Chicken Noodle Soup from Scratch

This is a Little-Red-Hen, chicken-scratch kind of recipe.

In the morning, put a couple of pounds of chicken feet along with any miscellaneous saved bones in a large stock pot, cover with water, and bring to a simmer. Add some peppercorns, cover, and simmer all day long while you gad about in toy stores and gourmet grocers, and other places you have no business being (except to buy glow-in-the-dark stars and that grey sea salt you've been jonesing for).

When you tire of the blustery wind and people who say, "Oh, does he like yummy yummy cheeses? Does he? Oh yes, daddy's little soldier loves yummy yummy cheeses. He'll have a good palate when he's a big boy," come back home and drain the stock through a colander. Reserve half of it for later use (I freeze it) and put the rest back to simmer with several tablespoons of that fancy-ass sea salt. Then make the noodles.

Build a little cinder cone from 1.5 c. white whole-wheat flour on a clean countertop. Put 3 eggs in the crater and a pinch of salt and beat the eggs gently, incorporating some of the flour until it's too thick to stir. Knead till glossy-smooth, shape into ball, and hide under a bowl.

Chop two onions and whatever veggies are on hand (carrots, parsnips, cauliflower, celery, etc...). Add them to the simmering stock according to their respective cooking times and throw in something green, like thyme, and maybe a couple dashes of curry.

Uncover the dough. Cut it in half and shape into two balls. On a lightly floured surface, press one ball into a circle and roll from the center out till it's less than an eighth of an inch thick. Cut into half-inch strips. Gently stretch each noodle lengthwise before hanging it to dry (I find this easier than rolling the whole dough super-thin, and makes noodles of more even thickness). The noodles certainly don't need to dry all the way -- throw them into the soup pot as soon as you've shaped them all and the veggies are done. Go ahead and make noodles out of the other dough-ball, to use tomorrow or next week (those should dry all the way, hanging over a chair or a wooden spoon handle), but don't forget about the noodles in the pot. They should swell significantly but stay chewy.

This made enough for three people. If more people want some, garnish each dish with chicken feet and feathers. That'll teach 'em to freeload from the Little Red Hen.