Family Traditions: Homemade Noodles Style

It's that time of year. You know, to break out all the old family traditions. My family doesn't have many, but the ones that we do have all involve... Any guesses??? FOOD!! :D So every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas my grandpa would get down this old Better Homes and Gardens "New" Cook Book, the Souvenir Edition. It is ancient despite being the "New" Cook Book. It is gold. Yes as in metallic shiny gold. It is falling apart.

Hideous yet awesome. I can't get rid of it, despite the fact that in it is only one very short recipe my family, I'm pretty sure, ever kept it for... bookmarked by another recipe card.

As you can see, I could easily write that down and save it to the computer, but it kinda takes away from the memory of making it...

So back to my grandpa taking this down every Thanksgiving and Christmas and once in awhile Easter. Well my grandpa was a sit on the recliner and watch football/read westerns kind of old man so when he was doing something in the kitchen, I was pretty intrigued. Grandma got me into cakes and cookies. You know, the normal things. He got me into homemade pasta, dinner pancakes, and fudge. Kinda eccentric things. I mean come on. Who makes their own pasta? My family. So to pay homage to my family past and present (it's like my mom's favorite part of holiday dinners), I'm going to do it yet again this year. :) The following is instructions for the whole thing including cooking. I'm just making the noodles today so the pictures will only show up until I put the noodles in the fridge.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• We use less because we use chicken stock... it gets really salty really fast if you don't lower and use reduced sodium stock.
• a dash of baking powder
• NOTE: This is not called for in the recipe. My grandpa just did this. So as tradition stands, so will I. My grandfather was the first one who taught me that your own cooking creation is always better than the recipe... Even if no one else thinks so. ;)
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 1 cup flour, NO LUMPS
• I now use whole wheat flour, but it specifically calls for sifted white flour. Just an FYI.
• (If cooking immediately) Some large amount of boiling liquid
• We use chicken stock.
• Meat, veggies of choice (optional)
• We add sliced/shredded/cubed turkey/chicken.

Mixing:

1. Combine everything but the flour.
2. Add flour and make a stiff dough. (Start off incorporating a little at a time. If for whatever reason your dough is still wet after you have added all your flour, add more.) Form into a ball and let relax for about 5-10 minutes.
3. Squish ball into a disk.
4. Roll out very thin on a flat surface.
1. I do this twice. Once and then let it sit for 5-10 minutes to relax again. I then roll it out more. It will get paper thin if you do this right.
5. Let stand for 20 minutes. Yes you must do this step. Like the rest of the dough relaxing time. I know it's frustrating, but do it anyway.
6. Roll up loosely.
7. Slice 1/4 inch wide. Or more or less. I personally do a little less.
8. Unroll, spread out, and let dry for 2 hours. Yes the full two hours. Or more. In case you forget... Like I always do. I put mine in the oven. Our pilot light in there is so hot that our oven is almost always at 90-100` F. When we lived at our other house, I would stick them in the bathroom with the gas heater going. You know, the dangerous ones they can't put in houses anymore. You can put them anywhere just make sure the dog or cat can't get to them because for some reason animals think they're mighty tasty.
9. (If cooking immediately, skip this step) Bag and label and put in fridge/freezer if not cooking immediately.
1. Thaw night before if put in freezer.
10. Drop into boiling liquid of some kind with optionals added. Make sure noodles are completed submerged.
11. Cook uncovered for about 10 minutes.

My ball.

Squish it out.

Roll out thin. Paper thin.

Roll it up.

Cut it up.

Spread and dry it out.

Feeds approximately a family of 4-6 as a side dish.

Now I usually double this recipe and do it early. I do it about a week in advance and put it in the fridge. It freezes wonderfully for about a month or two also. So feel free to try it out early and freeze. My first few times on my own were not successful. It made me wish that I wasn't such a teenager at the end of grandpa's life and would have paid more attention. But alas I was a typical teen and then went on to blunder up noodles for the first few years. :) I'm sure grampa laughed pretty hysterically at my attempts from heaven. ;)