DEAR HELOISE: My hint is for people who find it expensive and wasteful to buy bags of onions, carrots and stalks of celery when cooking for one or two. Check out the salad bars in grocery stores,where you can buy smaller amounts of what you need. No waste, and all the items are already washed and clean. You save money, and it is convenient, too.
- Sylvia C., Parma, Ohio
DEAR READER: This is a “delicious” hint. You are so right. Quick, lots of variety, and already cleaned and chopped!
DEAR HELOISE: When I have guests over for a meal, I put salad ingredients on a counter near the table: a large bowl of lettuce, vegetables and other ingredients in individual containers, bottles of dressing, vinegar and olive oil, salt, pepper and salad plates. The guests love being able to make salads and even go back for seconds.
- Helen H., Baton Rouge, La.
DEAR READERS: A new fruit is in town: kiwi berries, a cousin to the kiwi! They are like the kiwi fruit you are used to, but different. The inside of the fruit is a green color and has a texture similar to traditional kiwi. These little jewels have a smooth outer skin, do not need to be peeled and can be popped into your mouth like grapes.
They grow on a vine that takes six years to mature and provide a marketable harvest. There are farms now in the U.S. (Oregon and Pennsylvania) growing the fruit.
Found in specialty grocery stores, the berries should be kept refrigerated and dry, but let warm to room temperature before eating. If you see these berries, grab them fast, because they are available only in September and October.
DEAR HELOISE: When you make jam or jelly, the mixture has to be at a full, rolling boil. The mixture cannot be stirred down well, because it splatters. I had a long wooden spoon to stir it, but I would always end up with burns on my hands and jam on my clothes.
My neighbor suggested getting a paint-stirring stick.My son bought me two of these sticks, which I ran through the dishwasher before using. They work awesome! I can now stand off to the side of the boiling pot. It still splatters, but it is not splattering on me.
- Lynn C. in Alabama
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email [email protected]
Food, Pages 36 on 09/25/2013