The Office - It's Back!

IKEA

I forgot to mention- IKEA is going to open a store in Denver! I'm so excited. Unfortunately, it probably won't open for another few years. They still need to buy land, but right now they're looking to locate near Park Meadows, which is already my shopping mecca.

Did you know?
Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retail company, in 1943. The name IKEA comes from Ingvar Kamprad, who grew up on a farm called Elmtaryd in the parish Agunnaryd in southern Sweden.

Chocolate-Mint Bars

I tried these for the firt time last night- both Eric and I thought they were yummy.

Chocolate-Mint Bars
The dense base layer is like a rich, fudgy brownie, so don't overcook it or the dessert bars will be dry. Refrigerating the mint bars allows the chocolaty top layer to set properly. You can make the dessert up to one day ahead. For a more grown-up taste, you can also use dark chocolate chips for some or all of the semisweet chocolate chips in the glaze.

Yield
20 servings (serving size: 1 piece)

Ingredients
Bottom layer:
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, beaten
1 (16-ounce) can chocolate syrup
Cooking spray

Mint layer:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons fat-free milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 drops green food coloring

Glaze:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. To prepare bottom layer, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and salt; stir with a whisk. Combine granulated sugar, egg substitute, 1/4 cup melted butter, 2 tablespoons water, vanilla, eggs, and chocolate syrup in a medium bowl; stir until smooth. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture, stirring until blended. Pour batter into a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

3. To prepare mint layer, combine powdered sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, and next 3 ingredients (through food coloring) in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer until smooth. Spread mint mixture over cooled cake.

4. To prepare the glaze, combine the chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until melted, stirring after 30 seconds. Let stand 2 minutes. Spread chocolate mixture evenly over top. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Cut into 20 pieces.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 264 (30% from fat)
Fat: 8.7g (sat 5.2g,mono 2.5g,poly 0.4g)
Protein: 2.8g
Carbohydrate: 45g
Fiber: 0.5g
Cholesterol: 38mg
Iron: 0.9mg
Sodium: 139mg
Calcium: 12mg

Megan Patterson, Cooking Light, MARCH 2008

A Little Math Humor

Pie charts. Yum.

Update- I did not make this pie. A teacher on the AP Statistics ListServ shared the link to this picture.

Banana Bread

In April of 2005, we held the first Pi Mile Run/Walk. After the race, each participant received a bottle of water and half of a banana. Well, I bought way too many bananas and ended up with dozens of banana halves. I pulled out my newly purchased "From Our Kitchen to Yours" recipe book from the Jackson Women of Today (Jackson, Minnesota- my mom's hometown). I found this banana bread recipe that I've been using ever since. That rainy afternoon, I made at least 10 loaves of banana bread.

Banana Bread
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs
3 T. milk
2 to 3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
Chopped nuts (optional)

Cream together sugar, butter and eggs. Slowly add milk, bananas, flour, and baking soda. Pour into a greased bread pan. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Random Number Generator

As we're about to start the probability unit in Statistics, I'll share one of my favorite Dilbert cartoons.

Running of the Wiener Dogs

Don't worry, Stooey. Maybe next year you'll be big enough to run too.