I burned a pot boiling water today. I’m not joking, and, thankfully, was able to laugh when I realized what I’d done. There I was, yapping away on Skype with a friend, wondering who was grilling a steak at 10:30am. After I hung up, I looked into the bottom of my empty glass, and remembered I had been in the middle of making more Moroccan mint tea before I got on the Jetson’s version of the telephone. More specifically, I had been in the middle of boiling water—in my little copper pot. So, that’s what it smells like when water has completely evaporated in a copper pot, and said pot continues to cook at medium high heat. Apparently, my brain and attention span have been on vacation too long.

In other news, the fleas have waged complete war. If anyone has fleas looking for a holiday retreat, perhaps they’d like to book a room in a cozy house in the country? I’m on my last nerve. I spent a good portion of yesterday vacuuming more than I’ve ever in my life (and vacuuming used to be my chore as a kid!). It was a sight, I’m sure, as I walked into the house, sleeves rolled up, proclaiming “this house is mine you little bastards”, holding a vacuum in each hand. I will not go into the specifics of flea abatement, but I’m really crossing my fingers this last exterminator visit, coupled with my clean up efforts, worked. I’m not sure how much more I can bear, and my prayers to M seem to be going unanswered. I guess he’s on holiday, or just having too good a laugh to offer some divine intervention.

Before heading up to the country this last visit, I needed a mental regrouping, which means baking therapy in my world. I’m sitting on a few bags of hazelnut flour I picked up at the farmers’ market in Portland recently, and decided eleven p.m. was the perfect time to start getting creative with it. This hazelnut thin crisp cookie recipe is actually a twist on my crispy chewy walnut cookies. The method of using melted butter has become my favorite technique for making cookies. There’s no waiting for butter to soften, and I’ve adapted the recipe to use a whisk and wooden spoon, which means no fancy equipment either. If M were here, he’d gobble up these cookies in the wink of an eye. I’d no doubt shoo him away until the flea situation was fixed, which leads to me to wonder “Dear M, it’s me Jennie. Are you listening?”

New on Simple Scratch Cooking:

{how to make browned butter}

{master recipe for my All-Purpose Baking Mix}

Hazelnut Thin Crisp Cookies

makes 24

Music Pairing: Divine Intervention by Matthew Sweet

3/4 cup (118 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 cup (43 grams) hazelnut flour (also called “meal”)

1/4 teaspoon (1 grams) baking soda

1/4 teaspoon (1 grams) fleur de sel

1 stick (4 ounces) butter, melted and slightly cooled

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated natural cane sugar

1/2 cup (79 grams) packed dark brown sugar

1 large egg (50 grams)

1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Add the flour, ground hazelnuts, baking soda and fleur de sel to a small bowl; set aside.

Add the butter and sugars to a deep bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the egg and vanilla, and whisk vigorously until light in color and a little fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the flour mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon until well-mixed and there are no visible traces of flour.

Drop scant tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 to 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets (you should be able to fit 12 on a standard-sized cookie sheet). Bake for 12 minutes, until the edges are golden and the bottoms are lightly browned. Remove the pan from the oven, and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 2 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.