Lefse 101

Well, it is that time of the year...pumkins, squash, gourds, appples & LEFSE.

I have been making lefse for approximately 30 years both with Grandma Hildur's help & without it. Thursday I decided to get the mashed & riced potatoes ready to bake lefse on Friday. While getting things going, I thought to myself..."self, why don't you use butter this time rather than oil?" Self agreed. I checked out a few recipes in my numerous cookbooks & aligned it with Mom's recipe.

Friday morning (after exercising & showering), I embarked on my task for the morning...baking lefse. The first few lefse turned out quite well, but then I hit a stumbling block...two fell apart on the way to the grill. Darn, I hate when that happens. I keep going...getting frustrated...a finally I just gave up and shut off the grill. I did my in town errands & stopped to visit Grandma Hildur. My plan was to get some pointers...what am I doing wrong?

In the past, Mom has been my lefse coach as well as my critic (in a nice, lefse 101 way). So, I packed up two pieces of lefse, reluctantly, knowing that I could hear comments like, "you are not rolling them thin enough" or you are using too much flour." She was just finishing OT when I arrived & I showed her the lefse, & we proceeded to the eating area at Neilson. She couldn't wait to have a piece of lefse & we chatted while she got it ready to eat. After taking one bite, she smiled at me & said, "Umm, that's good lefse." She almost had to pick me up off the floor!

Going home I smiled, laughed & then realized, lefse is an experience, a link to her parents and her past, & now a link to our mother/daughter relationship...it didn't matter what it tasted like to her, but rather it is a "tie that binds."

Later I told Dale that this is the first time that she didn't say a word about the quality of the lefse...& we both chuckled at that!