Lefse! A Quintessential Scandinavian Treat!

At all Norwegian holiday gatherings there will be lefse!

 

Lefse, Lefsa! Let’s Eat!

Christmas!  It’s the season to be merry, to celebrate, to give gifts.  And it’s the season to eat!  Most North Dakota families can attest to that. 

Christmas baking is as important a part of Christmas as attending the local elementary school Christmas program, and going to church on Christmas Eve (or Day). 

Or to Sons of Norway Christmas celebrations, not to mention those festive observances at the Long X Visitor Center and Pioneer Museum of McKenzie County in Watford City.

Holiday Baking, Scandinavian Style

A holiday celebration at the Long X Visitor Center and Pioneer Museum of McKenzie County in Watford City, North Dakota  might include a galore of Scandinavian treats!

Christmas Traditions Through the Generations in McKenzie County

Sandy at the Long X Trading Post Visitor Center/Pioneer Museum of McKenzie County in Watford City, North Dakota is passionate about passing on holiday traditions to younger generations.

 

Family and Cultural Traditions

During November and December each year those who love to bake, and carry on family traditions, hole themselves up in their kitchens.  For most, out come the mixing bowls and baking sheets. 

Special recipe books opened only once a year become flour laden.  And for some, out come the rolling pin and lefse griddle and lefse stick.   

Reminiscing begins. Talk of the ‘olden’ days might even outweigh cell phone texting and social media.   

A Cookbook to Pass Along Family History. Enger Family Cookbook.

Enger Family Cookbook, Preserving Culture

This cookbook was compiled by the family of one of the first Norwegian pioneers in North Dakota, Fingal Enger. He was the first pioneer settler in Steele County.

 

Reminisce

For me, I think about spending time with my great aunt, born in 1890 on the very farm on which I reside. There I raised my family.  Some of my best memories are of frying lefse on a huge iron cook stove, which is still in the old house next to mine. 

My favorite crab apple tree is behind that old house. It’s well over a hundred years old.  My great aunt named it ‘Lefse Tree’.  Its wood burned at just the right temperature to fry her lefse to perfection! 

I still have the lefse stick she and her mother used. It’s carved from a tree on their homesteader’s woodlot, which still stands. 

The Lefse Made on the Cookstove of This Old House....

No one lives in this house now, but much of the interior is intact. The old cookstove still stands, waiting for wood from the special ‘Lefse Tree’. The lefse stick hangs nearby.

The Lefse Tree

Well over 100 years old, this crab apple tree was planted on the original homestead. ‘Lefse Tree’.  Its name is derived from its greatest contribution to the original family that lived there.  It provided fire wood for the iron cook stove which it burned at a perfect temperature and rate to fry lefse!

 

Sons of Norway 

Lefse making for my children was a bit different.  We cheated, and used an electric lefse griddle, as most do now.   Sons of Norway provided the most intense lefse making experience possible.  Their recipe is a classic!

Pinterest

A quick search on Pinterest for Lefse recipes yields successful results!

Uff Da! That's A Lot of Lefse on Pinterest!

Pinterest ‘lefse’, and you’ll get results!

 

Potatoes.  Potatoes.  Potatoes.  

Lefse is traditionally made from only three ingredients.  So one would think one recipe would be all it takes to make the best lefse around.   Wrong!   Talk to any Scandinavian, consult any Norwegian or Swedish cookbook (or any church cookbook in North Dakota, for that matter) and evidence will show just the contrary.  Do the lefse recipes ever end??!!   

A Taste of History, Watford City Centennial Cookbook, North Dakota

A Taste of History, Watford City Centennial Cookbook, North Dakota. Contact the Pioneer Museum of McKenzie County about the availability of this cookbook, published in 2014.

 

The Watford City Centennial Cookbook, A Taste of Home, boasts seven recipes for lefse!   All good Scandanavians have their favorite. And a special lefse stick, rolling pin and griddle to match, no doubt.  

Here’s a sampling: 

Lefse Recipe from the Watford City Centennial Cookbook. Contact the Pioneer Museum of McKenzie County in Watford City, North Dakota, for availability.

Lefse Recipe from the Watford City Centennial Cookbook. Contact the Pioneer Museum of McKenzie County in Watford City, North Dakota, for availability.

One of many Lefse Recipes from the Watford City Centennial Cookbook. Contact the Pioneer Museum of McKenzie County in Watford City, North Dakota, for availability.

One of many Lefse Recipes from the Watford City Centennial Cookbook. Contact the Pioneer Museum of McKenzie County in Watford City, North Dakota, for availability.

 

My own cookbook, Enger Family Cookbook, which I compiled a few years back (with the goal of passing on my Norwegian heritage and traditions) boasts eleven recipes!  These are my favorites: 

A lefsa handed down for generations. Suppose that 'a' on the end is Swedish?

A lefsa recipe handed down for generations. Suppose that ‘a’ on the end is Swedish? Lefsa!

Who knew that there could be so many lease variations on a recipe which essentially is based on three ingredients? Norwegians, that's who!

Who knew that there could be so many lefse variations on a recipe which essentially is based on three ingredients? Norwegians, that’s who!

Most Norwegian bakers have several 'favorite' lefse recipes.

Most Norwegian bakers have several ‘favorite’ lefse recipes.

These two lefse recipes were tried and true for generations of Norwegians who settled in the Mayville-Hatton area of North Dakota. Alma's lefse was sold in stores, and to many was the best around, back in the day.

These two lefse recipes were tried and true for generations of Norwegians who settled in the Mayville-Hatton area of North Dakota. Alma’s lefse was sold in stores, and to many was the best around!

Sometimes lefse recipes were more than ingredients, they were step by step instructions meant to be handed down through the generations.

Sometimes lefse is more than just ingredients. It’s the step by step instructions, handed down through the generations, which is special.

 

Lefse, Lefsa!  It’s a Mighty Big Treat!

Lefse! It's a Mighty Big Treat! Uff Da!

Who knew that lefse could grow this big!!  Anything is possible with Norwegians!

 

And There Are More!

Cookbook after cookbook presents variations of lefse recipes.   Each family has its favorite, whether for reasons of taste, or the memories associated with them.  What cookbooks do you recommend?           

What Are Your Favorite Lefse and Christmas tradition recipes?   

What lefse recipes have you used?   Who makes the best lefse ?   Where can good lefse be purchased?  How do you serve and eat lefse?

Mange Tak!

And for that, Mange Tak.   Heck…… Mange Tusen Tak!  

 

God Jul!

Merry Christmas, God Jul!

 

 

Western North Dakota Christmas traditions include many cultures.  You’ll love to learn about this elaborately stunning  Ukrainian Christmas fare:  A Twelve Course Christmas Dinner!

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