Homemade Crackers And Noodles

By Susan M. Thigpen © 1987

Issue: November, 1987

What could taste better on a chilly November day than a bowl of hot homemade soup? Everyone seems to have their own favorite, whether it's chicken, vegetable or something else. Often these soup recipes were handed down through families for generations. You probably have at least one. But, when Grandma was passing down her soup recipe, she often forgot to record how to make the crackers to eat with it or the hand made noodles to add to it. In these days of such convenient supermarket shopping, we can easily run out and buy noodles or crackers. We take them for granted, but Grandma made her own. In the two recipes that follow, you can try your hand at homemade noodles and crackers. You will be proud of your results and can start experimenting with different flours like whole wheat to get wonderfully tasty treats that suit your family best.

Homemade Crackers

1 Pack dry yeast
2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup warm water.

Mix yeast and water until yeast dissolves. Mix in flour, a little at a time until you have a stiff dough that is not sticky. Do not let dough rise. Roll out thin and cut in squares. Place squares on a greased cookie sheet. Prick tops of squares with a fork and sprinkle salt on top. Bake in a hot oven (400 degrees) until lightly brown and crisp.

Homemade Noodles

One egg
1/2 egg shell water
6 cups plain flour

Place flour in an extra large bowl. Make a depression (hole) in top of flour. Break egg into the hole and add 1/2 egg shell of water. Start blending in flour from the center, working your way out to the edges. You can use a spoon, but Grandma always used her hands to blend dough. (Start with all of your fingers spread apart and pull them together through the flour. As you pull your fingers together, give a twist of your wrist.) Remember, this is only a little bit of moisture and a lot of flour so it will take a lot of patience and time to blend it into a dry, stiff dough. When you have it blended together, roll it out flat and cut in broad flat strips the size you want your noodles. You can shape the noodles in any shape you wish. You can let them dry out completely and store them in an air tight container or you can let them partially dry and cook them now.

Drop these noodles in soup as you would cook any noodles. Another suggestion for the noodles is to cut them in a square, fold in half and pinch ends together. These make little canoe shaped boats you can fill with many different things such as spaghetti sauce, meat, cheese or vegetables.