Homemade Noodles

Homemade noodles are a favorite dish of my entire extended family. My Mom made beef and noodles as a special meal when we were kids. The grandkids begged them to be included in holiday meals, so now they're a side dish at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It takes a few tries to get them just right, but they're worth the effort.

This is more of a "how to" than a recipe. The recipe begins with flour and eggs. I start with about 3 cups of flour and mix in 6 eggs. Add flour as needed to make a workable dough. Roll out about 1/3 of the dough onto a floured surface, dusting with additional flour to keep it from sticking. Roll to about 1/8 of an inch.

Roll up the dough into a tube, dusting with flour as needed.

Continue with remaining dough until all dough is rolled into tubes. With a thin, sharp knife, slice tubes into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pinwheels.

Unroll pin wheels into strands of dough and lay on a large flat surface to dry. I use my kitchen island. My mom used the kitchen table. Let dry about 3 hours, turning noodles once, until no longer sticky.

When dry, place noodles in gallon size freezer bags and freeze until ready to use.

For a main dish: Boil 1-2 pounds of stew beef in enough water to cover. Simmer for 2 hours. Add water and beef broth and return to a boil. Add a bag of noodles and boil 30 minutes stirring often. Excess flour on the noodles will thicken the broth.

For a side dish: Bring beef or chicken broth to a boil. Add desired amount of frozen noodles. Boil 20-30 minutes stirring often.