Spatzli Egg Noodles

3 c Flour -- Unbleached

1 t Salt

1/4 ts Nutmeg (optional)

4 Eggs -- Large, Beaten

1/2 c (or more) Water

1/4 c Butter

Sift flour, salt and nutmeg together in a bowl. Pour eggs and 1/4 cup water into middle of flour mixture, beat with a wooden spoon. Add enough water to make the dough slightly sticky, yet keeping it elastic and stiff. Using a spaetzle machine or a colander with medium holes, press the noodles into a large pot full of boiling salted water. Cook noodles in the water about 5 minutes or until they rise to the surface. Lift noodles out and drain on paper towels. Brown noodles in melted butter over low heat, and serve with a main dish. Or, don't bother browning them, and serve in/with soup, or with stew. (Another method for shaping the noodles is to spread the mixture on a wooden board and cut off little pieces, dropping them in the boiling water and fishing them out quickly when they're done.) (Be prepared to write off your first few attempts at spaetzle, by the way. They are very labor-intensive, and a little miscalculation with the time in the hot water can ruin them. One joke I heard about them while in Switzerland: Man in restaurant to chef -- "These spaetzli are terrible!" Chef: "How dare you! I've been making them since before you were born!" Man: "Yes, but did you have to leave them in the water that long?!")