HELOISE Hot cocoa recipe is easy to enjoy

Dear Heloise: I lost your recipe for hot cocoa made with powdered milk and cocoa. Could you please reprint it for me -- it was so good. Robert Hunt, via e-mail
Here is the cocoa recipe from my book "In the Kitchen With Heloise." It's oh-so-easy to make and is delicious topped with a little whipped cream.
HOT COCOA
2 cups powdered milk
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup confectioners' sugar (may use an equivalent amount of sugar substitute)
Dash of salt
1/3 cup powdered nondairy creamer (makes mix richer)
1 to 2 tablespoons malted milk powder (optional)
Combine the dry-mix ingredients thoroughly and store in a tightly covered container.
To serve, spoon about 4 tablespoons of the mix (or to taste) into a mug. Fill with boiling water and mix well. This delicious mix, as well as my favorite coffee mixes, can be found in my Coffee and Tea Pamphlet. For a copy of the four-page pamphlet, please send $3 and a long, self-addressed, stamped (60 cents) envelope to: Heloise/C & amp;T, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5001. These mixes also make great gifts. Just mix them up, put them in attractive jars along with the recipes, place a couple of different jars in a pretty basket, and they are the perfect gift for just about anyone. Heloise
Dear Heloise: A while back, someone wrote in saying to use ties to hold tongs together in a drawer and keep them from getting tangled up with everything else. Well, I have used an elastic band to hold mine together for years -- it works very well. A Cook, Minneapolis
Here are two hints from Connie of Paradise, Newfoundland, Canada:
UKids don't like vegetables but love chili, spaghetti sauce, hamburgers and sloppy Joes, so I put vegetables in the blender, puree them and then add them to any of the above. They never know they are in there.
UI leave a box of baking soda in my microwave at all times when it's not in use. I've never had any smell left in my microwave.
Baking soda is a wonderful deodorizer and household helper. Here is another baking soda hint from Ann S. of Indianapolis:
UIf a pan has burnt food in it, fill it with water and add a handful or so of baking soda to the pan. Let it stand for a few hours or even overnight. It will be easier to clean.
Dear Heloise: Here's a quick dessert we enjoy. I serve angel food cake slices in a bowl covered with fresh fruit and a dab of whipped topping. For the fruit mixture, I take a can of fruit cocktail and add cut-up fresh fruit to it with a spoonful or so of sugar. I have added apples, pears, kiwi, oranges, grapefruit, melons and always bananas.
Note: A sugar substitute can be used in place of the sugar. J.P., Onalaska, Texas
King Features Syndicate