Strata or Toss It In your gift jar brownies

In the geologic school, the ingredients are all layered in a clear glass jar separately so that each layer is distinct. This gives the container the look of strata (think of the rocks in the Grand Canyon in Arizona) or "sand art." The happy mixers toss everything together so that there is no need to go through the trouble of layering, thus allowing for greater variety in the choice of containers. A recipe from either school can easily be adapted to become a recipe of the other. Keep in mind that if you're going for the layered look, the ingredients need to have different colors and textures. A sugar cookie mix made with white sugar and white flour is not going to give you good strata!