The Lefsa Making Is Complete

You may be wondering where I've been, and no, I haven't fallen off the face of the frozen end of the earth, which for those of you who haven't been reading this blog, is better known as North Dakota.

I have been making lefsa.

Yes, lefsa.

The time-honored tradition of lefse making has been passed down through generations of Norwegians settled in the Midwest. Lefsa is a traditional Norwegian flatbread, and for anyone who has ever wondered why it is that Norwegians have so much gas, lefsa explains it all.

When we lived in Mississippi I was so amazed at all the fried chicken-eating Southerners who had no idea what lefsa is. Hubby, a native Idahoan, didn't even know what lefsa was until his first Christmas here in North Dakota.

Lefsa has made an appearance at every Thanksgiving and absolutely every Christmas dinner since before my great-grandparents were even a twinkle in the eyes of their parents back in the homeland of Norway, or the mothership as I like to call it.

My hubby's first reaction to lefsa was, what am I supposed to do with this? His actual words were, "It's a tortilla, what's so great about smothering a tortilla in butter and sugar."

But then, you take a bite, and it's like a little piece of the heaven that is the Norwegian countryside.

You smother it in butter, you cover in sugar, then you roll it up and eat it. It's hmm hmmm good.

But you must be accepted into the cirle before you are allowed near the flip stick. The flip stick is the official lefsa making tool, and it is sacred. There is no "Oh grandma, can I try, can I?" There is no trying. If you are not ready, then you're not ready. Do or do not, there is no try.

Yoda was definitely a Norwegian.



My grandma is usually the one who makes the lefsa loaves consisting of mashed potatoes, butter, flour. Then the loaves are made into "lefsa balls" that are rolled out to the thickness desired by grandma. Then comes the tricky part. And boy, if you mess up, the lefsa gods are there to punish you via the wrath of grandma.

Once the lefsa is rolled out, then it must be rolled onto the flip stick and put on the lefsa grill. There is it grilled into wonderful bubbly goodness and placed in between two dishtowels, usually hand embroidered by my grandmother.



I don't know why we only have lefsa at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but once in November and once in December, my mom, my aunts and my sister all gather around the lefsa grill at my grandma's house to make lefsa. And believe me, if you don't help with the lefsa making, you don't eat the lefsa. My grandma takes no prisoners when it comes to lefsa.

So, with our lefsa in hand, it is a Happy Festivous!




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