EVANSVILLE, Minn — If McDonald’s can sell burgers at a drive-thru, why not?
Such was Kim Englund’s logic when she put a to-go spin on a Minnesota holiday tradition.
“Kind of our vector to get lefse to these people who need it,” Kim says as she sits roadside in a Christmas-red hut, converted from a deer stand.
On Saturday mornings during the holidays, cars line up four and five deep for the privilege of taking home Kim’s homemade lefse sold at a drive-thru.
“Only in Minnesota,” Jan Vibond says as she pulls up to the drive-thru for lefse.
The phenomenon Kim unleashed was born of necessity.
For years, she’d sold her lefse at Christmas vendor shows, until 2020, when COVID-19 shut them down.
“Some of the restaurants in the area were having the drive-thru option, so, Casey went and got the deer stand,” Kim says.
Casey Englund is Kim’s husband.
“That’s just Kim,” he says. “She comes up with crazy ideas all the time.”
Kim sells her lefse for $6.00 a package, three lefse rounds per pack.
Her stand is located two miles north of Evansville on County Road 1.
The lefse stand is open on Saturdays in November and December, from 10 a.m. until noon. Kim will open the stand for the last time in 2023 on Saturday, Dec. 23.
Don LeRoy and his wife Colleen drove to the lefse stand from Fergus Falls. “This is our third time here," Don says. “We usually pick up 10 packs at a time.”
Despite the limited hours, demand has been so strong the Englunds have gone through 1,000 pounds of potatoes in less than two months.
To keep up, the Englund family makes lefse from scratch every night.
"A lot of Norwegians and Swedes here and they need their lefse," Kim says.
A customer informs Kim her lefse will be traveling to North Dakota.
“We need more lefse-makers out there,” Kim responds with a laugh.
Kim queries her customers on their favorite lefse toppings. She prefers a mix of butter, sugar and pumpkin spice. For those with other tastes, Kim also sells from her stand homemade jams and honey butter.
Jerry Miller and his wife Evie arrived 30 minutes before Kim had even opened the stand. “I’m addicted to lefse,” Jerry says with a laugh.
Laughter and smiles are present in abundance at the lefse stand. Kim says she rarely sees a frown.
“Nobody, not allowed, if you’re crabby,” she says.
With Christmas shoppers used to buying gifts in big boxes, Kim has found success in one that couldn’t get much smaller.
Boyd Huppert is always looking for great stories to share in the Land of 10,000 Stories! Send us your suggestions by filling out this form.
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