PLAIN VIEW FARM, BRYANT,
SD
MAMA'S RECIPES
A Link to the Beautiful Doxology, Sung by Mama Bergit Stadem Countless Times: "Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise Him all ye creatures here below, praise Him above ye heavenly hosts, praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Amen."
"Doxology"
Another Song Mama Bergit Loved
"Let Us Break Bread Together"
And This Could be Mama Bergit's Favorite Song:
When not cooking, you could be sure Mama was praying! Or was it the other way around? This picture entitled "Praying For You" is taken from an original watercolor by the nationally-known portrait painter, Mr. Bart Lindstrom, which he reproduced and sent to all the Stadem family members
At 93 Bergit Must Hold Cooking
Record
No file of good cooks would be complete
without the queen of them all-Bergit (Grandma)
Stadem. Ninety-three years old but she still
takes care of her own home, gardens, entertains,
wouldn't miss a day of church, joins the church
women in making quilts and keeps her kitchen
fragrant with cooking and baking aromas.
She has been making "superb" desserts
and other recipes for years, according to
those who know her, but admits shyly,
"I'm getting a bit forgetful...and some of my
recipes I've made so long I have them in my head,
I don't have them written down."Her daughter-in-law,
Mrs. Leroy (Liz) Stadem, came to her rescue,
sharing some of Grandma's best that she had
written down some years back.
Bergit was born in Mandal, Norway,
by the sea. Her father, a farmer, died when
she was not much more than a baby. She remembers
bits of things while she was growing up but
the first thing that often comes to mind is
the coffee. "We always used cream in our coffee
in Norway," she says smiling as her guess for
black coffee. "We always looked for the little
cream pitcher when we were served coffee."
Bergit's mother died when Bergit was 17,
and an older brother, determined to be a pastor,
found little opportunity in Norway and so made
his way to America to study. Bergit and Tina her
older sister couldn't keep the farm going with their
parents both gone. When Bergit was 18 they sold
their home at an auction and also left for
America.
A neighbor from Mandal had become a minister
at Bryant, S.D., and Bergit went there, working
in various homes to help improve the little English
she knew. Her name Bergit was difficult for Americans
to pronounce and she soon gained the name of "Bessie"
instead.
On Aug. 19, 1908, she was married to Alfred
Stadem
and they made their home near Canton, S.D. In 1911
they moved to a farm near Bryant, then to another
farm near Bryant where they built a large home
and planted a grove of trees. "Plain View Farm"
was printed on the barn in big letters.
So proud of her nine children, seven girls
and two boys, Bergit admits that she prayed before
her fifth daughter was born that if God willed,
he would give her a son--not for her sake but for
the neighbors. But after six girls, the seventh
was a son and so was the ninth, Leroy, who is
presently serving as pastor at Trinity Lutheran
Church in Mobridge.
Her eyes twinkle as she recalls, "The men were
working down at the barn when I came out on the porch
and waved the white towel...a signal that the baby
was on the way and I needed help."
One of her daughters is amused at the mention
of Mama's towels. "Just a good square flour sack
with the edges sewn up and bleached, folded
diagonally into a triangle, and Mama had her usual
apron. She sewed these sacks into pillow slips,
sheets, dish towels and diapers for the baby.
Even with Mama's lye soap, the red was next to
impossible to remove. The result was that
the 'Pillsbury's Best' was prominently
displayed on the seat of the baby."
Grandma came to Mobridge in July of 1971 when
her son moved to the city. Independent, she enjoys
having her own home where she can putter to her
heart's content. If she wants something high in her
cupboards she hops on a stool to reach it. If she
can't find a recipe she wants, she will often try
a new one. She's quite a woman!
Date Loaf Cake
1 cup dates, cut up
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 cup shortening (or 3/4 cup oleo)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix dates, boiling water, and 1 1/2 tsp. soda.
Let cool.
Mix into remaining ingredients.
Topping:
1 cup nutmeats, chopped
1 6-oz. pkg. butterscotch chips
1/3 cup white sugar
Sprinkle on top of loaf cake.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45
minutes or until done.
Honey may be substituted for the
sugar in this recipe.
Grandma's Corn Custard
1 can corn (cream style)
2 well beaten eggs
1 pint milk
2 heaping tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. melted butter
Mix and put in casserole dish.
Bake 45 minutes in
moderate oven.
Never Fail Sponge Cake
5 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 cups sifted sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp.salt
3/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
Separate egg whites and yolks.
Beat yolks well, add 1/2
cup cold water into egg yolks.
Add sugar, beat again.
Add flour, baking powder
and salt sifted together.
Add vanilla.
Beat egg white stiff.
Add cream of tartar when
they are foamy.
Fold whites into batter.
Pour into angel
food pan.
Bake for 1 hour in slow oven.
Lefse
5 cups mashed potatoes
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter or cream
3 cups flour
Add all ingredients except flour
while potatoes are still warm.
Cool and add flour.
Roll thin and bake on lefse
grill or pancake griddle.
Bake on first side until quite
bubbly and brown spotted on bottom,
then turn and bake on the other side.
[the top of a wood-burning stove
is the best place to bake lefse--editors]
Never Fail Pie Crust
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
5 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 cup lard or 1 1/2 cups
shortening
Blend dry ingredients
with lard or shortening.
Add liquid.
Mix well.
Can be used at once or stored in
the refridgerator.
Grandma Stadem's Apple Crunch
Put about 7 apples, sliced as for
pie,
in bottom of pan.
Sprinkle with 1 cup sugar and
cinnamon
to taste and cover with:
1 scant cup flour
5 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
Cover apples and bake until golden
brown
or until apples are done.
Serve with whipped cream or ice
cream.
--By Jo Hall, the Mobridge Tribune
Nov 9, 1978
(permission to publish granted 1998 by Travis, Editor, the Mobridge Tribune)
A Link to
another site on the
Web
This Having To Do With More Norwegian
Recipes
The Word "Smorgasbord" is the link to the Recipe
Section
WE WANT TO KNOW HOW YOU LIKED YOUR
VISIT-
FOR YOU ARE THE REASON WE DID
THIS!
"Mange tusen takk" ("many thousand thanks")
for stopping by, and God Bless you!
Copyright © 2001, Butterfly Productions, All Rights Reserved
"SONS OF NORWAY'S
HOMEPAGE"