Doing something nice shouldn't be a big deal.

Maybe people have just become jaded in life; maybe the hard financial times are making people hard; maybe it's basic overpopulation and people feel overwhelmed by dealing with so many other people. I don't know, but I do know that people are not as nice, as they should be, to each other. Nice, what a word. It means, "pleasing and agreeable in nature", and is used for almost everything. "It's a nice day", "It's nice to meet you", "That's a nice sweater", "Oh, she is such a nice person", but has it become just a habit to say the word, and not really mean it? In these days and times, kind of feels like it.

So, just maybe, if you say the word, or do the deed associated with it, try and mean it. Heck, don't try, just do it!! This just might be an addiction worth spreading.

I do nice things for folks, and I don't expect some form of payment for it, whether in words or deeds; I'm just being nice. Doesn't hurt.

Here you go, have some brownies:

Hazelnut Brownies

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 ¼ cup salted butter, softened
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
½ cup hazelnut meal**4 Tbsp baking cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly butter and flour a 9” x 13” baking pan, or spray with nonstick baking spray (contains flour).

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Adding one at a time, beat in eggs, then vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour, hazelnut meal, cocoa and baking powder; gradually add to butter mixture.

Spread mixture evenly in baking pan; bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool pan on a wire rack before cutting squares and serving.

Makes 18 brownies.

**How to Make Hazelnut MealPreheat oven to 400F. Place 1 cup of raw hazelnuts on baking sheet; roast for 20 minutes. While hot, place hazelnuts in clean dish towel and skins will rub off easily. Put cleaned hazelnuts in blender or food processor and grind into a meal.

Mary Cokenour

September 12, 1996 (that's when I came up with this recipe)