HELPFUL HINTS

LITTLE ROCK — DEAR HELOISE: With regard to living lettuce (Heloise here: a previous column on the hydroponically grown lettuce that comes in a plastic container), I agree that it is so good. I took it one step further. Once I had used all the leaves, I told my husband that I was going to plant the roots outside with the rest of the lettuce I have grown. He laughed, but I laughed last when it grew again, and we had salad from that plant for a long time. I’ve had success four of the six times I’ve tried it. Waste not, want not!

• Nancy L. in New Jersey

DEAR READER: Wow! You certainly got your money’s worth. So, how did that “last laugh” salad taste? Yummy, I hope.

DEAR HELOISE: I have often used the recipe for War Cake that was in your column years ago. I have a couple of suggestions: 1) Add candied fruit. 2) Add ¼ cup of vegetable oil and exchange a portion of the flour for a package of instant pumpkin pudding (Heloise here: This pudding is sold seasonally). The results are amazing.

• Nancy in Indiana

DEAR READER: That’s the great thing about recipes - they can be altered. Readers, here is the War Cake recipe. Mix together:

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups hot water

2 teaspoons shortening

½ cup to ¾ cup raisins

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

Save for later:

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 2 teaspoons hot water

Heat oven to 350. Grease a tube-style pan. Take the first seven ingredients and place in a medium to large saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes after the mixture has started to bubble. Take off the stove and cool completely.

After the mixture is cool, add the 3 cups of◊our and 1 teaspoon of baking soda that has been dissolved in 2 teaspoons of hot water. Mix well. Place the entire mixture in the greased pan and bake for 1 hour. A toothpick inserted into a cake will come out clean when the cake is done cooking. No toothpicks? Use a piece of uncooked spaghetti.

Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000;

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