Friday, December 9, 2011

Winter Story

November 21st

I haven't had to carry water—just melt snow you know—have had my tub full of snow water by the stove all the time and more than once I've gone to bed at nine thirty with a good fire and when I got up at five thirty have had to strike quite hard with my fist to break the ice on the tub while smaller things freeze up solid. My house is one of the warmest and best built houses in the country so you see we are having a spell of weather. I don't mind it like some folks do and every one is good to me—I have lots of invitations to stay over night or over Saturday & Sunday.

I started bread Friday evening. I suppose you wonder how I kept my yeast from freezing. I did like every one else out here—put it in a tight can, wrapped it up good and took it to bed with me and if holding that darned thing all night isn't enough to give any old maid bad dreams I don't know—I don't think I ever had better luck with bread though.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Prairie Cooks: Holiday Post

Lefse


2 1/2 pounds (6 to 8) boiling potatoes
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons light cream
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup flour

Peel and boil 6 to 8 potatoes until very tender; drain, mash, and measure 4 cups. (Reserve the water for making potato bread, if desired.) Add butter, cream, milk, salt, and pepper, and mash again until very creamy. Chill lightly covered with waxed paper or cloth 2 to 4 hours or until well chilled. Add the cup of flour to the dough and work in well with hands. (Do not add flour before you refrigerate. Lefse must be made immediately after flour is added.)

It will be much easier to roll lefse if you use a pastry cloth and a stocking on your rolling pin which have been well seasoned with flour from previous use. Measure 1/4 cup of dough, form it in a ball, and put it on the pastry cloth on which is 1 tablespoon of flour from previous use. Measure 1/4 cup of dough, form it in a ball, and put it on the pastry cloth, and try again.

Have a well-seasoned cast-iron griddle. Do not grease. If you have an electric burner with eight settings, a No. 3 is just right for lefse—but better to have the heat too low than too high. Using a wide metal spatula or lefse stick, if you have one, lift the circle of lefse up from the pastry cloth on one side, using your other hand to help lift it on the other side, and carry it to the griddle. Prick the dough in four or five places with the corner of the spatula. let it bake for about a minute or until it bubbles in the middle, turn it carefully, and cook it for 45 seconds on the other side. If the heat is correct, it should still be very pale, with just a few flecks of brown. Turn again, then keep decreasing the turning time until you are turning about every 5 seconds, for a total of about 3 minutes. When done it should be dry on both sides but still tender and pliable; it should be pale brown flecked. Remove lefse to a dry dish towel and let cool. Wipe griddle with dry cloth between each lefse.

When cool, the circles can be piled up on each other. Store in a covered tin, overnight if desired, until ready to serve. To serve, halve them, spread with soft butter, and roll into coned-shaped rolls. Arrange the lefse on a decorative platter and serve as bread. Lefse freezes beautifully. It can be made several weeks ahead for special occasions. Just place in plastic bags and freeze. Then thaw several hours before serving at room temperature. Serves 6 to 8.



The Nine Days of Christmas

When today's children think of Christmas, they think of gifts. When I was a child I thought of food and celebrations. Gifts were the least part of my childhood Christmases. But the celebrations! That was a different matter.

The active festivities get into full swing in the midafternoon of Christmas Eve when my father brings in the tree and sets it up in the front room. Norwegian tradition holds that the tree must not be decorated until Christmas Eve. My mother is still in the kitchen baking the last piece of Christmas lefse on the top of her cast-iron cookstove—a task she has been at since morning. In a few minutes the pungent scent of damp pine mingles with the aroma of fresh lefse, and we know that Christmas week has started in earnest.

Carrie Young and Felicia Young, Prairie Cooks

Monday, December 5, 2011

Tree of the Week



Scots PinePinus sylvestris L.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS: Leaves in bundles of 2, slender, 1 to 4 inches long, usually twisted and often marked with fine white lines (seen with magnifying glass). Cones 1 to 2 inches long, falling intact (i.e., basal scales not missing); end of scales raised and pyramidal (less commonly flattened), with or without tiny prickles. Bark scaly and light orange on larger branches and upper trunk, divided into large gray plates covered with orange scales on lower trunk.

SIMILAR TREES: Mugo pine is shrubby; other common two-needle pines have longer leaves. Mature Scots pines can be easily distinguished from other species y the orange bark of their upper trunk and limbs.

IOWA DISTRIBUTION: Planted throughout the state.