My Noodle Story

Like “Poe” on Kung Fu Panda, I too have a noodle story. I grew up living across the driveway from my Grandma Ferne. She always cooked from scratch and our family and friends loved it. Her bread, cinnamon rolls, and chicken noodles were locally famous, in my opinion anyway. At every family gathering we had to have noodles. It was an all day affair for Grandma to make them. She would boil a chicken in water, make the noodles and roll them out on the countertop in her kitchen. Grandpa Morris would sit in his chair at the table and help her roll them out and cut them or just watch to make sure she was doing it “right.” Thinking back to those days is a fond memory from my childhood.

Grandma and I weren’t great friends back then. She helped Mom and Dad raise us kids and that was hard on her and not fun for me. It was like having 2 moms. I was the oldest child and loved to torment my younger sister who was grandma’s “favorite”. I used to tell Grandma she wasn’t my mom when she tried to discipline me and I usually drove her “batty.”

However as I grew up, we grew closer. I matured and Grandma mellowed. I didn’t live in my hometown for long after I got married so I would call often and try to visit Grandma every time I came to town. I realized she was aging. She could hardly make bread and noodles anymore. Her hands hurt and her back and knees kept her from standing for long periods. I told her I wanted to learn to make her recipes so I could make them for the family reunions. I knew one day she would be gone and we’d never have Grandma’s noodles again. So she taught me and I practiced over and over. I think they get better every time I make them. Of course, I have made changes, for the best though. Grandma approves. See, she was raised without wealth. When she made noodles, the way she saw her mom do it, they just boiled a chicken in water. Well, I was staying at home with my babies at that time and watched Food Network all day. So I learned about making broth with veggies and herbs. Grandma tried my noodles one day and said, ”Wow, these are great. What did you put in there?” Recently, I tried Grandma’s noodles with homemade beef broth and was very happy with the results.

I still have my grandma and I think of her every time I cook or bake. I still call her with a food question every so often. She is so proud of me for carrying on the tradition of her cooking. A few years back for Christmas, she handwrote recipe books for all us girls in the family and it is one of my treasured possessions. I use it often and when she is gone, I will still have her handwritten love letters to cherish. I think they are like love letters, some would just say recipes. One thing you can definitely say about Ferne is that she loves her family, including this little brat.