Daughters of Norway Lefse Making

I had such a lovely day making lefse with my Daughters of Norway lodge friends.  Lefse is Norway's traditional flatbread.  It is made from potatoes and flour and the dough is baked on a grill.

This is the lefse mix we used.  There's two packets in this box; the first package is instant potatoes.  You take water and shortening and bring it to a boil, remove from heat and add the first package.  Mix well and let it cool overnight in the frig. Then add the second packet (flour).  Mix well and divide into golf ball size pieces.

Here's the necessary equipment for rolling the dough.  It's a cloth covered pastry board and cloth covered rolling pin.  Make sure both surfaces are well dusted with flour.

To insure smooth edges, take the ball of dough and knead in your hand for a few seconds.  Make a small disc shape and lay it on the floured board.

Roll out until thin and desired diameter.  Be sure to roll evenly across the dough so that you don't have thin edges.

More special equipment; a long wooden handled spatula and a very special soft brush made of goat's hair.

Slip the wooden spatula under the dough and place it on the hot lefse grill.  Use the goat hair brush to dust off the excess flour.

Here's a picture of one of the lefse grills...

Bake lefse on grill until the dough starts to bubble.  Then take the wooden spatula and turn over.  Be careful that your grill is not too hot as you don't want it to burn.

Take wooden spatula and remove lefse from grill and place on tea towels and cover with tea towel until lefse is cooled.

Here's a picture of my friend Geri who was  packaging the lefse after it's cooled.

And here's a photo of Astrid and Ardis after a fun day of lefse making. 

 Our group of 9 ladies today made over 200 lefse!  We had a fun filled day.

If you are interested in Daughters of Norway, click  here to see if there's a lodge near you.  We are a very old organization with our roots in America going back over 100 years.

I hope you enjoyed this little insight into one of the rich customs of Norway.

Ha det bra (goodbye),
Pat 

Please stop by Handmade Harbour and meet some lovely crafters!

Home Decor Musings

Here I am back again for another week of posting.  I really enjoy my blog friends and I thank you for your visit and your comments.  Today, I'm not going to bore you with anymore watercolor pictures. I thought I would give you some insight into my decorating.....(my daughter would laugh at me as she thinks my decorating is nonexistent!)

Here's a picture of the new candelabras that I bought yesterday at Home Goods.  I had wanted something to go with my chandelier and yet have some height.  Home Goods had a new display of these candle holders and I snagged these two.  I think they look good?

 These are the bird of paradise curtains that I ordered from World Market.  They are upstairs in the TV room.  Behind them are four little square windows.  Since we now (I) watch TV up there, it helps keep the sun off the TV screen.  I love patterns - one of the reviews for these curtains was from a lady who had eclectic style....just like me!

I had this Asian inspired planter that I made into a table.  I bought a little lamp at my local store.  I think it adds a little bit of ambiance to the room....

As to the kitchen, my daughter brought me this fragrant sprag of rosemary.  I used it in a dish the other day.  I cut up parsnips and sweet potatoes and boiled them in a little water, fresh rosemary and a pinch of sugar.  I then drained them and mashed them adding a little butter and salt and pepper.  They were delicious.

And as to my outdoor decor, my gardenia plant has a ton of blossoms.  I hope that they don't drop off and that I can enjoy the fragrant flowers.

I'll leave you with a picture of my daughter, Heidi (on the right).  She was so excited today as she got to meet her favorite author, Sophie Kinsella at our local library.  She had so much fun.

Until next time, I wish you my best and please if you have time, drop by Handmade Harbour and see some great craft ideas!

until next time,
Pat

New Hobby - Watercolour Greeting Cards

I have missed writing this past week and I have missed hearing from everyone, too.  It's been a busy week here at Lilly My Cat.  My little grandson spent the better part of the week at our home and I've forgotten how much energy it takes to have a child!  I guess I'm getting old. Our day started at 6:30AM and this is how it went:

1.  Eat breakfast
2.  Get dressed for school
3.  Drive him to school (15 minute drive)
4.  Take him to the school inside and sign him in (back in my day, the child was left at the curb and walked in by himself)
5.  Drive home (15 minute drive)
6.  Pick him back up at school (go inside the school and sign him out - this part I totally agree with given today's problems)
7.  Come home and fix lunch
8.  Nap time?  I don't think so.....
9.  Have fun doing all the things that you can do at Grandma and Grandpa's
10.Eat dinner
11.Go to Sleep (storytime first)

I finally have gotten the routine after these four days.  I was the oldest person at the school drop off.  There were some young Moms with more than one child to look after!   I've come to the conclusion that when you are 60 years old, you run out of energy.  But, in all respect, it was so much fun to have my little grandson stay with us and he was so well behaved.  I look forward to many more visits with him at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

I last wrote about my discovery of watercolor pencils.  I've had so much fun experimenting with them.  This past week my daughter gave me some beautiful card stock and little sticky corners so I could make some one of a kind cards with my watercolor pictures.  I will share with you some of them:

Can you see the little black corners?  Years ago this is what they used in photo albums.  Now they come like stickers and they are so easy to apply.

I think this little watercolor is my favorite....

I like the way the colors dried on the card on the left..

And the wintery snowdrop card.

 

My little grandson and I did a craft project coloring glass ornaments.  He gave them to his teachers at school.  I had fun painting little gift tags for the packages...

So, as you can see, I've had a busy but fun filled week.  My needle arts are not getting all the attention but I'm still working on my Coast Ripple Blanket.

I hope wherever you are that you are well and safe.  Please say "hello" in the comment section if you have time.  I'd love to hear from you.

Blessings,

Pat

P.S.  Oops, almost forgot, please visit my friends over at Handmade Harbour.