Any Norwegian Readers Out There?

Lefse

This past weekend my sister called the ladies of the family together for a Lefse making party. Lefse, a potato based tortilla, has always been a staple at our annual family Christmas get togethers, but for years now, since my Norwegian grandmother became older and then passed away, we’ve only had store bought from Nordic House in Oakland. Store bought lefse are pretty awful when you compare them to homemade. The flour-y, potato-y smell of a fresh grilled lefse is such a familiar and comfortable smell to me. Spread it with butter, roll it up and enjoy.

Lefse

With my father recruited to watch all the little grandchildren we mustered up every last cell of Norwegian blood we have left in our bloodline, got out the funny looking lefse rolling pin, rolled up our sleeves, covered ourselves in flour and got to work.

Lefse

After you roll them out, you need a this special flat lefse stick (this one my father crafted) to slide underneath, lift it up and lower and then roll it onto the griddle.

Lefse

A stovetop griddle is far slower than the hearth top cooking that my dad remembers as a kid, but we built up a nice little pile of lefse. And the joy of getting together as a family over the holidays to carry on a family tradition that almost got lost was priceless. There are so many traditions associated with the holidays, new ones that my little family have created, ones that I remember from my childhood, but to participate in one that has been in our family line for generations upon generations was very special. Thanks for getting us all together, Marga.

Although, contrary to the family history, we decided to skip the Lutefisk.

Do you have any long lived holiday traditions in your family?

Comments

  1. says

    Hi!
    I’m a Norwegian.. and red on your blogg.Oh,how nice to find
    Lefse and Lutefisk!! All your nice photoes and your writing how to make Lefe.I love to eat both.We use this for Christmas.
    Whis you a Happy Christmastime!
    From Berit in Norway (Kongsvinger)

  2. says

    Hi,
    I a second generation Norwegian American living in Wisconsin. When my mother was alive I made lefse with her every year, but now I just help at church. Every year we have a “Cookie Walk” there and Norwgian baking is also sold. Lefse is always the most popular of the items being sold and I love it as do my children. I belong to Sons of Norway and we have our annual Lutefisk dinner in early December. I actually love lutefisk so I always look forward to that. When I was a child we had lefse and lutefisk every Christmas Eve. There were also meatballs and gravy for those who didn’t like the traditional Norwgian fare. We do not do lutefisk anymore on Christmas Eve, but the lefse is still part of our celebration.

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