Title: Spatzli (egg noodles)
 Categories: Swiss, Dumplings, Pasta
      Yield: 4 Servings
 
      3 c  Flour; Unbleached
      1 ts 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?!")