Shall We Make Noodles?

The special box of chocolate ship cookies arrived with no intention, a little something after the grandchildren had eaten real food, the pyramid ones, first. Out of nowhere came the request from a much older 'child', his dad, to make noodles. Off we went.

The cookie balls were done. They waited to be baked for a treat later. Gluten free was the order of the day. My 6-year-old grandson was ready. The noodle agenda became an almost 4 hours task but time seemed to fly by with him. He and his younger brother had been ill for the past week or so. It was time to move beyond liquid diets. The body was beginning to tell them so.

The noodle ingredients were brought to the table. Not many, of course. Few ingredients are found in homemade noodles: a basic flour, eggs, water, salt. Noodles are labour intensive when made by hand. (No machine for the child-in-training). We proceeded slowly, using words to showcase the talent that lay before us. My grandson loves learning everything and anything, from garter snakes, baseball, soccer to woodpeckers and more. His mom is a French Immersion teacher, always on call with her boys. Children learn 24/7.

Touching this dough, a 4-sense experience, through its many steps, is a labour of love, an awakening of creativity to a new world waiting inside the young human mind. Focus and paying attention are the order of the moment. Learning happens when those two qualities are in play. For the very young, touch is everything. (The yeasted dough is a 5-sense learning experience) Doughnuts, anyone?

The eggs were beaten. A quick demo from me and off he went scrambling them in the large bowl destined for added flour. My 6-year-old was so attentive. I told him about the power he had in making this food for himself, later, with mom and dad's supervision. The more he could do for himself in the kitchen, the wealthier and healthier he would be later. The cost of all foods served in diners, fast-food and high-end restaurants, in general, is higher because of the unseen labour costs and personal attention of the wait staff included in the cost of the meal ordered. You see the food but not the labour to make it. Wealth was found in the kitchen.

As time passed, the little one was getting tired. It was time for him to go and eat. He had been sick this past week and now was just beginning to feel better. Making homemade noodles was a good idea spawned by dad, but now it was over. Time for me to move on to simpler things alone.

I finished then allowed the dough to rest, then rolled each piece of the rested dough into thin circles. I then gently rolled each circle into a log after log then gently slice each one into thin shreds of incredible delight- noodles. As he watched he could see the deliciousness next to him. The thin strings of egg noodles were left on a wooden board to sit and dry till needed. In the past flour was used to keep the mass of freshly cut noodles from sticking together. Now, it was parchment paper the greatest invention for baking, the rising of dough or cutting of delicious noodles

Everything made today left an indelible mark on my grandson and his younger brother, aged 3. A new thing had been introduced into his young life, something he would be eating for the rest of it. New vocabulary tagged along with this new event. Whenever I am teaching children the how to's of noodle making, pizza, doughnuts or perogies, their creations somehow just taste better. So much better than mine. Sous chefs in the making? Oh my. Yes!

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