Family Recipes

Lefse

6 cups riced or mashed russet potatoes
1 tsp. salt
3 T. margarine or butter
1 T. sugar
2 T. heavy cream or evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Combine all ingredients except flour; refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Add flour; mix well. Heat lefse or other griddle to 400 degrees. Form dough into long roll and cut into 12 sections. Form each section into a small ball. Roll out very thin with cloth-covered lefse or regular rolling pin on cloth-covered lefse board or other surface. Dust board with flour when turning lefse dough. Bake on ungreased girddle until brown spots appear. Turn and bake other side. Stack lefse between 2 towels to cool. Store in refrigerator in plastic bags. Can be frozen.

Makes 12 lefse.

I don't know who's recipe this is. But we're Norwegian, we all have a recipe for lefsa. Besides the ingrediants for lefsa aren't that tough, it's the rolling and frying that take practice.

That Damned Cake

1 Betty Crocker German Chocolate Cake Mix
3/4 c melted oleo or butter
1 package of chocolate chips
1 c chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds or pecans)
14-16 oz. caramel candies
1/4 c milk

Melt 3/4 c butter and mix with cake mix. Spread 3/4 of the cake mix in bottom 9 X 13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 min. *Remove from oven. Unwrap caramels while cake is baking, and then melt with 1/4 c milk in microwave until blended. Pour melted caramels over cake. Sprinkle with chips and nuts. Crumble the remaining cake mix on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 min. Cool - Eat - Enjoy and avoid the scale.

*Option: After removing cake from oven let cool for a few minutes and then spread peanut butter over cake mix before adding the remaining ingredients.

My sisters claim that adding peanut butter to this recipe is an abomination that should never be considered. But these are the same women who use potato buds (instant potatos) to make lefsa. So feel free to use the peanut butter option.

David's Nilla-Scotch Cookies

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup margarine or butter - softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 package vanilla chips
1/2 package butterscotch chips

Heat oven to 375°.
Mix Sugars, margarine, egg, vanilla till smooth.
Add flour, soda, salt and cinnamon until well mixed.
Stir in vanilla and butterscotch chips.
Drop rounded tablespoons full about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake till light brown, approx 8-10 minutes.
Cool on rack.

Makes about 3 dozen.

This is my recipe for pretty standard chocolate chip cookie, that doesn't have have chocolate chips in it.

Elephant Stew

Bake one medium- sized elephant. Cut up into bite-sized pieces (will take about two months). Make brown gravy to cover elephant pieces and put in oven. Cook one week at 450 degrees. Will serve 362 people. If not enough meat, add 2 rabbits, "BUT" not unless absolutely necessary, as most people don't like hare in their stew.

My mother loves to submit this recipe to groups that put together cookbooks. So I put it in here.

Wyoming Chili

Into large cast iron pot add:

3 cans tomatos (15 oz size - cut up)
3 cans water
3 small chili peppers (chopped)
1 Tbsp chili powder
Sauce from 3 cans red kidney beans (reserve beans to be added later)

Simmer the above for one hour.

Brown 2 lbs hamburger in large skillet, drain and Add:

2 large onions (chopped)
2 green bell peppers (chopped) (or you can mix green red and yellow bell peppers for variety)
2 buds garlic
2 sticks celery

Add the hamburger mixture and the sauce together.
Simmer for about 2 hours on range.
Add beans and heat well.

Good served with corn bread.

Remember this is Wyoming Chili, it won't be too hot, they like to be able to taste their food there. Additionally, when it says to "Simmer for about 2 hrs. on the range" I'm not necessarily talking about the stove top.

Chicken and Sausage gumbo

1 roasting chicken or old rooster/hen
1 onion, chopped
1/2 bellpepper, chopped
3 - 4 cloves garlic chopped
salt and black pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne
Sausage cut up in small chunks (preferably Louisiana sausage)
Roux
Water

First you make a roux several hours or even day before. In a cast iron skillet, combine 4 TBSP and 4 TBSP vegetable oil. Stir continuously on medium to low heat until turns the color of dark chocolate. Don't let it burn. If it does dump it and start all over.

In a cast iron pot sauté onion, bell pepper and garlic in a small amount of oil. When transparent add your chicken pieces and brown them well. Add about 2 - 2 1/2 quarts water, seasonings and sausage. Add roux. Let cook slowly for several hours until chicken is tender, Serve in a bowl over rice.

This is my wife's recipe for cajun chicken and sausage gumbo. I don't know if she got it from her Dad or Grandmother. But this is real cajun gumbo not that fancy soup looking stuff they serve in restaurants. If done right, while this is cooking, to the untrained eye it looks a lot like dirty dish water with stuff floating in it. But it sure is tasty.