I don't know why the act of making noodles has always scared me a little. I've seen Marcella do it, I've seen Lidia do it and I've seen Martha do it. Heck, I even have a dim memory of seeing Jack Tripper do it. Still, noodle making is not (despite the presence in my house of a groovy Atlas roller appliance thingy) something I get enthusiastic about. I guess I'm always afraid thay'll be crappy - gluey, sticky, floury, pasty, or whatever other ailment can afflict something that on the surface seems so easy. Two ingredients and a world of potential wrongness. If you flub something that has, say, 22 ingredients people are sympathetic but messing up the flour and egg thing? Well, geez, what kind of dork are you? Of course, people who like to cook know that the simple stuff will sink you well before the more complex.


But I had made this chicken broth and it turned out really well. For soup, I added chopped kale, carrots, peas, celery and, of course, chicken. A bit of seasoning - salt, pepper, the tiniest amount of fresh ground nutmeg and the result was wonderful but for one crucial, glaring absence. Noodles. I have a box of elbows on hand but they seemed a little coarse for such a fine soup and I'm saving my orzo for a stand alone side dish. I picked up a box of ditalini but, well, fussy came to mind. There was only one solution. Face the fear and make the noodles.


So I did. And they were great. I even dusted off the Atlas that my good friend Donna so graciously gave us as a wedding present. I feel very full of myself and quite accomplished. I guess it's like driving somewhere for the first time, you might have some fear before you set off but once the trip is made you wonder why you felt trepidatious in the first place.


The other big experiment this weekend is still in progress. The dough is made and (hopefully) rising, the veggies (zucchini, well drained, since I didn't have eggplant) are sauteed, the cheese is grated and the venison is browned (with the cooked bacon crumbled in - I have no use at the moment for cooked bacon so I figured hey! why not?). Pending successful rising of the dough we'll having venison calzones for dinner tonight. In a nice bonus, I had enough of each of the filling ingredients to make a double batch so we'll have the added pleasure of something new and different in the freezer.


Not at all a bad weekend, cooking-wise.