LEFSE WARRIOR...

Well, I promised I would post after I made my first batch of lefse and to give you my recipe. Well, today is the day.

I asked my daughter to take a picture of me with my new lefse apron on. Wasn't sure how to pose with my rolling pin and lefse turning stick.
She suggested a 'warrior' pose. ??? (I guess I am out to conquer lefse!)

So here I am; weapons in hand; ready to roll!







The first thing you need to do is prepare the lefse and get everything ready to roll.







Here is the recipe that I use. It calls for instant potatoes (my mom has always told me that Hungry Jack are the best.. so that is all I use!!)


Easy Potato Lefse

3 cups instant Hungry Jack potatoes (dry)
3 cups water
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup powdered milk
1 1/2 cup flour
1 2/3 tsp. salt

1. Mix instant potatoes, sugar, powdered milk and salt in large bowl.
2. Bring water and butter to a boil and add to
the dry mixture.
3. Mix well.
4. Cover with a damp cloth and refrigerate overnight.
5. The next day, add the flour and mix well. (I do this in my Kitchen Aid mixer)
6. Cut into 16 even pieces.
7. Roll the lefse dough, using lots of flour and a grooved rolling pin, on a pastry cloth into a 12 to 14 inch diameter circle.
8. Pick up the lefse, using your lefse handling stick (or yardstick) and gently put onto a
preheated (HOT) lefse frying pan.
9. Fry for about 1 minute and turn the lefse.
10. Fry for 1 more minute (give or take...it should have some small brown patches on it and should bubble up when turned. )
11. Put cooked Lefse into a Lefse Cozy.

Here are some step by step photos:


1. Lefse is rolled on a large cloth covered board with LOTS of flour! Be generous with the flour and re-flour board after every piece! Here is a piece of lefse rolled out and ready for the grill.







2. Picking up the rolled out piece on the turning stick. Lefse is fairly fragile. Make sure you pick it up at the center and gently shake off excess flour.








3. With your stick, roll the lefse gently onto the griddle. (which should be pre-heated and VERY HOT!...note the board I have under my griddle. You do not want the griddle directly on your counter top or table. Make sure it is on a surface that can handle the heat!)







4. The lefse cooks in a very short time. When it bubbles all over you turn it and then it will finish cooking as you see here. (Aren't the air bubbles fun?)








5. Next you move it over onto your stack of finished lefse (in a cozy or newspaper oven*)
It sits in here for several hours and continues to cook and soften.

Here is my 'conquered' lefse! Quite a nice stack. Some people call them 'Lefse Rounds' My husband has assured me that it is ok to call them 'Rounds' even if they are not a perfect circle. What a relief. So, here are my Lefse Rounds.

Now you must decide how you are going to eat your lefse. MOST people choose to take the lefse and put a little butter on it and some sugar; roll it up and eat it as a dessert. (I show some done up this way in the picture with my cornbread rolls which I am making 50 of today for my daughter's play practice!!)

Our family, however, eats lefse a little differently. We basically make a 'Swedish burrito' with it! We take a triangle piece of lefse and put on a little mashed potatoes; swedish meatballs; turkey; corn; cranberries, fish etc......whatever is on the table... and roll it up and pour melted butter on it. MMMM..Just typing this out makes me hungry for it. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this, but Thanksgiving is not too far away and I'll be sure to take some.

CONFESSION:


I cast on a bag before my others were finished. I know I said I wouldn't, but I did. I could tell you how I justified it (8+ hours in the car so I needed an easy knit round and round project), but the truth is I just plain wanted to. I saw this Big Bag pattern on Maia's blog. (The pattern link is on the left under Big Bag pattern) I decided to use 2 strands for a very sturdy bag and did it on size 13 needles. It is huge! And I LOVE it! It's not quite dry yet, but I hope to be carrying it later this
week.













Here are a couple of felted bowls I have made from the One Skein book. They are a quick knit and turned out very cute. I think I will donate them to our church for the Christmas Walk that we are having this weekend.





EASILY AMUSED!
Have I told you how easily amused my family is? Well, they are. Here is a common site at our house. My husband, daughter and friend gathered on the couch around the computer.

What are they looking at? Macintosh computer commericals on the internet.

Yes, we are a Mac family. Now you know.




As for me, I think I will sign off and hit my NEW knitting spot!
Yes, I have given up my little corner of the couch and headed to
a comfy chair that I pull up in front of the fire. You can see I have my new clogs on my feet. They only come off when I leave the house or go to bed. I'm sure I will go through a pair a year at this rate!

Until next time.....








*Newspaper Oven:
How to make a newspaper oven: Take 30 to 40 sheets of newspaper and pile every other sheet of paper on top of each other so the end result is a thick newspaper 1 1/2 times the length of an individual newspaper. Staple or tape the newspaper oven. Put together a piece of wax paper the size of the newspaper oven. Secure that onto the oven. Fold in half. When your lefses come off the gridle, pile them on top of each other and let them set in the oven for an hour or more after you’re done. Fold or cut the lefse and wrap securely. Freezes well.