Making Lefse...

Today Princess Pea and I went with my 2nd brother's wife out to her mom's house to make lefse. We had such a GREAT time! Lefse is a Norwegian type of flatbread made from mashed potatoes. You roll it out and fry it on a griddle. It is delicious with butter and sugar, but we also put meatballs and gravy, or turkey, or ham, or whatever you have available on it! Delicious! But as you can see, it is a lot of work. You can only make one at a time (unless you have more than one griddle). And it makes a big mess! LOL But oh was it fun!!

Princess Pea preparing to do battle with the potatoes!

It was a rainy, gloomy, dreary, chilly day! The perfect day to be inside and spend time with family making delicious food!  

My Sis in Law Janet getting some potatoes ready to be rolled.

I had only made lefse one other time and was looking forward to re-learning and practicing my skills with the rolling pin and turner! 

 

Princess Pea working the griddle.

 Princess Pea had never made lefse before and had a good time trying all the steps!

Princess Pea with her cousin Becca working as a team!

 Becca and Pea are first cousins but more like sisters. They have spent a lot of time together over the years and adore each other!


Princess Pea working on a game with her cousin Jeff

Pea and Jeff played on my smart phone when she got tired of rolling and turning. They were playing a game where you try to figure out all the company logos.    







When you make lefse, you need lots of mashed potatoes. They get mixed with other ingredients, including flour, sugar, and even 7-UP (depending on what recipe you use!) Then they get shaped into a "log" and put in the refrigerator to chill and firm up. 



  

My sister in law Janet rolling

The potatoes then get rolled on a pastry cloth until they are very thin!


Tabitha rolling out the potatoes

The potatoes get very large after they are rolled (almost like a pie crust) and you need a turner to lift it too keep rolling until it is the size you need.

Rolling the potatoes out onto the griddle

You also need the turner to put the potatoes onto the griddle. The griddle is very hot (500° or so) and you need the turner to handle the large lefse piece.

Potatoes on the griddle cooking!

 The lefse is cooked until it starts to bubble and then turned over (again using the turner).



My sister in law Val manning the other griddle

We had two griddles going and 3 pastry boards.



The finished product

 You put the fresh lefse in a thick bath towel to keep the moisture in.

We really had a lot of fun learning how to make lefse and spending time with family. There were a lot of laughs and hugs and giggles. Flour flew, lefse broke (we use those as taste test samples) and lots of love!

Thanks to Grandma Kathy and Janet for including us in their day!