I could eat oodles

Handmade noodles

Freshly made noodles, out to dry

I could pretend to be healthy and state that I steer clear of refined carbohydrates. But I don't. I just couldn't ever. I try where I can, like how we eat this rice instead of this rice. But one thing I just can't cut out - noodles. I absolutely, completely, totally {heart} noodles. Chinese, Italian, Thai, Korean, Singaporean, Japanese - country doesn't matter, I will eat them.

Mmmm can't wait to boil those up ---- To sample, just a bit of butter, salt & pepper

Perhaps roughly 20 years ago (*gasp* I hate that I can say that when recalling vivid memories) my mom bought an Atlas Marcato pasta maker. We used it a couple times, oohed and ahhed over the pasta, and then it was put away on a top shelf in the den, left to gather dust. It seems like this so often happens with new toys - the novelty wears off quickly. But while I was home over the holidays, I decided it was time to dust off that box and whip up some pasta. And it was FUN!

The Atlas Marcato 150 (circa 1980-something)

We used a simple recipe I found in Mom's pasta book. Something roughly like 4 eggs, 4 cups of flour and a few tablespoons of water. I really think that was it. Mom suggested I use a bowl - but I insisted on doing it the "traditional" way: right on the butcher block.

4 eggs + 4 cups of flour + enough water to hold it together

The ingredients combine a bit messy but after
thorough kneading - it's really beautiful dough

I have the Pasta Roller Set for my Kitchenaid, but haven't used it yet. On this day I used the trusty Atlas with the hand crank and I can really see why it'd be nice to have that extra hand free and allow the mixer's motor to run the rollers! You have to feed and catch the pasta as it goes through!

Rolling thinner and thinner --- It really sorta takes 3 hands --- I made thin and thick noodles

Mom has this fantastic drying rack that I can't find for sale anywhere anymore. The pricetag is still on the box and apparently back in the day, Macy's was selling it. But no longer... It doesn't take very long to dry the pasta, and really it doesn't need to be dry so much as it needs to not stick together.

Just waiting to be gently boiled and gobbled up

It's just absolutely fantastic. I can't explain how good fresh pasta is - you have to make it and try it yourself!