ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI: A FAVORITE WINTER AFTERNOON SNACK

On a cold winter afternoon, especially a rainy one, I always think of how much I hated late afternoon science labs in college. I was always tired and hungry but was somehow sustained by Granola Fig Bars.

I have to admit that there was one such lab that when reminiscing I just have to smile. As with so many things in life, the events during that 1970 winter lab were not funny when they happened, but now they are.

To begin with, the instructor was supposed to be the meanest-man-alive. Of course, he was not, but I don't know why he wasn't by the end of that semester.

The very first day I certainly didn't make a good impression. I know that you remember those flimsy backed lab chairs.

The boy next to me whispered something funny in my ear. As I laughed to myself, I leaned back hard against the flimsy backed chair, and it flipped me out across the floor. Everyone stopped breathing, for they knew that the meanest-man-alive was going to kill me. He did not, instead he directed they untangle me from the lab chair.

On two separate fateful afternoon labs, I accidentally released 300 white mice and poured out the day's experiment. The dissection afternoons were not my best. I spent three hours with my head hanging out the window while my face was a pale shade of green. This was one of my quieter times. That could not be said for the afternoon that I got locked in the snake room. It was said that I would be heard for a three-block radius.

How I passed that lab, I will never know. Today I appreciate Dr. Artist's words more than I did then. He said that in later afternoon labs it was hard to keep students awake, much less keep their attention, but, neither sleep nor a lack of interest had been a problem in my lab, and it would be a lab that he would never forget.

Granola Fig Bags

20 fig bar cookies (such as Fig Newtons)

2 1/2 cups granola with raisins

1/4 cup pecan pieces or peanut pieces

2/3 cup light corn syrup

2 tablespoons honey

3/4 cup M&M's regular or crispy

1. Line an 8-inch-square baking pan with foil, letting foil extend about 2 inches above pan on opposite sides. Coat foil with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Arrange fig bars in prepared pan in four evenly spaced rows of five bars each. Press down on bars until bars touch each other.

3. Put granola and pecans in a medium bowl.

4. In a heavy saucepan, bring corn syrup to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Without stirring, boil vigorously 3 minutes or until white bubbles start to form on surface. Remove from heat; stir in honey until blended.

5. Pour over granola and pecans, stirring until coated. Cool slightly, then stir in M&M's (if too hot, M&M's will melt; if too cool, they can't be stirred in.) Scrape onto fig bars, spread evenly, the cover with greased waxed paper and gently press into an oven, compact layer. Cover and refrigerate 1 1/2 hours or until firm.

6. Lift foil by ends onto cutting board. Cut into bars.

Yield: 20 bars.

Visit Angie at her Web site, www.cookingwithangie.com

Angie Holtzhouser is author of Drop Dumplin's and Pan-Fried Memories ... Along the Mississippi. Her cookbook is available at local bookstores. In addition, it can be purchased through the mail at: Drop Dumplin's, P.O. Box 10, Lilbourn, Mo. 63862. The price is $19.95, including tax and shipping.