Learning to make the versatile Lefse

While writing an article for the Swedish Heritage News-letter I happened across a second Mrs. Olson and a recipe so good, the ingredients so readily available, it’s hard to imagine why so many of us have never enjoyed a good old lefse.    
Everyone knows about the local girl who went to Hollywood.  
As Virginia Christine, she made her first movie appearance in 1943, followed with dozens more, then did a ton of television shows.  
Everyone knows her celebrity status was not fully realized until she began, in 1965, making a series of coffee commercials.  
Portray-ing a Swedish matron, she flitted about the neighborhood saving ruined marriages and patching up business deals gone sour, doing it all with just a smile and a cup of Folger’s.  The richest kind.  Mountain grown, you know.
What we didn’t know is that at about the same time our Swedish Mrs. Olson made her first coffee commercial there was, in the small town of Gonvick, Minn., a Norwegian Mrs. Olson who began using her smile and accent to market lefse.   
Mrs. Olson’s lefse (pronounced lef-suh) can be had for $58 a case and, according to a lady named Eileen who answered the phone, business is good.  
An online search found lefse available from sources other than Mrs. Olson.  
Lena’s Lefse, in Minnesota’s Red River Valley, tells us their secret is locally grown potatoes.  
Countryside Lefse in Blair, Wisconsin, claims theirs is a warm, snuggling hug for your taste buds.  
Granrud’s Lefse Shack in Montana has been in business for over 30 years.  
Norsland Lefse claims theirs is the very best, but Freddy’s Lefse Shop in North Dakota makes the same boast.        
My original interest had to do with two Mrs. Olsons, both Scandinavian, both assuming a name other than their own, both going into advertising at about the same time.  
This raised the question—would lefse, whatever it was, go well with a cup of mountain grown?  
Eileen assured me it would.  She was ready to take my order.  
But $58 for a case of something I wasn’t sure I’d care for gave me pause.  No problem.  Mrs. Olson’s cheerfully provided the recipe and suggested I mix up a small batch.  And so we did.    
While I didn’t quite get a “snuggling hug for my taste buds,” the stuff is tasty.  
Lefse is a Norwegian soft flatbread made with potatoes, milk, flour and shortening.  The mixture is rolled out and cooked on a hot, dry griddle, much like a tortilla.  It is used in a variety of ways.  
The traditional Norwegian preference, Eileen said, is to roll them up with cinnamon, spread with a dab of butter, and eat ‘em while they’re hot.  
They’re marketed as a traditional holiday treat and most sales take place during the Christmas season. But they’re inexpensive to make and are great everyday sandwich wraps.  We tried ham and cheese, tuna salad, and some pulled pork.  
Anyone looking for little variety in their submarine should try one with lefse. They also make fine enchiladas and burritos.   
We don’t have space for the recipe (it’s in the October Swedish Heritage Newsletter and can be found on-line and elsewhere).  The tricky part is rolling them thin without tearing, but if you can do ostkaka you can do lefse.