Enjoy your S’mores outdoors!

Ingredients

• 1 large marshmallow
• 1 graham cracker
• 1 (1.5 ounce) bar chocolate candy bar

(Pick your favorite and dare to change it up! I like Peanut Butter Cups!)

Directions

1. Heat marshmallow over an open flame until it begins to brown and melt.
2. Break graham cracker in half; sandwich chocolate between graham cracker and hot marshmallow.
3. Allow marshmallow to cool a little before eating.

“National Chocolate Chip Day” Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup bread flour
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp coarse kosher salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup unsalted butter, 2 sticks
• *2 Tbsps water, room temperature
• *1 tsp espresso powder
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• ½ cup white sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 5 oz dark chocolate, chopped

*You can substitute 2-3 Tbsps of decaf coffee for the water & espresso powder

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
2. In a medium or large saucepan, add the butter and melt over medium heat. The larger the pan you use, the quicker the process will be!
3. Bring the butter to a boil, stirring frequently. As the water begins to boil out of the butter, the milk solids in the butter will separate, sink to the bottom, and begin to toast and brown. As this begins to happen, make sure to stir constantly so the butter browns evenly. It may become quite foamy, splatter a bit, and be difficult to see, so keep a close eye on it, removing from heat and continuing to stir if it starts to foam over.
4. Once the butter has turned a nice nutty brown, remove from the heat and pour into a large liquid measuring cup to stop the cooking. Allow it to cool down for a minute or two, give it a stir, and carefully add 2-3 Tbsps of water to the butter to bring it back up to 1 cup (240 ml) of liquid.
5. Set aside to cool to room temperature. To help speed this process up, you can place in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. You want to make sure the butter is still liquid when you’re adding it to the dough later on, so make sure to remove after 15 minutes.
6. In a large bowl, add the sugars, vanilla, espresso powder, and cooled brown butter. Cream together with an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
7. Add the egg and yolk and beat until incorporated.
8. Add the dry ingredients, about ⅓ of the mixture at a time, and beat between additions until just incorporated. It’s okay for there to be a bit of unmixed flour on the edge of bowl, this will be incorporated in the next step.
9. Using a wooden spoon, fold the chocolate chips and chunks into the dough
10. Scoop the cookies onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in 3-Tbsp-sized mounds.
11. For optimal flavor, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or, even better, overnight.
12. Preheat the oven to 350˚F (180˚C).
13. Evenly space the dough 3 inches (8 cm) apart from one another on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
14. Bake in a preheated oven for 12-14 minutes.
15. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Linda’s Bunny Cake

Ingredients

• Two 9″ circle cakes baked
• White frosting
• Flake coconut
• Red food coloring
• Gum drops
• Licorice

Directions

1. Start with two 9″ layers you’ve baked.
2. Cut according to the diagram.
3. Arrange bunny on a tray and top with fluffy-white frosting.
4. Sprinkle lavishly with flake coconut.
5. Tint a small amount of coconut pink for the ears by adding a few drops of red food coloring diluted in water.
6. Decorate with gum drops for eyes, nose, and polka dots on tie. Licorice for mouth and whiskers.

Michelle’s Can’t-Miss Coconut Custard Pie

Ingredients

• Dough for single-crust deep-dish pie
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, chopped
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 2-1/2 cups 2% milk
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Toasted sweetened shredded coconut, optional

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. Trim and flute edge. Line unpricked crust with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake 10 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer. Sprinkle coconut over crust; set aside. Reduce oven setting to 350°.
2. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, sugar, flour, vanilla and salt. Pour over coconut; sprinkle with nutmeg.
3. Bake, uncovered, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack 1 hour. If desired, top with toasted coconut to serve. Refrigerate leftovers.

Michelle’s Easy Valentine Trifle Dessert

Ingredients

• 4 cups cheesecake flavor pudding (instant works fine, also vanilla flavor is okay) — color pink with food coloring or use strawberry flavor
• 3–4 cups whipped cream (fresh is best!)
• 2–3 cups of cake cubes (about a 9×13 size cake)
• 1 cup raspberries
• 2 cups strawberries (sliced)
• Optional: you can add more berries if you like–the more the better!

