Can it already be Thanksgiving week? I don’t know about you all, but it seems that each year I’m surprised at just how quickly the year has flown, and with the holiday season upon us, I know that the last month (plus a few days) will fly by in the blink of an eye.
For our collaborative post this month, Danae and I wanted to share each our favorite Thanksgiving recipe. But (surprise, surprise) we had the same one! Lefse! Now you may be scratching your head wondering, what in the world is lefse? Boy I’m glad you asked!
As some of you may know, the Anderson family is quite Scandinavian, Grandpa A is Swedish; Grandma A is Norwegian. This means our holidays are filled with classic Scandinavian dishes—Swedish meatballs, Swedish rice dessert, fruit soup, Swedish coffee bread (what we loving refer to as Christmas bread), and the list goes on. And on that list you’ll find lefse! It’s a potato bread cooked very thin, then cut into smaller pieces. There are many ways to eat it but we prefer to spread butter over it, sprinkle it with sugar, roll it up, and consume as many as possible during the holiday meal. (We should also note that lefse does not count as a dessert.)
I don’t think either Danae or I remember a time growing up that we didn’t have lefse around the holiday season, whether at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year or perhaps all three! (I sadly missed the holiday season at home these past two years and can’t begin to describe how excited I am to finally be spending Christmas with my family this year! Lefse aside!)
And we both have had the opportunity of making it with Grandma. Danae most recently as you can probably see from the pictures! So with Thanksgiving upon us, we thought of sharing this recipe with you.
Note: Before you begin, there are a few special tools you may need. I’m sure if push comes to shove, you might be able to get by without them, but they are highly recommended by Grandma. I’ll include links to them if you are at all tempted to make your own lefse.
Potato Lefse
Ingredients:
3 cups mashed potatoes
2 cup flour
3 tablespoons cream (approximately)
2 teaspoons salt (less if potatoes have been salted)
Instructions:
Prep the mashed potatoes the night before and let them sit in the refrigerator. Mix flour and cream gradually into potatoes which have been salted. Roll out with lefse pin (grated rolling pin) to a thin pancake thickness, on a well floured board (Grandma suggests rolling it part way, flipping it over and re-flowering the other side, and then finishing rolling it out). Bake on a large pancake griddle on top of the stove. Turn carefully when browned on one side. Double over and let cool on board. Wipe away the excess flour from the griddle before baking each new piece.
Getting it right takes practice and trial-and-error. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right on the first try.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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