Christmas Advent Calendar, Day 20: Make Lefse with Grandma

Making lefse is a Christmastime tradition in Andi's family. Janie (Andi's mom) learned from her grandmother at age 20, and has since taught Andi's sister, aunts, cousins and now Tory, Aden and I how to make it. I think Janie made lefse four separate times this holiday season! Everyone wants to share in the tradition with her.

We chose Sunday, December 20th (advent calendar day 20) for our lefse session. Andi was suppose to be traveling for work that day, but thought he might be able to catch an earlier flight home in time to join us. (Plans changed, and he ended up skiing in Vail that weekend.) Andi's sister Lindsay and her husband Kyle planned to join us as well, but decided last-minute to take a trip to New York City. Andi's dad was working that day, so it ended up being Janie, Tory, Aden and myself for our lefse date. No worries though! We had a fun, memorable day together.

Considering our group of four-year-old and two-year-old participants, Janie made the lefse dough ahead of time and only made one small batch. She owns the special griddles, rolling pins and long wooden sticks used to turn the lefse while it's cooking. For my contribution, I brought a spinach salad and soup for lunch.

With all the prep work done for us, it didn't take long to cook the lefse. Janie showed Tory and Aden how to roll the dough ball onto the pastry board, and she and I took turns cooking the lefse on the hot griddle.

Tory caught on rather quickly and seemed to really enjoy the cooking process. Though, she really likes to help in the kitchen so I suppose it isn't too surprising. Later that evening, she told me there aren't many steps to making "lepsa"; you simply:

1) Scoop a piece of flour
2) Roll it out
3) Put the dough on
4) Roll it out carefully
5) Put it on the pan
6) Let it flip
9) Let it cool
10) You can eat it now

*The numbered steps are exactly as she described it

Tory enjoyed eating lefse (buttered and sprinkled with sugar), and had it for breakfast every morning the week before Christmas. Aden wasn't a big fan; though, it's not surprising considering he doesn't like potatoes or many starches in general. 

As always, I'm thankful for Janie presence in our lives and her dedication to family traditions. I hope my kids cherish making lefse with their grandma and remember these times together fondly.