HELOISE Apple pie (minus apples) is a prizewinning recipe

Dear Heloise: I saw your recipe for mock apple pie. I decided to try it out at my church's big rally dinner. There was be an apple-pie-judging contest. Sixteen apple pies were entered, including mine.
I didn't want to enter at first, but I finally decided to go ahead and do it. When the winners were announced, I had won second prize. When asked my secret ingredient, I had to confess that there were no apples in the pie. People were amazed but enjoyed the pie.
It is a very easy recipe, and one I will probably make again. Thank you for this delicious, easy-to-make pie. Carol A. Farnham, Bloomington, Minn.
For those of you who missed the recipe, here it is. You will need:
Pastry for a double-crusted nine-inch pie (you can use a readymade one)
2 cups water
11/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
20 whole soda crackers (regular, salted)
Butter (for dotting)
Ground cinnamon (for sprinkling)
Preheat the oven to 375 & deg; F. Line the bottom of a nine-inch pie pan with the pastry, or follow directions on readymade crust.
In a medium saucepan, boil the water, sugar and cream of tartar. Add the crackers and boil one minute. Spoon gently into the pie shell. Dot the top with butter and sprinkle on the cinnamon to taste. Cover the pie with the top crust and cut vents in it. Bake for 35 minutes. Let the pie cool completely before cutting so it can firm up. Heloise
Dear Heloise: My husband was in the hospital, and the kitchen sent a banana wrapped tightly in clear plastic wrap. It stayed on his tray table for several days. When I took it home, it was as firm and good as one just brought from the store. I tried this several times at home before telling friends about it. Shirley Hendricks, via e-mail
Dear Heloise: The other night while frying pork chops, I found I had run out of bread crumbs and didn't have a way to make any. My resourceful husband suggested crushed cheese puffs mixed with a little flour. The coating worked wonderfully, and it was delicious. Sonja Lewis, via e-mail
Dear Heloise: My home-economics teacher in high school suggested a way to eat food on our plate that we didn't particularly care for. Put some of what you do like and some of what you don't like on the fork, and it will make the unpleasant item taste better. I am 60 years old, and I still follow her suggestion to this very day. Shirley W. from Frederick, Md.
Dear Heloise: I save the unused condiments from fast-food restaurants and put them in my kids' and husband's sack lunches. I feel like I'm recycling, and the sack lunches are better, too. A reader, via fax
XSend a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) HELOISE or e-mail to Heloise@Heloise.com.
King Features Syndicate