Making Lefse!

Ok, so I'm way behind on my posts again. May has been a crazy, busy month! The good news is that I have lots to post about; the bad news is that the order may be a little wonky.

Still to come: April's graduation from OSU, mini-golf with some of our favorite kiddos, the potluck we took this food to, garden updates, and our trip to Sequioa National Park (some pics of this last on Facebook if you are so inclined).

People ask me sometimes what kinds of food I miss from Wisconsin "besides cheese!" One of the (other) things you don't find around here is Scandinavian food, although we have found a place that sells lingonberries! When our small group decided to end the year with an International Potluck (good idea, Erik!) I decided to finally take the plunge and try making lefse. In a fit of inspiration some years back I had purchased the ricer, rolling pin and pad, flipper and griddle necessary, but had never given it a try. I know understand why my friend's family made a huge batch of lefse ONE TIME A YEAR with the help of all aunts, grandchildren, etc. and froze enough to last. It's not something I'd probably do again solo, but the results were almost enough to temp me.

This is the potato mixture that sat in the fridge overnight. I totally took the cheater's route and used instant mashed potatoes. Next time I'd really like to try it with the real thing and use the ricer.
Adding the flour to make the dough
More flour!
And here we go . . .
I've always wondered how these rolling pins work. It seems like the grooves would get full of gunk, but somehow they don't!Note to self: rolling the balls ahead is a good idea; setting them on the red paper you printed the recipe on . . . not so good. At least the pinkish hue seemed to disappear when they were cooked. ;-)

These thin edges were getting quite crispy, so I decided to use a different tactic.
Enter the Yellow Bowl. It added a step, and probably not necessary, but since I was standing around waiting to flip the lefse there was plenty of time. The rolling and cooking are tasks that would be nice to share--or at least have company to talk with while you do it!The smaller lefse shape allowed me to cook two at a time on the griddle. And they look prettier!
Store them between towels while cooking.
Some of them still seemed to be a bit crispy on the edges. I put some bread in the bag with them in hopes they would soften up. I have no idea if that was necessary, but by the next evening they were perfect. What a treat!
Cook's prerogative--taste testing! I spread butter on and sprinkled it with cinnamon and sugar.
When Erik got up, he tried one with lingonberries--definitely the better choice!!
I also made a batch of Norwegian meatballs (I'm not being anti-Swedish here, but I did get the recipe from a Sons of Norway website so it doesn't seem appropriate to change the name!)
Erik wanted something from his Irish heritage as well, and decided to make a batch of colcannon. We tried this dish on St. Patrick's Day this year and loved it!

Here are the potatoes and (floating) parsnips on the stove, ready to cook.
Washing the kale (have you ever seen anyone so excited about kale?!?)
Mmm . . . kale cooking in butter.
He put the potatoes and parsnips in the mixer to start with, but we found that the parsnips didn't get mashed properly. Next time we'll skim the parsnips off first and mash them by hand before adding them--then the mixer should work just fine!
Yummy! To quote one of the kids at the potluck, "I think these are the best mashed potatoes I've ever had in my LIFE!"
We are enjoying wonderfully cool weather with enough humidity to feel like spring is still with us. It's supposed to continue for another week--no complaints in this household!!