While lefse has been made for generations by South Dakota cooks, their ranks are thinning. Yet for novices willing to replicate the melt-in-your-mouth goodness of this Norwegian snack, these thin potato discs offer challenges and delicious rewards.

It wasn't until nearly two decades ago that Marjory Thorstenson learned how to make the Scandinavian treat. The Rapid City woman's grandmother would whip up lefse from leftover mashed potatoes using the stick from her window shade to flip the delicate rounds on the grill.

"I don't know what it is about lefse. We've done demonstrations where we've had adults and children standing around us, drooling for lefse," Thorstenson said.

Sometime this month before Dec. 18, Thorstenson, her husband, their two sons and their families will gather at their youngest daughter's home to begin a four-hour lefse-making marathon.

Daughter Kim Haug and the rest of her family will mix up 20 pounds of warm, peeled, riced potatoes, quarts of cream and plenty of butter, then chill it all before adding just the right amount of flour, rolling it out and cooking it on a griddle. When completed, the hot lefse is placed on a cloth dish towel to prevent sticking and kept in a plastic sack to keep the edges from drying out. By running three to four griddles at one time, every one of the 15 family members has a chance to use the lefse sticks.

Thorstenson warns that the potato mixture must be chilled before adding the flour.

As a general rule, Thorstenson rolls the mix into balls, about 1/3 cup each, and places them into a bowl to stay refrigerated. As she begins to heat her griddle, she pats a ball into a round disc. Then using a rolling pin, she rolls it out into a circle about 16 inches in diameter. Nine cups of mix should produce about 25 to 30 rounds, she said.

"You don't need as much flour as is called for in the potato mixture. We'll pick up flour as we roll it out," Thorstenson said.

In Haug's lefse assembly line, it's important to keep the rolling pins floured.

"The rolling of the lefse is the key factor in making it," she said.

The potatoes should be tender, yet not overcooked. They usually use russet potatoes, but others swear by potatoes from the Red River Valley of North Dakota. "It's the lefse makers' preference," Haug said.

According to Nancy Burke, a Lille Norge Fest organizer, controversy about potatoes swirls when the local Scandinavian cooks get out their recipe boxes and compare ingredients.

"They'll say 'I only use North Dakota Reds.' Another one will only use Idaho Russets. Another lady will say 'I only use the ones on sale,'" Burke said.

At the recent Lille Norge Fest, hosted by Sons of Norway at the Canyon Lake Senior Citizens Center, lefse once again proved to be the traditional favorite by selling out 2,300 rounds by the third hour of the festival. Burke said she didn't know any women who used instant potatoes, but it wouldn't surprise her.

"Everybody has their recipe," Burke said.

Often these recipes reflect the generations of cooks who dealt with regional potato crops and frugal budgets.

"If it tastes good, eat it," Burke said.

Thorstenson's preferences come from years of self-taught, hands-on experience, turning back her sleeves and combining sacks of flour with hundreds of pounds of potatoes. It was only after all of the lefse makers in her family had died that Thorstenson picked up her rolling pin and potato ricer.

"My mother never learned to make lefse," Thorstenson said.

In fact, her grandmother never made lefse in front of family or company. "If she wanted us to learn, she would have invited us into her kitchen," Thorstenson said with a laugh.

It was when Thorstenson's sister-in-law bought her a lefse griddle that everyone assumed she would make it. Over the years and countless recipes, Thorstenson has learned to check if her kitchen counter can withstand high heat (some can't). She keeps her griddle at a toasty 450 to 475 degrees. She learned to use it at that temperature for only two hours at the maximum. "Otherwise the control dial will melt or stop working," she said.

She has experimented with whole-wheat, soy and rice flours - they work - and organic Golden Potatoes, soy milk and vegetable solids with good results for her vegetarian family and friends. As a time save, she has learned to make up the potato mixture the day before and uses a grooved rolling pin with stockinet to hold the flour.

While she started out believing only in a dry potato for her recipe, juicier spuds like those from the Golden Potato family have produced some wonderful lefse with a golden hue.

"It shouldn't be this complicated to cook lefse. If my grandmother saw this, she'd turn over in her grave," Thorstenson said.

Recipes become family favorites

Thorstenson Family Lefse

4 to 5 pounds peeled russet potatoes

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 teaspoons salt

2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour

Additional flour for rolling the dough

Peel potatoes and cook in boiling water until tender; drain. While still warm, put potatoes through ricer. Measure 8 cups riced potatoes into a bowl; add melted butter, cream and salt. Mix well. Cover potatoes and chill in refrigerator. Potato mixture may be chilled overnight in refrigerator. When potatoes are very cold, mix in 2 to 3 cups flour with a pastry blender. Form potato dough into balls, using about 1/3 cup dough for each ball. Keep refrigerated as dough handles best when cold.

