Homemade Noodles and Traditions

Like many families, my family has traditions that have been handed down from generation to generation.  I am certain that some traditions have fallen by the wayside along the way and I know for a fact that new traditions have either been introduced or established.  Family traditions serve as sort of glue that binds a family.  I guess some glues lose their holding power and are replaced.

There is one particular tradition in my family that I fear is dying out.  I think I am the last one in a long line of generations to savor this tradition.  The tradition?  Homemade noodles.

Homemade noodles, you ask?

Yes, homemade noodles, especially at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Homemade noodles were a favorite dish of my paternal and maternal grandparents.  I remember my mother rolling out the noodle dough on the countertop while a turkey was in the oven.  Once rolled out, she would use a handheld noodle cutter to cut long strips of noodles.  She would then let them dry.  After the noodles were dried she would cook them in a pot, generally along with a turkey neck.  About the time the potatoes were done cooking in the pressure cooker the noodles would be ready to come off the stove.  When done, the noodles were slippery and the meat from the turkey would simply fall off the bone.  Oh, how I loved homemade noodles, especially at Thanksgiving.

Noodle preparation was passed down from my mother to Susan, who now makes them for me at Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately, I don’t believe any of my children or grandchildren enjoy the tradition of homemade noodles the way I enjoy them.

Though new traditions come along (like an annual Turkey Bowl), it’s rather sad to think that some of the old traditions fall away.  I know for a fact that I am a third generation noodle lover and I can only believe that my grandmothers learned how to make noodles from their mothers or their mothers-in-law, who learned it from their mothers, who also learned it….  Well, you get the picture.  And, it’s rather sad that mothers’ children and their husbands and friends no longer sit around the Thanksgiving Day table and say, “You know, I think I’d like to have some more noodles with another slice of that turkey.  A little more cranberry sauce would be good, too.  I can have a slice of pie later.”  It’s rather sad to think that a tradition like noodles can’t be the glue that holds generations together.

I guess traditions are like noodles.  They are slippery, but when properly remembered they tie you to ancestors you’ve never met.  But if not, they slide away.  Luckily, I’ll be able to sit at the Thanksgiving table again this year and get to know ancestors again that I’ve never met.