I just got home from taking my son to SFO to fly to Spain for a year of study abroad, and on the way home I stopped in Berkeley to see an old school friend who I have recently reconnected with via Facebook. She and her husband make organic skin care products and it was fascinating to see all the natural ingredients that go into them. They had pots of things bubbling away that will eventually be distilled and incorporated into their products. She sent me home with some products and I will report back on how I like them.

It may not be an HR person pushing the games. It is entirely possible that some executive in the company heard about them and is telling HR that all the employees have to "play" the games. These "games" are apparently the latest buzzword, and execs get street cred when they can brag/boast they, too, are using the latest and greatest thing in their company. I don't work in HR, but my position requires me to work very closely with our HR department, and you would not believe some of the things the upper echelon has told them to do. Some of those things would have broken the law, and HR has had a hard time reining a few VPs in. What they get from these games is a bunch of statistics, which may be used to pinpoint employee weaknesses so they can get better training, or to pinpoint employee weaknesses so they can be let go, or which the execs can't interpret so it is all for nothing. One thing, though. I would never, ever, put company software on my phone. If the company wants me to use software that requires a touch screen, the company needs to provide the touch screen. Unless they want to pay for my phone and phone bill, my private phone remains private. Asking employees to put company-provided software on their personal devices crosses a line for me. First, it's a "game." Then it becomes requiring the employee to use their own device to do work. Not a good situation.

Here are two recipes I have made. Both are moist. I once sold the Pistachio Marble Cake at a bake sale for $15! Pistachio Marble Cake 1 pkg. yellow cake mix 1 pkg. (4-serving) Jell-O Pistachio Instant Pudding 4 eggs 1 C water 1/2 C oil 1/2 tsp. almond extract 1/4 C chocolate syrup Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, oil and extract in large mixer bowl. Blend; then beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Measure 1 1/2 C batter; stir in chocolate sryup. Spoon batters alternately into a greased and floured 10" Bundt pan or tube pan. Zigzag spatula through the batter to marble. Bake @ 350º for 50 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan and finish cooling on rack. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar before serving. Pistachio Inside Outside Cake 1 pkg. white or yellow cake mix 1 pkg. (4-serving) Jell-O Pistachio Instant Pudding 3 eggs 1 C club soda 1 C oil 1/2 C chopped nuts Preheat oven to 350ºF. Blend all ingredients in large mixer bowl, then beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Bake in greased and floured 10" Bundt pan @ 350º for 50 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan and cool on rack. Split into 3 even layers. Spread about 1C of frosting between layers, spoon rest into center. Chill. Garnish with chopped nuts. To make frosting: Blend 1 pkg. (4-serving) Jell-O Pistachio Instant Pudding with 12 ounces Cool Whip. Chill slightly to set.

I watched a couple of the Family Feud episodes. I love Steve Harvey, and his expressions when it was apparent that the contestants knew next to nothing about how the game is played were priceless! I'm in the process of putting together a Family Feud game for an upcoming work event, and I think it's going to be a blast. One of our really funny execs (who is African American) is going to play the part of Steve. Yesterday I found myself searching online for a believable "bald wig" for him to wear, which is one of the more unusual things I've had to do job-wise in awhile. ;-)