Heat lefse grill to 475 degrees. Roll out each chilled ball on a well-floured pastry cloth using a die-cut rolling pin with stockinet. Roll dough nearly paper thin. With a long flat lefse stick, transfer the lefse round to the pre-heated grill. Brown lightly, turn lefse with the stick and brown lightly on the other side.

Layer each baked round on a cotton towel and keep covered in a plastic bag. When cool, fold lefse into quarters and package in plastic bags. Store in freezer or refrigerator.

To serve: Traditionally, lefse is generously spread with soft butter, sprinkled with (white, brown, cinnamon) sugar, then rolled and eaten with a smile. Lefse may be filled with shredded cheese, rolled and served with chili, used as the soft shell of a taco, or spread with a favorite fruit preserves and served at breakfast. Using Lingonberry preserves are a Scandinavian tradition. Lefse can be the bread for a meal, a dessert or a tasty hors d'oeuvres.

Makes about 2-1/2 dozen lefse rounds.

Krumkake

-Diane Paulson

1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1-1/2 cups or more flour; you may need batter a little thicker

Sift baking powder into flour. Mix flour mixture and the rest of the ingredients together. Using a large serving spoon, spoon batter on the Krumkake iron. On a hot iron, place a dollop of mix, hold handle down about a 20 count. Turn iron over and repeat. Remove Krumkake with a knife to the roller. Let set on the roller as you put more mix on the iron, remove cone from roller and enjoy.

Almond Cookie Kransekake

-Marjory Thorstenson

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 pound almond paste

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 egg yolks

2-1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon almond extract

Cream butter, almond paste, confectioners' sugar and egg yolks until blended. Add flour and almond extract to stiff cookie dough. Shape dough for rings. Roll strands between palms and countertop to make strips as smooth as possible. Place into rings and seal ends. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes until firm and golden brown. Let cool in pans. To remove, insert tip of knife in several places.

Royal Icing

2 egg whites

2 teaspoons almond extract

1 pound confectioners' sugar

Beat egg whites and almond extract until fluffy. Add 1 pound of confectioners' sugar to mixture and mix until smooth and icing can be drizzled through fine tip of a pastry bag.

19 inches

Rosettes

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 eggs

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup water or milk

1 cup all-purpose flour

Vegetable oil

Powdered sugar

In deep medium bowl, beat sugar, salt and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed. Beat in 2 tablespoons oil, the water and flour until smooth. In 3-quart saucepan, heat oil (2 to 3 inches) to 400 degrees.

Heat rosette iron by placing in hot oil 1 minute. Tape excess oil from iron on paper towels. Dip hot iron into batter just to top edge, don't go over the top. Fry about 30 seconds or until golden brown. Immediately remove rosette; invert onto paper towels to cool. If rosette is not crisp, batter is too thick; stir in a small amount of water or milk.

Heat iron in hot oil and tap on paper towels before making each rosette. If iron is not hot enough, batter will not stick. Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.

Nutrition Information: 1 serving: Calories 45; Calories from Fat, 20; Total Fat 2 grams; Cholesterol 10 mg; Sodium 70 mg; Total Carbohydrate 6 grams; Protein 1 gram. Exchanges: 1/2 starch

-bettycroker.com

Rosettes

2 eggs

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Oil for deep frying

Beat eggs slightly. Add sugar and salt. Add flour and milk alternately, blending until smooth. Stir in vanilla.

Heat 3-inches of oil in a deep fryer to 365 degrees. (A deep frying thermometer is very helpful. Place a rosette in the hot oil for 30 to 60 seconds.

Dip the hot iron into the batter, make sure NOT to let the batter run over the top of the iron. If you do the rosette will be impossible to remove. Immerse the coated iron in the hot fat and fry 25 to 30 seconds until light brown. Slip off onto a paper towel. When cool, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar.

-Linda Larsen, busycooks.about.com/od/cookierecipes/r/spritz.htm

Rosettes Basic Recipe

1 cup flour

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, unbeaten

Sift flour before measuring.

Mix milk, water, salt and egg together. Stir slowly into flour, then beat until smooth with rotary beater or electric beater at medium speed. Add flour to batter. Place about 2-inches of oil in deep fryer or sauce pan. Heat oil to 365 degrees. Attach rosette mold to handle. Immerse mold into hot oil until thoroughly heated. Lift mold out, shake off excess oil or blot on paper towel. Dip mold into batter, but only until it covers 3/4 up the side of the mold. Important: Do not cover entire mold with batter, or the cookie will stuck on the mold.

Hold the mold in the bowl for a few seconds, lift it out and shake off any excess batter. Dip the batter-coated mold into the hot oil. As soon as the rosette begins to brown slightly, lift the mold, and let the rosette drop gently into the hot oil. Turn the rosette over and cook for a few extra seconds.

Using tongs, life the finished rosette out of the oil, and let it drain on paper towel. Sprinkle with powdered sugar to taste, or use cinnamon and granulated or bown sugar.

-Fantes.com at www.fantes.com.rosettes.htm

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com.