Hazelnut Messiness

Try using one of those cotton drawstring bags to skin the nuts

I use the roasting/towel method, though I find a terry towel removes the skins faster and also holds them so they don't end up all over the kitchen. I then shake the towel out in my garbage can (which thankfully is almost 3 feet deep).

Alice Medrich's method (described in Dorie Greenspan's *Baking with Julia*) is much neater, though more time-consuming. No messy towel, but more dishwashing to do afterward.

Cover the nuts in a solution of 1 1/2 Tbsp. baking soda per cup of water. Boil for 3 to 5 minutes. The water will look black and disgusting, and the skins will slip off easily after a dip in cold water (test a couple after 3 minutes). Drain the nuts, cover with cold water, slip off the skins, and rinse. Then dry, toast, and carry on with the recipe.

Personally, I use the towel method most of the time (taking it outside as others have suggested) and prep more nuts than the recipe calls for. The surplus toasted, skinned nuts freeze well, and the next time you're ready to roll.

I use the same method. I just try to keep the towel closed up to keep as neat as I can. I have a somewhat deep sink to shake out the towel, or I hold it deep in the garbage pail, but I guess if you have an actual yard you could go outside and do it there!

That is the only method that has worked for me, so I will be interested in reading the responses. When I do take the skins off, I throw the hazelnuts onto a towel, wrap them up and carry to a table outside to do the rolling and shaking out of towel. This is a more pleasant task in warm weather than in the dead of winter!