Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Small Town Tuesday: Chicken noodle dinner

This is my weekly installment of Small Town Tuesday. If you have a small-town story (with pictures is even better! ) please send me a message at vash_ii@yahoo.com or on Facebook.


I'm so proud to be involved in a long-running tradition at my church. As part of women's fellowship, every year we make home made, from-scratch noodles for a Sunday chicken noodle fundraiser.

This is the 6th consecutive year, though it was done many years before until there was no one to run it. The super nice lady who runs it now told me the other day, "I asked why we didn't do it anymore and they said no one wanted to head it. But I realized I just needed to delegate."

I've never made my own noodles so this has been an education for me. All the ladies gather for a quick dinner of soup, bread and dessert on a Wednesday night.

We all have different jobs like wrapping napkins and silverware, mixing dough, rolling it, putting it through a flattening press, putting flat pieces on the table to rest, putting them through a second cutting press, then laying the noodles on a table to dry overnight.

Then the noodles have to be bagged and frozen the next day, and the Friday before the dinner they are cooked with chicken - provided by fellowship members - and other women provide mashed potatoes, desserts, bread, pickles and veggies. Still more volunteer the day of the fundraiser dishing out food, serving coffee, tea and water, cutting desserts and cleaning up. 

It's quite a process!

A person could make their own noodles at home and simply press and cut by hand since the amount would be so much smaller. Here's the recipe:
The finished product! YUM!
Homemade noodles

2 eggs
2 c. flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/3 c. milk

For the fundraiser, we used 11 dozen eggs, 1-1/2 gallons of milk and 50 pounds of flour. It's our main fundraiser and always benefits someone in our community. Last year it went to a fire victim and a missionary.

This year it will help a teenage boy with brain cancer who is the grandson of one church member and great-grandson of another church member (I didn't realize these ladies had a child and grandchild who had married!).

It's a wonderful cause and tradition, and I'm so blessed to be a part of it. The camaraderie and fellowship with these ladies is good for my soul. And look, I even made the town paper (I'm in the middle!). Woot!

We had a lot of fun making the noodles! Can you tell?
First step, mix the dough. This was my job this year!
Next step, dough ball.
Press into flat strips.
Lay them out to rest for awhile.
Cut into noodle strips.
Let them dry overnight.
 

47 comments:

  1. When I was a kid, my mother always made homemade pasta and it really is better than anything you can get from a box. How wonderful that you & the ladies from your parish do this every year!

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    1. Oh my gosh it's amazing! I'm not sure when I had ever had truly homemade noodles before coming here.

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  2. That looks like so much fun to do that with a group of ladies! And homemade noodles are so good! You've inspired me to put it back on my list of things to make!

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    1. Oh good! I'm glad it inspired you. I have to admit, since I do it at church it is not on my home list, LOL!

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  3. This is such a neat idea that your church has! Wow! I love it!

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  4. We make these!! I have made them for years and my Daughter now makes them for her kids. I think they are the BEST noodles anywhere.

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    1. Oh you brave soul! That is amazing! I will have to try it at home someday.

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  5. I've always wanted to make some homemade noodles. Now I think I'll try it. What a wonderful tradition for your church to have!

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    1. Let me know if you do try it! It really isn't quite as complicated as I thought!

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  6. I have always wanted to make homemade pasta, thanks for the inspiration to give it a try!

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  7. I have never made homemade noodles. I am soo impressed!!! I loved all the images too - thanks for including them. I love this Church tradition.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Monica! It truly is a wonderful tradition and I love being a part of it.

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  8. I absolutely LOVE making my own noodles. We don't have a pasta press, so we just roll them out then cut them with a pizza cutter.
    One of my favorite things about church are the dinners. At our last church, there was the most awesome group of ladies (and men) that cooked each week for the kids on youth group night. It made it so special to be a part of that.

