and I am sure depending on where in Norway it is made there are regional differences as well.  I want to make Hardanger lefse next--a recipe I found in my "Notes From a Scandinavian Kitchen" book.  It included brown sugar in the recipe.... yum!  The recipe I used is kind of a more bland one with just a bit of butter, salt, and milk.  I want to step it up next time :)



Our tradition for Christmas was along with all the food was a pan of lefse.  The night before my mom (and later me) would spread butter onto a sheet of lefse and sprinkle sugar on top.  It would be rolled up, usually cut in half to fit the pan and baked long enough for the butter to melt along with the sugar.  We were left with a tasty, and sometimes sticky treat to eat with the dinner.


When I started making my lefse today I forgot about adding enough flour to the mashed potatoes.  I ended up having it break in pieces when I tried to transfer from the pastry board to the griddle... back to square one!  There are two other things that are a must when making lefse; 1. rice the potatoes.  No lumps! 2. make sure the potatoes are cold.  Making mashed potatoes the night before is the best method.  Oh wait, three things: make sure your pastry cloth and rolling pin sock are well floured.  Once they get sticky, you will have issues.


A lump!! This is why ricing the potatoes is best. Unfortunately I had a couple of lumps fall back into my riced potatoes.  It's hard to roll out the dough thin if you have lumps.

Kevin likes to use the stick after I roll out the lefse to transfer it... he usually takes over after I get going.  I will admit that it is kind of satisfying to use it to roll the dough onto the griddle, it's almost magical :)


An in-motion pic.  Too bad it didn't turn out well...  Remember, when using the stick that the pretty side is up--it is rounded while the bottom is flattened to be able to run it along the the pastry cloth easily.


And the finished deliciousness!

I plan to put butter and sugar on these for Christmas and think of my mom and all the wonderful memories and traditions that she has given to me.