Knoephle Soup

No I'm not a German from Russia, not much German at all when it comes to that ... but boy do I love knoephle soup!

I looked on line for recipes and found a bunch. They're all pretty similar but each has its own take on the basic recipe. People add and change all kinds of things to suit themselves, so feel free to to likewise.

Because my daughter reminded me only just this morning, I figured now would be a fine time to add my own take to the mix.

First of all, the best chicken broth comes from *are you ready for this?* boiling a chicken, preferably pre-plucked and gutted and washed. 

Second of all, nothing can really replace rich thick cream and real butter - nothing. The cream goes in last of all, by the way, after the neffles even.

Third of all, valley reds are better potatoes for this than Idaho baking spuds.

Fourth of all, chopped or coarse grated carrots add a bit of color.

Fifth of all, the 'neffle' (my own term, beg pardon) dough is supposed to be droopy and you better be quick with your kitchen shears when you're snipping those little bits of it into the boiling soup.

Sixth of all, since you have a cooked chicken sitting right there, put some into the soup.

By now you've got the gist of what knoephle soup is all about. It's rich and creamy and filling - and totally delicious.

But here's the method behind the madness:

1/ Boil a chicken 
2/ While the chicken is boiling make your neffle dough out of a beaten egg, a few tablespoons of milk, and flour added until the dough is formed enough to halfway handle. It's going to be sticky as all get-out so flour your hands. Form it into a ball, cover it, and set it aside. How much you want is how much you make; might have to use two eggs and yada yada.
3/ Cube your potatoes to about a half inch. If you leave the skins on they're healthier but then you've got bits of potato skin in your soup because, you know, they don't stay on the potatoes when you cook them.
4/ Chop or coarse grate a couple three carrots if you want them in there for color or nutritional value.
5/ When your chicken is done boiling, use a strainer and put the broth into your soup kettle. You can add canned broth (Not Water) if you want, depending on how much water you used for boiling the chicken and how much steamed away in the process. Cover the chicken in an appropriate bowl and set it aside.
6/ Into the broth put the potatoes (and carrots if you used them) and cook them until they're done (when you can easily poke a fork into the potatoes).
7/ By now your chicken ought to be cool enough to get the meat off the bones, so do that and cut the chicken into small pieces (whatever size you like). Put however much chicken you want into the broth and do what you want with the skin and bones.
8/ Your neffle dough has been patiently waiting its turn for all this time so roll it out into a snake, hold it up pretty high over the boiling soup kettle, and start snipping like crazy because if you don't that whole snake is going to droop right down into the soup and you'll be screwed. The thing here is to snip as fast as you can so the neffles start cooking at as close to the same time as possible. They'll first sink and disappear into the broth and stuff but they'll pop back up pretty quick and get in the way of the ones you're snipping, so HURRY!
9/ You can turn the heat down a notch or two right about now so you don't burn your soup, and give it a stir once in a while to keep the neffles circulating. You'll have to test them now and again. They're done when they're all floating around in there and are little funny looking dumplings of various shapes (but should be all about the same size if you've done your snipping right - about a half inch up to an inch or so - you are not going to be able to get them uniform so don't worry about it). When they're dumplings, they're done.
10/ Take the kettle off of the heat now and stir in as much butter as you think appropriate - about a stick for a normal batch, more if you're making more.
11/ You'll notice that the only milk called for so far has been the few tablespoons that go into the neffle dough. That's because we aren't using milk but thick rich cream, the thicker the better. And now, just before you're going to serve it up, you add about half as much cream as you have soup broth (or more if you want it creamier), give it a good stir, ladle it into bowls, sprinkle parsley for decoration, and serve it up. It will be thick and creamy, not thin and watery the way some are, with hopefully lots of potatoes and neffles - YUM!
NOTE: you may have noticed that I didn't include any salt or pepper - that's because different people like different amounts and some can't have any salt at all - so make sure there are salt and pepper shakers within everyone's reach so they can use what they want.
ALSO NOTE: if you're one that has to have specific amounts of ingredients, this recipe is obviously not for you.
ONE MORE NOTE: you can cut your prep time down significantly if you've done some pressure canning ahead of time and have your broth and your chicken (sans skin and bones and cut into bite-sized pieces) already canned. A couple quarts of broth and a pint of chicken ought to do you for a normal sized batch.

These Words Are For You: Help Them

These words are for you:

If you’re reading this it’s because you’re supposed to be reading it.

Half of Syria’s civilians have left their homes for a good reason. Almost half of those have left their country for a good reason.

Help them. Help those who are still there to get out.

I tell you: get the civilians out of there because wrath will rain down on that place.

Women, children, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents … get them out of there, all who wish to go.

Yes I know how many are already doing everything they can; and no I’m not some crazy nut. I’m a little old gramma lady in the middle of nowhere who cannot herself go and help, who cannot even contribute but with my Voice.

People who are abusing this situation for your own gain, stop it. Help them; just help them.

People who are able to help but are not, stop dicking around about it and pitch in.

