Over the River and Through the Woods

Two generations - Lefse Pros
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From K: Okay, I have to admit that being at Grandma’s house is pretty cool --- ESPECIALLY the dessert. Then again there can be a shortage of entertainment – like the plane ride. This time we took the plane to Minneapolis and drove to Fargo from there. I prefer flying all the way to Fargo – but driving only from Minneapolis was much better than driving from New Jersey (we did THAT last year).

These were my favorite things to do at Grandmas and Grandpas:

Grandma & Grandpa are GREAT!!!

Eyes on the Griddle
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1. Making Lefse – YUM!!!! What is Lefse anyway? Lefse is a very, very, very flat pancake. First we rice potatoes and then we rice them again. Then we mix in all the other ingredients, roll them out on a board and then cooked them. You have to use a special Lefse grill to cook on and when you flip them over you use a special long thin wooden flipper thingy. It is delicious, Scandinavian recipe that has been passed down since forever. If you just read the directions it would be hard to make – but with Grandma coaching us it made more sense. It takes all day to make (the poor dog got tired of waiting for our attention – he was whining). My shoulders got tired from rolling out the mix. But it was worth it because we got to enjoy Lefse for the rest of our visit. We even made a batch on our own when we got home.

Taking carefull notes!
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2. Making Apple Pie! More ROLLING. Grandma let me put the little air slots on the top of the crust before we baked it – I made it in the shape of a “K”. It looked cooler that way!

3. We went rolling skating and my tender end was sore for the rest of the week.

4. We went to my cousins wedding and we got to see everyone in the family. I always get confused because there are so many names to remember.

5. We went to TARGET! Gotta LOVE shopping with Grandma – she says YES to anything! I got a new DS game.

Group Hug
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6. Went to Barnes and Noble – Man Grandma is GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7. We watched the Phantom of the Opera with Grandpa – he loved the music and couldn’t believe how “GREAT” we all sang the songs.

From Dad: Talk about getting all the guys made at you! “How could you offer to leave her home along?” Well, it was a good chance for me to spend some quality time with the girls and see Mom & Dad at the same time. This was the first time we tried flying into MSP and driving from there. We needed some reasonable flight departure times, and anything to Fargo was going to cost another $250 per ticket. Cheaper to rent a car and drive the three and half hours. One quick stop for lunch at a brand new Perkins and we were home in time for dinner.

Marking the pie
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My main purpose for heading home was to simply spend time with my Dad & Mom. No other plans, just time visiting. Time for making lefse was indeed one of the requirements sent out to Mom. It turned out better than I could have hoped for. K & R both enjoyed the process (and it is a process) as well as eating the lefse. K really surprised me when she actually wanted to make more the following weekend when we got home. Hopefully we can get in the grove of making a batch every couple of months so we can actually get good at it.

The Mix
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The week after we made the flight arrangements, we got an invitation to my cousins, daughters wedding. It gave us a chance to participate in the celebration and see everyone. Unfortunately, we were not able to stay for the dance since we were heading out early the next morning.

Our flight home was uneventful, other than the 3 hour delay in MSP, the 400 mph - 60 minute roller coaster ride during he holding pattern, the landing in heavy rain and 50 mile per hour winds during the worst Nor Easter in a decade!! Luckily, R fell asleep clutching my arm after the first big drop. I just couldn’t move for the last hour in fear that I would wake her up. All the while K kept reading her book! That night half the state was flooded and declared a state of emergency! Next time – a night at the Grand Lodge before flying home!!!

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From Mom: Mom had the most glorious time of all! She got to stay home. Just tired and in need of a rest – it was agreed that the Dad would take the kids solo this time. I had 7 wonderful days at home ALONE. I can’t think of a better vacation!