HELOISE You can make your own buttermilk in minutes

Dear Heloise: I have heard that one can make buttermilk using regular milk and other ingredients. If anyone would know, I figured that you would. Can you help? Vicki E., Billings, Mont.
Help's here -- clip this column now and put it in your cookbook.
Start out with a 1-cup measuring cup to which you add 1 tablespoon of either lemon juice or household white vinegar. Then add just enough whole milk to measure exactly one cup. Mix well and let sit for five minutes, and when it has thickened, you have buttermilk!
If you do purchase buttermilk at the store but can't seem to use it all before it expires, freeze it. Pour the buttermilk into a cupcake tin or container, freeze, remove and put the frozen "hockey pucks" into a freezer-safe bag. Now you can take out just what you need and thaw.
Also, buttermilk can be bought in powdered form, making it simpler to keep on hand for recipes that call for it. Heloise
Dear Heloise: To remove baked-on food spills and splatters from a glass or ceramic casserole dish, I take the dish outside, put it on a piece of newspaper and spray it with oven cleaner.
In a short time, the stains easily wash off with little or no scrubbing or damage to the dish. Pat, Kingwood, Texas
Easy cleanup is the way to go. One thought: Please be sure that pets or small children can't get into the dish! Heloise
Dear Heloise: I have six children, and it becomes very expensive to purchase individually bagged snack foods. I purchase large bags for economy's sake, but too often someone would not close the bag tightly after opening, and the remaining snack (chips, crackers, etc.) quickly got stale and was wasted.
Now, once the bag is open, I repackage the remaining snacks in individual zipper sandwich bags and store the baggies inside the original bag in the cabinet.
The snack-size bags are great for snacks on the go and perfect for making last-minute lunches for school. The sandwich bags are inexpensive if bought in large store-brand boxes, and I reuse them several times. Best of all, no more wasted or stale food. Jeanne D., Berryville, Va.
Dear Heloise: I'm short on space in my cupboards, so I double-stack glasses and mugs. To keep the mugs from slipping off each other, I place the first mug upside-down and the second right-side up. Carole Bloser, North Chili, N.Y.
Dear Heloise: To get all of the margarine out of the squeeze-type bottles, rub hot water over the bottom of the container for 30 to 40 seconds. Shake the bottle, and it should come out. Becky, Columbia, S.C.
XSend a great hint to: Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax: (210) HELOISE; e-mail: Heloise@Heloise.com.
King Features Syndicate
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.