Nana's Koogle - serves 4 with leftovers

Today marks the anniversary that my beloved grandmother, Nana, passed away.  I thought about posting a Christmas or New Year's recipe, but figured January 5th would be a good way to start off the year.  Nana was my best friend.  A day doesn't go by that I don't think of her.  Each day that I cook I wonder what she would think of my final product.  I can only imagine what she would have thought over my cheesecakes that nearly burned down my house.  I have such fond memories of her.  She is one of the reasons I began to have a passion for cooking as well as learning to drive sitting on phone books.  She was, without a doubt, one of the best cooks on the planet.  I only wish I could bake like she did.  As a little girl, I would help in the kitchen, any way I could, just to be near her.  We cried over onions and coughed over pillows of powdered sugar all the while making every moment together count. I spent endless summers working at her grocery store learning to make cheese balls, packaging meat and playing in the freezer.  She would work for hours on end and then come home and prepare an amazing meal.  Just being outside with the smells of wonderful Jewish cooking would permeate the neighborhood.  I can remember when I prepared my first Cornish game hens, which she loved, using an elaborate recipe.  I cooked all day and once we sat down for dinner, she couldn't stop with the compliments.  She even did so after pulling out the plastic bag in the carcass that was filled with the neck, liver and gizzards.  That's a true grandmother.  That was my Nana.  With every chop of my knife and every meal that I serve, she's there.  Always. And I never forget to remove that plastic bag.

Ingredients


1 12 oz package of extra wide noodles, cooked to package instructions
2 tbs butter
1 cup cottage cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375.  Grease, with Pam, a 9x13 baking dish.  Add 2 tbs butter and place in oven to melt.  Meanwhile, mix cottage cheese, eggs, milk, pepper and salt in a medium bowl.  Add prepared noodles combine, mixing well.  Remove baking dish from oven (with gloves!) and add noodle mixture.  Place back into oven, uncovered, and bake for 45 minutes.  Serve hot.  Great with a salad, pot roast or roasted chicken.