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!