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    1. That's so cool you make them yourself at home. I have yet to do that. Church dinners are a blast. Brady has even started to like them after years of grumbling, ha!

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  9. This looks like quite the fundraiser! If I lived in your small town I would be stopping by to purchase these because homemade noodles are my favorite. I just hate all the work that goes into them!

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    1. They sold bags of them too to raise more money! Just awesome.

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  10. The noodles look delicious, but the best part looks like the process! What a great great opportunity to connect, help and learn. I'm envious :)

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    1. Terra, yes, somehow the whole process makes them taste even better :)

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  11. Made my own pasta last year for the first time, also with our church group! Oh man the noodles were SO good. I'm going to make some again this week!

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    1. Oh my gosh you should totally share your recipe and process if you make them! I'm still not quite able to envision making them at home.

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  12. Wow, That's a LOT of noodles! Homemade pasta is the best. :) What a great fundraiser too!
    Grace @ Queen Of The Red Double Wide.com

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Grace! I LOVE the name of your blog :)

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  13. Oh wow that looks like a lot of work but also a lot of fun! I think it is great that you do this with the church it would be a great way to spend time with the ladies.

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    1. They said a devotion at the beginning something like "Dear God please let these many hands might light work."

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  14. Steph, I absolutely loved this post. I grew up in small towns. My mother always made homemade noodles. I'm going to send her your blog. I think she will really enjoy it! What a blessing to be with a group of women who are working together to serve others. I wish I could jump in and help!

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    1. Hi Melanie. Thanks so much for your words. I'm so glad I brought back some memories and thanks for forwarding it on :) And you're right, it is a true blessing.

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  15. I've never made homemade noodles before. Sometime I'll have to give it a whirl. I love the reason why you were doing this! I'll pray for the boy with cancer.

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    1. Oh goodness, I think if anyone could do it, you totally good! Thank you so much for your prayers. It breaks my heart every time I think of it. I've heard his school (it's in another town) has really rallied for him and that he is still going to school. He definitely needs a miracle.

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  16. My grandma used to be the queen of homemade pasta, I loved her watch how she does these. Sadly I can't do them at all.

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    1. My mom told me she remembers vividly her Czechoslovakian grandmother making these. Of course no one ever makes anything like grandma :)

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  17. YUM! I make my own noodles all of the time, but I do it completely by hand. The flattening press and cutter would make a large job so much easier! You just cannot beat the taste of fresh homemade noodles. What an awesome tradition! PINNED

    ~Lorelai
    Life With Lorelai

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    1. Wow, Lorelai, that's amazing! Thanks for pinning. I will maybe hopefully possibly someday try these at home :)

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  18. What a great idea and a wonderful time of learning and fellowship. I just got an attachment to make noddles on my mixer. I'll have to try it out soon.

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    1. Oh how cool! I don't even have a mixer at home so would have to mix by hand too. Let me know how it turns out of you try it!

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  19. I used to make homemade noodles with my gram. One of my most favorite memories. :)

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    1. What a wonderful memory! Something to treasure for sure.

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  20. That looks like a lot of fun! I love cooking in bulk with other people. I love spending Saturdays cooking together! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Communal cooking is such a joy as you all share in the work.

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  21. Homemade noodles! That looks like so much fun! My dad says his dad used to make homemade pasta but he has never made it for us!

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  22. Looks like you had fun making them. I once tried making pasta when I first got married. Needless to say, I never tried again! LOL!

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    1. Oh no! Sounds like that was an interesting experience :)

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  23. Thanks for linking up with Bloggers Brag Pinterest Party! I've pinned your delicious homemade noodles to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Board!

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  24. Wow, homemade pasta, this looks amazing!! Thanks for linking up to Good Tastes Tuesday last week! I have pinned this recipe to our GTT board here: http://www.pinterest.com/goldenreflect/good-tastes-tuesday-recipes/
    Hope to see you back again this week!

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    1. Thanks Heather! It was just as fun to make as it was to eat!

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