Oh Henry Bars

First time I had these, I thought they were another “Rice Krispie treat”, but there are quite a few differences.  I just did a Google search on Oh Henry Bars and there are a LOT of variations out there.  I got this one from friend and neighbor LuAnn Scott, who is such a good cook I knew it would be good.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 Cups creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 Cups corn syrup
9 Cups Rice Krispies
1 – 12 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 – 12 oz. pkg. butterscotch chips

Directions:
Mix sugar, peanut butter and corn syrup in a heavy, medium saucepan, until no more sugar crystals can be heard/felt. Measure Rice Krispies into a very large bowl, like a big popcorn bowl. Pour the syrup over the Rice Krispies, and stir gently until completely coated. Pour out and press into the bottom of a greased (spray is fine) 10X14 inch pan. (I like this little bigger pan than the typical 9X13, as the bars aren’t as thick this way.) Melt the chips in a microwave – safe bowl, stir until smooth, spread over bars. Cool in the fridge a few hours to set, then bring back up to almost room temperature to cut into bars.

Soft Gingersnaps

This is one of my favorite cookies.  I’ve always liked gingersnaps, but this one has plusses; it’s soft and chewy (if “soft” and ginger”snap” aren’t too much an oxymoron), the spices are mild, and (wait for it …) its b-u-t-t-e-r-y!  Oh, yeah.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:
Cream butter; add sugar gradually.  Beat until fluffy.  Add egg and molasses; blend.  Stir together flour, soda, salt and spices; blend into butter mixture.  Roll small portions of dough into balls the size of walnuts  I use a melon baller – they sell tiny little ice cream lookin’ scoops just for the purpose in the specialty cooking stores, but I’m cheap.  Roll in granulated sugar, place on lightly greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.  Bake at 350º 8 to 10 minutes or until they have melted and puffed.  For crisper cookies, bake until they have flattened.  Cookies bake down to form perfect rounds with traditional gingersnap cracks on top.  Careful not to over-bake them, or they won’t be soft and chewy.

I’m in the News(paper)

I was interviewed (via email) for a story about me in a lifestyles/cooking/recipe section of a local newspaper.  Be sure to check out the link to the chocolate cheesecake.

http://www.heraldextra.com/momclick/recipes/article_e2eaedc6-1239-11e0-95d6-001cc4c03286.html

What/How Much to Share w/ Management

How much of what an employee shares with their trusted HR Manager/Director should HR reveal to management? (Assuming nothing that was shared was illegal …)  An earlier post posed the question of  “What is the role of HR, employee advocate or management advisor?”  This post is similar.  Employees should probably be able to feel like they can unload or vent to someone at the company regarding things that they don’t perceive as going how they think they should, and if HR runs and tattles everything they hear to management, the employees will soon learn to distrust HR, and say no more.  On the other hand, if HR hears something that they think management really should be aware of – and keep it to themselves, then management can’t address the concern.

So what do y’all think? Post your feelings here in a comment.

Are Humans a Resource? (HR’s Role?)

I guess I’m in Human Resources because I really do believe humans are more than a “resource” for organizations to use like so much equipment or building space. We recently held our company Christmas party, I was responsible (aren’t most HR shops?) Luckily, I had a ton o’ help and supportive management; I think a lovely time was had by all.  One thing this party re-emphasized to me is that a company is great because of its people. While some may posit that a company is great because of their products, their technologies, their strategies, etc. I would remind: Who makes and markets those products? People. Who creates and refines those technologies? People. Who determines and executes those strategies? People.

HR professionals will invariably find themselves at one point in their career or another walking a tightrope, making some fine judgment calls, when in cases of dispute to support the employee or management.  One role HR has been cast in is “employee advocate”.  This role is an especially tenuous one, since the HR Manager/Director doesn’t work for the employee; they work for management. While many HR functions exist to support of the employee, such as benefits and parties, the bottom line is that HR exists in an organization to primarily serve management, to provide management advisory services in those classic functions of attracting, motivating and retaining employees. Companies don’t provide those fringe benefits out of the goodness of their hearts; they do it to be competitive; to attract and retain.

So how do YOU see HR’s role?  Who do YOU think HR works for – employees or management?

 

Cake Mix Oreos

 

I plowed through the web for this recipe and found several versions, this one being one of the simplest – and the results are great.  Three ingredients, I love it.  Be patient when combining the ingredients, the batter is *very* stiff. (Don’t break your spoon!)  Like the instructions say below, I use a melon baller to dig out small, uniform cookies. A daughter of mine uses a scoop made for cookies that is a little larger, and those are good too.  As for how “done” to cook them, the daughter and I differ slightly. She likes them a little softer than me.  The cookies in these pictures have orange-colored frosting; we gave them away for Halloween.  Feel free to experiment with the colors; I think red and green would be fun for Christmas, pastels for Easter, or regular ol’ white any ol’ time.