Directions

1. Wash and pat the berries dry. Let them air dry while you prep the rest.
2. Cut your cake into cubes, whip your cream, and make your pudding.
3. Then start layering in a medium size bowl or trifle dish. Start with the pudding, then add cake cubes so they can soak in the pudding. Add the fruit and whip cream.
4. To make it look pretty, stack the outer-edge row of the glass in a nice line, alternating with strawberries, cake, raspberries etc. Continue layering until all the ingredients are gone, finishing with whip cream on top.
5. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Enjoy!

Michelle’s Favorite Buffalo Chicken Dip for the Big Game (1/2023)

Ingredients

• 2 cups chicken, diced, cooked
• 2/3 cup buffalo sauce
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup blue cheese dressing (or Ranch dressing)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 2 green onions, diced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine blue cheese dressing, sour cream, and cream cheese.
3. In a separate bowl, combine diced chicken, buffalo sauce, and garlic powder. Add half of the chicken mixture to cream cheese mixture along with celery, green onions, and half of the cheddar and mozzarella cheeses.
4. Spread mixture into an 8×8 baking dish. Top with remaining buffalo chicken and remaining cheese. Bake for 25 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Michelle’s Favorite Lace Cookies (12/2022)

• 1 cup butter salted
• 2 1⁄4 cups brown sugar packed
• 2 1⁄4 cups rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons flour all purpose

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, brown butter until it turns brown in color and nutty in aroma. Remove from heat. Allow to cool 5 minutes.
3. In a mixing bowl or mixer, combine brown sugar, oats, egg and vanilla. Gradually add brown butter. Mix until combined.
4. Stir in salt and flour.
5. Using a cookie scoop, drop onto a parchment lined cookie sheet leaving ample room to spread. Bake 6 minutes or until golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about a minute before removing to a wire rack.

• Do not chill the dough. Mix and bake immediately.
• Do not use aluminum foil or grease your cookie sheet.
• Use a spatula to remove them from the sheet after they cool for 5 minutes and allow them to cool on a wire rack to continue to crisp.

• Room Temperature – Cool cookies before storing in a glass airtight container. Store with wax paper up to 2 weeks.
• Refrigerate – Cool cookies before storing in a glass airtight container. Store with wax paper up to 2 weeks. This method is great for keeping them crisp, especially in humid environments.

Your Compliance is Important To Us!

Regulatory compliance is particularly challenging when the regulations themselves are in the process of change.  Ensuring our clients are in compliance is an entirely separate challenge.  Seth Godin says, “The creation of worthwhile work is a duet. The creator has to do her part, but so does the consumer.”

One of our primary functions is to keep our clients out of trouble with OSHA and the Department of Labor, in addition to keeping them out of trouble with their employees.   We do our best by providing educational materials to our clients and our networking partners in the forms of blogs, quarterly newsletters, and even specific e-mails.  Hopefully, you are treating our communications at the same level as those from your lawyer, accountant, or financial advisor so that you are taking the best advantage of our services.

We received some excellent advice from one of our clients about the new OSHA requirement for filing electronically. The client’s valid argument was that he gets 100s of e-mail a day and didn’t recognize the importance of the communication, believing that it didn’t apply to his company.  “If it wasn’t for having that item on the 4^th quarter JLMC agenda, we might not have known that the company hadn’t submitted their OSHA 300A form electronically.”  He suggested that when action should be taken by our clients, we should put ACTION REQUIRED in the subject line.  This is an excellent suggestion and one that we’ll try to follow.

If you believe that you may have missed some of our educational topics, please schedule a mock audit with us.  Hopefully, this audit will reveal any areas of non-compliance so corrective action can be taken. Remember, we will provide as few or as many services as you want or need.  You can do the work or have us do the work for you. The bottom line is that your compliance is important to us and should be equally important to you.

February 2018:

• 2/1 – OSHA 300A log posting deadline
• 2/14 – Valentines Day
• 2/15 – Request new W-4 Forms from employees
• 2/16 – Forklift Training Florida
• 2/19 – Presidents Day
• 2/27 – Virtual Coaching through Hannah Grimes

March 2018:

• 3/2 – Forms 1094C & 1095C due
• 3/17 – St. Patrick’s Day
• 3/20 – Spring Begins
• 3/27 – Virtual Coaching through Hannah Grimes
• 3/30 – NH annual reports and fee’s due

April 2018:

• 4/1 – Easter
• 4/2 – Submit electronic 1094C & 1095C forms to IRS
• 4/15 – Tax forms due
• 4/22 –  Earth Day
• 4/25 – Administrative Professionals Day
• 4/30 – NHES Forms Due

Let it Snow! Is your Company Prepared for the Winter Season?

