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?!")