Graveyard Stew

Ginler's Cinnamon Toast entry made me think of this one from my Mom.

I just use regular cinnamon toast from a toaster. (Toast the bread first, then add the butter, sugar and cinnamon.)

Put it in a shallow bowl and cover with warm to hot milk. How hot is your choice. Eat it with a spoon.

My kids and hubby won't touch it with a ten foot pole because of a soggy bread aversion, but it's comfort food. Especially on a cold winter night. It also works when you're hungry and just can't think of anything else that sounds good.

My Mom always called it Graveyard Stew. I think that's because it was a traditional snack before going to bed, after getting off work at midnight. That's just a guess...

Home Made Noodles

Relax. It's not as hard as you think. You can just throw this all in a bowl. A glass bowl works best. I usually do the wet ingredients first with the salt, whip it up with a fork, and then add the flour.

2/3 c flour
1/2 teas salt
1 teas oil
1 egg
1 tbl water

Multiply this by how many batches you want to make. In general, 2 or 3 is enough for most recipes.

Stir that around with the fork until blended. Then plop it out on a floured table (scrape it off the sides of the bowl if a lot sticks), and start kneading the heck out of it. Add more flour to the noodles as you knead if they are still pretty gooey and moist. (Large eggs can mean you need to add more flour). The trick is to get it to where it doesn't stick to your hands anymore while you knead it and dry enough to start rolling them out....like you would for pie dough.

The noodles are now ready to roll out with a rolling pin. Sprinkle the noodles, the table, and rolling pin with more flour as you turn them over and roll; until you get them to your desired thickness. The thinner the better (by then the edges usually start to curl a bit), unless you really like thick noodles. Cut into strips and the length you want.

They are now ready to cook. Letting them dry is not necessary, but they will cook up a little thicker than if you'd let them air dry awhile.

Most of the time you'll be putting them directly into your dish, such as for chicken/beef and noodles. (I take the meat out of the boiling broth to allow plenty of room for the noodles to cook evenly, and then put it back in when done.) The only time I've pre-cooked them in boiling water was to make a tuna and noodle casserole. After cooking, rinse and drain. If you've never tried homemade noodles in a tuna casserole you've really missed something. It makes a world of difference.

I have used this recipe for over 40 years and only one time have they failed. I'm pretty sure that was just because I lost track of what I was doing and probably didn't add enough flour. They sunk to the bottom of the pan in a clump. So if you want to test them first, just drop a few into your liquid and give them a moment or two to rise to the top as they cook. If they dance around in the liquid, they are fine.

I got this recipe out of "The Joy of Cooking". In it were instructions to use a marble slab, make a well in the flour and put the ingredients in, dry them for half your lifetime, etc, etc. I think most noodle recipes say that and it scares people off. This works just fine with the bowl method.

You can also make these ahead, dry them and store in a jar or bags, or freeze for later. But since they can be cooked immediately, I just make them as I need them.

Enjoy!