From 10:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. on November 21, the American Lutheran Church in Chinook offered pie and coffee for sale and then sold lefse, sandbakkels, spritz cookies, pies, almond cake, and other baked goods for the holidays. Those coming to socialize on Sunday could choose from a selection of custard, fruit, cream, and specialty pies like pumpkin chiffon. There was also a pumpkin bundt cake and a berry crisp.

In many Norwegian homes, the holidays mean gathering with family and sharing dinner-a meal that often features lefse. Also known in some places as Norwegian potato crepes, lefse is an iconic food served during the winter holiday season. These thin flatbreads are similar to a tortilla-but Scandinavian style-typically garnished with such toppings as butter, sugar, cinnamon, or jellies. Sometimes even savory ingredients are favored.

Made with potatoes, butter, flour, salt, sugar, and heavy cream, lefse is not Norwegian lefse without high fat dairy, according to many experts who prepare it. A full-fat heavy cream and butter are essential to the lefse-making process because the fat aids in the elasticity when rolling to achieve perfectly thin, transparent sheets. Other cooks are content to use margarine and milk.

Besides the right ingredients, the process calls for special equipment. This includes a grill, a mat on which to roll out the dough, a corrugated rolling pin, a special turning stick, and some cloth covering for the mat and the rolling pin. This equipment is necessary because the potato-flour mixture is prone to tearing and sticking. While some cooks are prone to improvising, the proper equipment can mitigate frustration and ensure that the dough is easier to roll out and make thin without the risk of ripping and sticking. For example, one lefse-maker swears by the turning stick: "It's a magic stick that will release your delicate lefse easily from the rolling surface. You do really need this stick!"

The crew at the American Lutheran Church gathered on Wednesday, November 10 to prepare the potatoes. "Because the potatoes need to be really dry and cool for lefse, we cook them up a day ahead of time," Jenni Pula explained. Her husband Allen and mother-in-law Debby joined Pula in the kitchen.

Although other potato varieties work, russet potatoes are preferred for their high starch and low moisture content. The church crew actually used instant potatoes. Once the potatoes are prepared and blended with butter, they are spread into pans and refrigerated overnight.

The following evening, a group of twelve set up various stations to make six batches of lefse by blending the potatoes with sugar, flour, salt, and heavy cream. "We have someone mixing the potatoes with flour, a couple people making the mixture into uniform size balls, several stations of folks rolling and grilling the lefse, and finally a station where we cool and package the lefse," Pula described.

On Friday afternoon, 24 people-a group that included quite a few children so that the tradition can carry on-made the last six batches. Pula confessed that she had no idea where the recipe came from but that they have been using the same recipe for the 20 years she has been involved with the lefse-making.

"Mike and Joyce Harding, Donna Anderson, and Marilyn Berger were essential to the process when we started. We began by showing up to help cook and roll as we had learned how to make lefse in our respective families. Now, with the aid of Allen and Debby, I select the dates and we get set up. Once I gather the groceries and what not, we make the potatoes and then hope enough people come to assist with cooking! We usually enlist our kids to help. I just put in motion a process that was really in place long before I came to lend a hand," Pula explained.

At the American Lutheran Church bake sale, the popular and iconic lefse sold out before noon. "In years past, we have made up to 33 batches, but we had more hands then," another church member reported.

For anyone wondering about the other culturally specific desserts, sandbakkels are a traditional Norwegian shortbread-type cookie made with a crumbly dough that resembles sand, thus the name. The Norwegian word, sandbakkels translates to "sand tarts." Sometimes a small amount of almond flour in these cookies contributes to creating the right sandy texture; almond extract adds flavor. When they are baked in authentic sandbakkel molds, their fluted shapes create an attractive holiday display on a cookie tray.

Mixing, rolling, grilling and packaging are all steps in the lefse-preparation process.

Every culture celebrates holidays differently, marking them with special rituals and festivities. Whether religious, musical, decorative, or culinary, ritual is a powerful marker of identity and group membership. The holiday season provides time for us to connect with family, friends, and our community in meaningful ways. It is an ideal opportunity to learn about and share in each other's cultural celebrations and traditions and feel part of an inclusive and diverse community.