My husband Bill and I recently took a bus trip to Minot, North Dakota to take in the Norsk Hostfest that we had often heard about.
Today it is billed as North America’s largest Scandinavian-American festival. We were told 70,000 people were expected to attend the five-day event. With these numbers people were staying in hotels and motels in surrounding communities up to two hours away from Minot. Many people come in their motor homes and RVs and park them right at the grounds.
Hostfest started more than 25 years ago, and while the organizers at that time had great dreams, they admit that even they didn’t dream it would get as big as it has.
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The event is held at Minot’s Exhibition Grounds, in six large halls and a hockey rink that are grouped together under one roof. Inside the halls were stages where performers were continually performing, food courts continually served traditional Scandinavian food, and booths displayed and sold Scandinavian art, crafts, books and clothing
Favourite traditional foods at Hostfest included lefse and lutefisk.
Lutefisk (loo-tuh-FIHSK) is made with unsalted dried fish, which are soaked in strong lye for a few days and then in water for a few more. After that, it is simmered for just a few minutes until it is translucent. Butter was spread on the lutefisk we saw being served and then salt and pepper sprinkled on.
The lyed dry fish has its origin in medieval times. It is said that lutefisk was invented because some fumbly person happened to drop some lye on a piece of dried, soaked fish and thus discovered that the dry fish retook its original shape and became white. It was considerably cheaper to dry fish than to salt it.
Lefse is a traditional Scandinavian flat bread made from potatoes. Trolleys moved around the halls selling it. We had our first taste of lefse while sitting on the stands listening to Charlie Pride. From the trolley, a man handed us a lefse in a plastic bag, plus a small package of butter and a knife and sugar for spreading on top. It was tasty. I was telling a friend about our lefse experience and she passed along this recipe
Norwegian lefse
4 cups potatoes, cooked, mashed and cooled 1L
1/2 cup butter or 125 mL
margarine
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt 2 mL
11/2 teaspoons baking 7 mL
powder
4-5 cups flour 1-1.25 L
Preheat griddle to 500 F (260 C).
Flour a board. Roll dough as thin as possible, into rounds. Shake off excess flour, if necessary. (I found that 1/3 cup (75 mL) of dough rolled into nine inch (22 cm) rounds.
Place rolled out dough on a dry griddle to cook. After about one minute or when tiny bubbles form and it is lightly browned, turn. Finish cooking for just another minute or so. If overcooked, they will be dry. Cover with a towel until cool.
Spread with butter, sprinkle with sugar and roll like a jelly roll. Can be quartered or left whole. May be frozen. Yield: Approximately 20 lefses.
Source: Saskatchewan 4-H 80th Anniversary Cookbook, 1997.
Using garden tomatoes
Dear TEAM: It’s tomato season and I wondered if you had any recipes for homemade V-8 juice. The garden is full of tomatoes, onions, garlic, celery and carrots. I have a Mehu Haya juicer. – Alice, e-mail.
Dear Alice: I found recipes on the internet and tried this one. I thought it was tasty. Because we do not know the acidity of this juice, the length of time and method of processing is uncertain. Therefore, the safest method of preserving this recipe is to freeze it.
Homemade V-8 juice
15 pounds fully ripe 7.5 kg
tomatoes, chopped
2 cups celery, chopped 500mL
3 large onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced and mashed
2 teaspoons salt 10 mL
3/4 teaspoon pepper 3 mL
2 teaspoons prepared 10 mL
horseradish
1/3 cup lemon juice 75 mL
1/4 cup sugar, or to taste 50 mL
Worcestershire, to taste
Combine ingredients in a large pan over medium to high heat. When mixture boils, reduce heat to medium and continue to cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and cool 10 minutes. Using a blender, puree until smooth, using about a quarter of the mix at a time. Strain if using as a drink. The pulp can be used in other recipes.
If using as a base for beef or venison recipes, do not strain. Freeze for future use.
To make a meal: Add four cups (1 L) juice blend with a red meat roast in a crockpot, cook on medium-high all day. Delicious. Compliments of www.Budget101.com.
Candied fruit
Dear TEAM: Some time ago I saw a recipe for making candied fruit from zucchini. Would you be able to help me on that one? My garden produced a plentiful supply of zucchini this year. – S. B., Cecil Lake, B.C.
Dear S.B.: I couldn’t find a recipe using zucchini, however the following recipe is for a variety of fruits. You might want to try it with zucchini.
Candied fruit
2 cups sugar 500 mL
1 cup fruit 250 mL
1 cup water 250 mL
Use canned, preserved, or freshly cooked fruit. Drain thoroughly. Combine sugar and water. Boil to soft ball stage at 234-238 F (113-116 C). Add fruit and simmer until clear. Allow to stand in syrup overnight. Drain thoroughly. Roll in granulated sugar.
Place on cake rack. Dry in very slow oven 250 F (120 C) until surface is firm. Peaches, apples, prunes, figs, quinces, citron, plums, cherries and apricots may be used. Dried fruits as well as fresh fruits may be prepared and candied.
Reader comment
DEAR TEAM: I’m a faithful reader of your paper and especially your page. I’ve tried many of your recipes. In one of your recent columns you had a recipe for Pineapple-Carrot Muffins, which are good. I’ve used the very same for years. I would just like to add that if you do not drain the pineapple, the muffin is even better. – V. T., Esterhazy, Sask.
Maple drink
Dear TEAM: We recently made a trip to Quebec and like all food producers, maple producers are looking for new ways to expand their industry. We tasted a carbonated maple drink made from maple sap with a seven percent sugar content and believe me it is a great drink with just a hint of maple flavour. My question is how many calories would there be in a 12 ounce bottle and would these calories be considered a better choice since it is natural? – M. J., e-mail.
Dear M.J.: The drink sounds wonderful. The source of this sugar is the maple tree sap and our refined sugar comes from sugar beets or sugar cane, all natural plant products. If my calculations are correct, the calories from sugar in the drink would be 61.
Alma Copeland is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and one of four columnists comprising Team Resources. Send correspondence in care of this newspaper, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or contact them at team@producer.com.