Ingredients:
2 (18.25 ounce) packages dark chocolate cake mix
4 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°  . Lightly grease cookie sheets.  In medium bowl, mix together cake mixes, eggs and oil until well blended.  Dough will be very stiff – don’t break the spoon!  Roll dough into 1 – 2 inch balls (a melon baller works well) and place onto prepared cookie sheets.  Make them as uniform as possible, so they’ll match up top and bottom.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes until semi-firm.  Let set up a few minutes on sheet before removing.  To make filling, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar together until smooth.  Start with 2 cups, and add up to 1 more cup to achieve desired consistency, food color optional.  Spread between two cooled cookies.



Gender Discrimination Alive and Well

In May of 2010, a jury in a gender discrimination case pending in a New York City federal court awarded a class of 5,600 female plaintiffs over $250 million in punitive damages and almost $4 million in compensatory damages.  A back pay award is also expected.  The plaintiffs are current and former sales employees of a drug maker who alleged they suffered bias in pay, promotional opportunities and pregnancy-related matters.  Here is a news article with some more details about the lawsuit and the plaintiffs’  verdict:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/business/20drug.html Some news accounts have said this is the largest gender discrimination lawsuit ever to go to a jury verdict in the United States.

Acknowledgement and thanks to Mike O’Brien (writer) and Kriss Hess (sender) at the law firm Jones Waldo in Salt Lake City, UT

Note: Posts on this blog are for information purposes only, and are not legal advice.

Cherry Pecan Cookies

(3 drops pink food color)

Anyone who sees this blog very often knows that I like chocolate – a lot. Once in a while however, I come across another flavor cake or cookie that is good enough it doesn’t have to be chocolate. This is one of those recipes. This has been sitting in my box for long enough that I don’t remember who put it there or when, but I’m glad it was there. It’s very good.

Cherry Pecan Cookies

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1  1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon maraschino cherry juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-5 drops pink food color
1 cap-full almond extract
2 cups rolled oats (quick or old fashioned, whatever you have)
2/3 cups maraschino cherries, drained and cut up (don’t worry about an exact measurement)
1 cup pecans, broken up (again, don’t worry about this being a spot-on measurement)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. In separate bowl, cream together shortening, butter, sugar, eggs, cherry juice, vanilla, food color and extract. Stir in flour mixture and mix well. Blend in oatmeal, cherries and nuts. Mix well. Roll into balls the size of walnuts and slightly smash down with the palm of your hand (half original height). Bake to light brown, 8 – 10 minutes.

(4 drops pink food color)

Cherry Chocolate Cake

Yep, it’s as good as it sounds, and very easy. First time I made it, I added some milk chocolate chips, but in the future I think I’ll leave them out as they really didn’t add to the overall flavor.

Cherry Chocolate Cake:
1 box chocolate or Devil’s Food cake mix
(water, eggs, oil per instructions)
1 small or 1/2 large bottle maraschino cherries, quartered
2/3 cup (approximately) pecans, broken up

Prepare cake as per package directions. Stir in cherries and nuts, bake as directed on package. Cool, frost with your choice of frosting; I prefer cream cheese.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 brick cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
Dash salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar
 
Beat together the softened cream cheese, butter, salt, and vanilla extract. Add powdered sugar until you achieve desired consistency, probably four to five cups. Interesting note: When you first start adding a little powdered sugar, the mixture will actually get thinner until you add quite a bit more powdered sugar. Refrigerate to “set” the frosting.

Employment Law Trends Reflected In News

Some recent news stories are good indicators of legal trends to which employers should pay some attention.  First, the Illinois Legislature just approved a new law restricting employers from using credit information in employment decisions.  Several other states (Hawaii, Oregon, Washington) have adopted similar laws, all intended to minimize the impact of the Great Recession on an applicant’s ability to get a job.  Second, nationally, claims brought before state wage agencies are up.  These types of claims include claims regarding termination pay, vacation pay and deductions from wages.  One Eastern employment lawyer has commented that he is seeing a “wage and hour firestorm spread from California across the country.  Make sure you know about and comply with applicable state wage laws that apply based on where your employees live/work.  Finally, a couple of recent new lawsuits suggest more men are filing sex discrimination claims with women—and other men– portrayed as the villains.

Acknowledgement and thanks to Mike O’Brien (writer) and Kriss Hess (sender) at the law firm Jones Waldo in Salt Lake City, UT

Note: Posts on this blog are for information purposes only, and are not legal advice.