Grandma Brown's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

From the time I was literally a toddler, I remember watching my grandmother make this soup.  It is still my favorite meal EVER.  Whenever I make it, I eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until it is gone!  It is great for colds, sore throats, and bad moods! I don't have an exact recipe because I just do it, so bare with me and feel free to ask any questions. 

Ingredients:
1 chicken (giblets included) - the fattier the chicken, the yummier the broth (in my opinion!)
Approximately half a bag of flour

1 Dozen Eggs

1/4 Cup Water

3-4 Bay Leaves

Salt

Pepper (Fresh ground is the best)

Put the chicken/giblets, salt, fresh ground pepper, and bay leaves in a large pot of water.  Bring to a boil.  Let it boil for approx. 10-15 minutes, then turn the heat down.  Place a lid on the pot.  Let it cook until the chicken is literally falling off the bones.  I usually keep it on the stove for about 4 hours. 

Meanwhile, crack 12 eggs into a kitchen aid or large bowl.  Stir them up so that there is no difference between the yolks and the whites.  Add 1/4 cup water and stir.  Turn on the kitchen aid (use the dough hook) and slowly add flour until the dough is slightly hard and not very sticky at all.  You will use a lot of flour!   If you are not using a kitchenaid, just knead it the old-fashioned way with your hands. 

Let the dough rest for about 5-10 minutes.

Separate the dough into fist-size balls.

 
Using a rolling pin, roll out each ball of dough.  You will need to use a lot of flour here too.

Let the rolled-out dough get dry enough that it doesn't stick, but not so dry that it will break or crumble when you roll it.  This takes a while.  Then turn the rolled-out dough over to let the other side dry. 
Once the dough is "right", roll each circle like your rolling a cinnamon roll. Then, use the sharpest knife in your house to cut the noodles.  See photo below:

You will want to cut the noodles as thin as you can because they expand when cooked.  I learned this the hard way about a hundred times - haha! 
Once all the noodles are cut, muss them all up with your fingers, so that they actually unwind and look like noodles.

Let them sit out a while to dry even more. 

Once the chicken is done, hoist it out of the pot into another container.  Strain the broth so that you get all the "yuckies" out, aka the giblets.  (I wish I didn't have to use the giblets at all, but they add TONS of yummy flavor to the broth - I tried it without the giblets once and it just wasn't the same).  Now, this is where I hand pick out the pieces of chicken.  I just use my fingers to pick out the good pieces of chicken - light and dark, and I separate it into another container.  Then, I throw the rest of the chicken away.

Add the chicken back to the broth and let simmer. 

Bring a pot of water to boil.  Add the noodles.  Cook the noodles until they are almost done and then transfer them to the broth/chicken pan.  Let them finish cooking in the broth.  Voila!!!  Yummy Soup!