Remembering Rosemaling: Lingonberry-Apple Pie, Norske Nook Restaurant and Bakery
As often happens when looking for something, you find something else, and then one thing leads to another, and you could end up eating a pie! This is exactly what happened to me a few weeks ago. When looking for a serving platter, I found a wooden plate that I had made when I was 11 years old. I made it in art class, back when art classes were included in the curriculum for elementary school students in Madison, Wisconsin. 
The design on the plate is an example of rosemaling, a specific Norwegian art form of painting floral designs on wood trays and furniture. I was inspired to use the rosemaling 
technique on my plate by a chest and tray that were in our home at the time. I have since inherited these pieces, and when I looked in the top drawer of the chest, there was a hand-written note from the artist, Per Lisgne, who had a studio in Stoughton, Wisconsin, and from whom my mother had purchased these hand-painted items.
This note then led to a visit to the Norwegian Heritage Museum, Liverise, in Stoughton. This museum displays artifacts of the Norwegian culture and history and has a chair and plate painted by Per Lisgne on display. The staff at the museum were familiar with Per Lisgne, and we chatted about the history of the pieces of furniture I now have. And this led to my asking about a place to have local Norwegian food. (I may have used the word pie!) The helpful staff recommended that we eat at the Norske Nook, a Norwegian restaurant and bakery a bit north from Madison where Dick and I were headed next.
On the next day, we had lunch at Norske Nook. We started our meal with the Norwegian potato soft flat bread, lefse, which looks like a tortilla and is used as a wrap, which in this instance was filled with fried smelt, a sardine-like fish that is found in cold waters that surround Norway (and Lake Michigan.) After finishing the lefse, we ordered…..wait for it…..a pie! I chose the Lingonberry-Apple pie because it seemed to be the closest pie on the menu using ingredients typical to Norway.
People: Per Lisgne and other artists then and now who have preserved and promoted the Norwegian art form of Rosemaling. Rosemaling classes continue to be offered in communities with Norwegian heritage such as Stoughton and in Decorah, Iowa where classes are held at Vesterheim National Norwegian-American Museum.
Places: Livsreise (Life’s Journey), Norwegian Heritage Center in Stoughton, WI. The Center features interpretations of the journey of immigrants from Norway and the cultural heritage they brought to Stoughton. The Center also offers a genealogy service where visitors can search for Norwegian ancestors. http://www.livsreise.org/
Norske Nook, a Norwegian restaurant and bakery. There are four of these restaurants in Wisconsin; we went to the one in DeForest, WI 53532.
608-842-3378 https://norskenook.com/
Pies: Lingonberry-Apple Pie. Lingonberries are small round berries that are in the same plant family as blueberries, but look like cranberries because they are red.
They grow in the forests of Scandinavia and can be purchased in the United States canned, frozen, or in preserves. The apples gave the pie structure and texture. The recipe from the Internet uses frozen Lingonberries; the recipe from Norske Nook is a hemmelig (secret.)
- 2 cups fresh or frozen lingonberry
- 1½ cups sugar
- 4 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp water
- pastry recipe for a 9 inch double crust pie
- 5 to 6 cups sliced peeled apples (5 to 6 medium)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- Preheat oven to 425
- In 1-quart saucepan, mix lingonberries, 1 cup of the sugar, 1 Tbsp of the cornstarch and the water. Heat to boiling. Boil 5 minutes. Cool 15 minutes.
- Line a 9" pie plate with one crust.
- In large bowl, mix apples, remaining ½ cup sugar, remaining 3 tablespoons cornstarch, the cinnamon and nutmeg until apples are coated. Stir in cooled fruit mixture.
- Spoon into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust. Alternatively, cut second crust into strips and arrange in a lattice work over the filling, pinching the edges to seal.
- Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until golden brown. After 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning.
