Well Christmas time is almost upon us. Years ago when I lived up north my husband and I would stop by the Amish store and buy homemade noodles and I would really like to make my own this year for Christmas but all of the recipes that I have found tell how to make them but they always have you store them in the refrig. or freezer until you are ready to use them. The one's we use to buy did not have to be kept cool. Hats off to anyone who can help. Take care and God Bless.

-- tracy emily (emilyfarms@tsixroads.com), September 26, 2000

Answers

I have always heard to dry them, say on one of those accordion style laundry racks or something similar where the air can move around them. The way I make ours is to beat up a lot of eggs, add a small amount of water and beat some more, and then stir in enough salted flour to make a very stiff dough, kneading in as much flour as you can, then roll out very thin and cut, either use now or dry.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), September 26, 2000.

I've never had them last long enough to store !

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), September 26, 2000.

Tracy, you can make and dry noodles. It isn't hard, just takes a bit of room while all the noodles are hanging around. Once dry, they wouldn't need to be kept in the fridge or freezer. If the noodles you bought were soft, I'd suspect that they really should have been kept cold. Possibly they were made without eggs which would allow them to be kept more safely at room temp. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), September 26, 2000.

If the noodles are for your holiday meal, I would make them fresh very close to that date and keep refrigerated. But if you want them for gifts, clean some broom handles and stretch them between chairs. Some folks lay parchment paper over the handle to prevent sticking. Place a CLEAN sheet under this for any that fall (and they will!). Then make and cut long lengths and dry. When dry store in airtight containers until you wrap them for gifts. They are fragile. You might make different flavored kinds and then crumble into short lengths for soup noodles with lots of zip. I wrap long noodles in cellophane for gifts.

Good luck. Oh, and be sure to use fresh eggs. Guinea eggs are excellent in noodles as well.

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), September 26, 2000.

Thanks for your input it was great. The noodles that we use to buy were hard and looked light gray. When I make these if I make a large amount to store will it be safe to store if I have used eggs? If I make them without eggs what would I use in place of the eggs? Also what type of flour would be best? This has been great being able to ask questions and get answers so fast, I have been trying to find this out for 2 yrs and living is the south you would think people would know! Thanks again, and hats off the all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- tracy emily (emilyfarms@tsixroads.com), September 26, 2000.

Semolina is a traditional flour to use, but expensive. Plain white flour works well. Whole wheat makes a whole different kind of noodle. A bit gritty for our tastes.

Yes, you can keep dry noodles in an airtight container at room temp. Think about the egg noodles you can buy at the grocery store. Good luck.

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), September 26, 2000.