Tuesday, March 8, 2011

We Made Lefse...Uffdah

My family has always been lucky enough to have homemade lefse as something that was either on the table or in the freezer. Growing up, it was tradition that there was lefse at our holiday and special family gatherings.

Since the passing of my grandma, there hasn't been anyone left in our family to make lefse. Any lefse on our table has been purchased. My sister and I decided that we have to change that and become the next generation of lefse makers.

This weekend, I traveled to my sister's house to begin the lefse journey.

10:00 a.m. - Preparation of the star ingredient begins - the potato. Should we peel enough for one batch? Double batch? Yup. Double batch it is. What the heck, we know what we're doing.

Only one potato-peeler-blister later, we have a pot full of potatoes ready to be cooked. Well, actually we have a VERY big pot full of potatoes. Somehow we've peeled enough for two batches....and supper!

Whew. Glad to be done with that job!

We cook the potatoes, run them through the old ricer (double-riced, as a matter of fact!), mix in other ingredients, and get them in the fridge to chill.


11:30 a.m. - We stop to ponder.....what should two sisters do while potatoes are cooling?

11:45 a.m. - We go shopping. :-)

5:30 p.m. - We return home. Tired. Hungry. Not in the mood for lefse. My brother-in-law grills bacon-wrapped turkey mignon, my sister prepares fresh asparagus, and I warm up the extra riced potatoes. What a yummy meal! It's topped off with freshly made (by my sister) apple crisp.

6:30 p.m. - It can be delayed no longer. Lefse making must begin. It doesn't grill itself, you know.

Out comes our handed-down electric lefse grill. What? No cord in the box. Crap. Now what? After a little searching, we are happy to discover that a cord from a fondue pot works just as well.

Rolling preparation begins.

Unfortunately, our potatoes were not Russet potatoes (the recommended kind) so our dough is quite sticky. We need to add lot of extra flour. Yikes. Rolling it thin enough with this sticky dough is not easy.

Remember that sticky dough I mentioned....well, it's hard to get it to the griddle when it doesn't hold together well so no giggling allowed from veteran lefse makers.

10:15 p.m. - Two batches of lefse complete! We unanimously decide that more practicing is required before we get to our ancestors level of lefse-making, but at least we've got a start!

10:20 p.m. - We are exhausted after a hard day's work. Plop. Plop. is the sound you hear of two tired sisters falling into their easy chairs.

1 comment:

  1. YUM! Now I really am craving some lefse! :) Yours look yummy! My mom sometimes uses a recipe with instant potatoes and it turns out really good too! It saves time and the peel and mashing! Thanks for the lovely post!

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