New England is heading into the winter season as evidenced by the recent snowfall.  In New Hampshire, if you close your facility early and send your employees home because of bad weather, lack of power, heat or water, you must pay your non-exempt employees a minimum of two hours or all hours worked up to the time of the closure, whichever is greater.   If a facility is closed for an entire day or more due to severe weather conditions, it is important that there is a written inclement weather policy documented in the Employee Handbook. Employees should be well informed of the policy and know exactly what protocol to follow.

The Adverse Weather Policy in your Employee Handbook should address the following issues:

1. Who is responsible for making the decision to close your facility?
2. How will employees be notified – by phone, text, e-mail or local radio/TV announcement?
3. When will employees be notified (how soon before their shift begins)?
4. What is the procedure for employees who travel through an area that has been declared a state of emergency?
5. Will both exempt and non-exempt employees be allowed to work from home or be offered other options to make up for the time lost?
6. How will employees be compensated for lost wages? Will they have to use their accrued paid time off?
7. What actions will take place after the adverse weather is over? Will employees be required to report to work outside of their normal scheduled hours? How will production be scheduled to make up for the missed time?

A few decades ago, a company had two options for notifying employees about a weather-related closure;  a telephone tree or a radio/TV announcement.  Some companies and professional organizations would use – and still use – school closings as their barometer. If the local school district is closed or is delayed, then the company is closed or delayed.

Now, however, technology has created many more options for communicating a closure, including automated mass e-mails, texts or phone calls.  There is a service called dialmycalls.com that will quickly send a mass text message, email or phone call to any group of contacts, for a fee.  The company has control over the contact list, the timing of the call and the content.  The trick is to make sure employees know where, when and how to expect a message.

For assistance with writing or editing your employee handbook to include an Adverse Weather Policy, please contact the professionals at HR Synergy at (603) 261-2402 we can help you with all your Human Resource needs.

How to Recognize it, Establishing Procedures to Report it and How to Prevent it

With the rise in recent high profile sexual harassment cases, including Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and Gretchen Carlson it is time to stop shying away from the uncomfortable topic and start bringing the reality of the situation to light.  To avoid costly litigation and lawsuits, companies must protect themselves and their employees by having policies and procedures in place and making sure their managers, supervisors and employees are properly trained.

By definition, “Sexual harassment” is any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that is sufficiently persistent or offensive to unreasonably interfere with an employee’s job performance or create an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.” In the past year, the EEOC received approximately 27,000 charges of sexual harassment. However, on average, approximately 30% of sexual harassment complaints go unreported.

The first step in preventing harassment is establishing a zero-tolerance policy that:

• Explains what harassment is
• Provides examples of such behavior
• States who to report harassment claims to
• Explanation of complaint procedures
• Assures confidentiality and no retaliation

The second step, after the policy is finalized and approved, is to provide harassment training for your managers and supervisors.  It is strongly recommended that supervisors and managers have separate training sessions from employees that teaches them what to do if they receive a complaint or observe inappropriate behavior.  Supervisors and managers also have a legal liability to ensure a workplace free from harassment.

The third step would be to conduct training for all employees.  Explain the company’s zero-tolerance policy using examples and activities of various types of harassment, discuss the complaint procedures, and encourage employees to speak up without the fear of retaliation.

Do not hesitate to properly investigate the alleged conduct.  Be proactive, even if you do not have an official complaint, pay attention to office gossip, comments made outside the office and messages on social media.  Failing to prevent an issue or ignoring an existing problem can have a negative effect that includes significant financial consequences. If the victim complains to the EEOC, the company will be the subject of an investigation, and possibly a lawsuit.

Depending on the facts of a case, actual out-of-pocket costs for a company can range anywhere from $100,000 to millions of dollars. Not including damaged reputation, loss of clients, customers and investors, as well as decreased employee morale and an inability to attract and retain talent.

If you have questions, need assistance writing your Sexual Harassment policy, would like to schedule Harassment Training or are looking for some guidance, contact the professional at HR Synergy today!