12/21/19
(Above: The raw result of today’s noodle crafting.)
Commentary: This was a day of relaxation that began with creative writing and a pleasant beef pasture check*. I returned to Jacobhouse for much of the ensuing morning where I played a decent bit of Path of Exile – part of the time with the glass doors closed (when it was still early and quite chilly outside) and part with them open. I ventured up to Oldhouse before noon so as to begin preparing lunch and to make noodle dough for dinner… the latter being where the post’s title comes into play.
My brother, for a combination of a birthday gift to me and a Christmas gift to everyone, bequeathed me with an Atlas Wellness Marcato noodle press & cutter along with a noodle-hanging rack. Why? Well, creating fettuccini by hand was not difficult but it was certainly time-consuming what with all the flattening and hand-cutting – two tasks that the noodle-machine makes a thing of a past. Now, with a turn of the crank I can not only flatten the noodles but also cut them into perfectly even strips! Here are some pictures of the process, along with the final result:
Lining up a pasta sheet with the noodle-cutter attachment in an attempt at fettuccine. 
Feeding a pasta sheet through the noodle-cutter attachment. My brother is helping by turning the lever. 
Retrieving noodles out of the other side. 
A close-up of the pasta sheet coming out of the noodle-cutter’s bottom side. 
A delicious dinner of homemade noodles dressed in Béchamel sauce served alongside a thin-cut cucumber salad (and a Redbridge sorghum beer).
Final Note: Tomorrow morning, I intend to help Padre with cattle activities if he needs any aid, and I will be cleaning the frames / slabs of the unpainted freezer room doors.
*During the beef pasture check, I observed how Padre had to contend with a mother cow so as to treat her sick calf. For a minute or two, the matronly bovine blocked all his advances toward her offspring. She must have eventually detected that there was no harm intended (or simply tired of Padre’s persistence), because after those couple minutes she let him by and allowed him to treat the calf without any further difficulty.