People who are fretting about terrorists coming among us, cut it out already. These are families who are FLEEING terrorism. Do you really think they’re on the side of those from whom they flee? Get real.

From around the globe come the pleas of people like me, for those who can get innocent civilians out of a war zone to do so and to do it quickly. So many have already come out; so many more remain in danger.

If I had the means … alas I do not … perhaps you do … perhaps you will be the one to find a way to help one of those families, just one of them.

And I weep.

I weep for them, and for a world which has allowed such things to come into being.

I weep for Russia.

I weep for the United States.

I weep for China.

I weep for Germany who cannot alone stem this tide. I weep for those who are helping, overwhelmed at every turn.

I weep for Europe.

I weep.

Not that it does any good for me to weep. My tears will not put food into a child’s belly. It will not ease the heart of a mother who fears for her family.

If I’m this affected from so great a distance, how must those be affected who are in the midst of it all?

Already the tide begins to turn; it is in the very air of our world.

‘Hurry, hurry,’ comes the message, through me to you. ‘Help them, help them. Get them out of there.’

If that place is to run red, let it not be with civilian blood, let it not be innocent blood that runs. 

Hurry, hurry. Russia, China, United States, Europe … all who are already pushed to the limit, bear up for a little longer … help is coming.

Can you not feel the rising of the wind? Can you not sense the turning of the tide? Can you not hear the coming of a whirlwind? Can you not see into the hearts of the people of our world, the compassion fused with outrage?

Yes.

If you are reading this, yes you can feel, sense, hear, and see.

If you are reading this and happen to be INFJ, turn not away from the winds that now ride the air, nor from the tides that would overwhelm you, nor from the sound of the whirling wind, nor from the sight of our hearts. Instead, embrace it all, let it pass through you strengthened and send it back out again. Yes I know it hurts. But it passes as it needs to.

Help them.

Get them out of there.

These people too have roles to play in the future of our world; this fragmented nation of civilians in flight from their own homeland, at the mercy of our bigger world.

Show mercy.

Help them.

Hurry.

Uffda. From whence come these words? I cannot help but think they are not entirely mine own. They belong to all of us I think. 

A Lady Where I Work Had A Great Idea

At least I think it's a great idea!

Being unable to implement it my own self, lacking the requisite skills and history, I put out a Facebook post and we'll see what comes of it.

We were talking about the shop, Close To Home/Deronda designs, my sister has invited me to join her with at the local place that will soon be opening, called  ' The Q '  in our hometown.

This was a small group of elder ladies; we were talking about what kinds of shops would be good to have in our little town, and one of the ladies said, 'How about a Norwegian shop?'

The next lady added, 'How about a German one?'

Many of the early settlers in our area were of Norwegian or German origin; needless to say they brought with them their traditions - which are incredible (except for lutefisk) - and my eyes lit up at the thought of being able to see, taste, hear, touch, and smell a collection of the best of the best that the families of our settlers can and do still produce.

Being as I hadn't eaten in more than a few hours, my belly was the first to kick into high gear as I sat down to do the Facebook post - and just the thought of the awesome stuff that are traditional around here had my mouth watering. Minus the lutefisk, of course. 

Since I'm not Norwegian, and only a little bit German, and not at all German From Russia, I'm not the one who has what it takes to produce the wonderful stuff that many in this area kind of just take for granted.

And the smorgasbord my belly craves is only just the beginning.

Into my head popped some of the traditional costumes.

Into my head popped some of the music.

Into my head popped some of the artwork.

Into my head popped some of the sweater designs, and scarves, and mittens.

Into my head popped accents of the languages of those who settled here.

Just sayin'. 

Me, I think it would be an awesome project to collect family stories 'from the locals', and photos if they want, and pictures of stuff they make, and recipes of foods they prepare (with tips and helpful hints), and at least the words to some of the songs, and traditions, and ... and ... and ...

And put it all together into another local book about Small Town USA! 

Think of all the stuff I'd learn in the process! It would be a rare and priceless gift, I tell you true.

So I personally would LOVE to have all the Norskys and Krauts in the vicinity get together and present to the rest of us a cumulative collection of everything they've got to show off - which is plenty, let me tell you! 

I would love to do a full color book of it all, but that's cost-prohibitive in print form so only the cover would get to be colored - BUT Kindle does color without the added cost that goes along with print so a 'match' deal would probably be a good idea for using the color photos ... they'd be greyscale in the print books but full color in the Kindle version ... hmmm ... I think I like that idea.

But it isn't going to be up to me so there will be no getting up of my hopes here.

HA.

My hopes are already up for what could turn out to be so much fun I can't even think of it without grinning - not to mention the heaven my belly would be in if our friends and neighbors can be talked into it. Mmmmmmm ... 

Right.

It's past my bedtime right now.

What do you bet I'll be dreaming of kuchen and knoephle soup and kraut and sausage and krumkake and etc. and end up waking myself up with a growling stomach and drooling all over my pillow? 

WHY can't I write about this stuff in the daytime?!?!