HELOISE Seconds on deviled eggs served as first laugh

Dear Heloise: I've been reading all the deviled-egg recipes and finally decided to tell on myself regarding the yummy treats.
When I was about 5 years old, our family had a preacher friend over for Sunday dinner. My dad was also a minister. Mother had made deviled eggs as part of the meal. Of course, having a minister for a dad, I heard more than my share of talk of the devil and heaven and hell.
Well, I wanted seconds on the deviled eggs but couldn't remember "devil." I knew the devil and hell went together, so I asked to have the "hell eggs" passed. After everyone stopped laughing, our guest teased my dad about how we talked at our house.
To this day, when we have deviled eggs at family gatherings, we ask for the hell eggs. Hope you enjoyed hearing about a 5-year-old's first big laugh. Judy Dunn, Jasper, Mo.
Your family story made me smile, and my entire office smiled, too. Most families have a tale that becomes part of family history. Yours is darling. Heloise
Dear Heloise: After I bake oatmeal cookies, I use a dollop of melted chocolate on them and place a pecan half in the center of the chocolate. Delicious! Dorothy Greene, Albany, N.Y.
Yummm! This sounds absolutely, sinfully delicious! Who says oatmeal or peanut butter cookies can't have a topping? Heloise
Dear Readers: Let's test your Heloise lemon hint IQ. Here's your question: Which two states produce 95 percent of the U.S. lemon crop?
UTexas and New Mexico
UCalifornia and Arizona
UFlorida and Georgia
What did you guess? If your guess was California and Arizona, then you were right! And you know what else? Lemons are available year-round. Heloise
Dear Readers: Don't toss that last little bit of dressing. Add a couple of teaspoons of vinegar and shake well. Add half a cup of sour cream and shake well. Result: a yummy, tasty dressing.
Dear Heloise: Many baking dishes have dimensions and/or capacity information imbedded -- but others (typically older ones) don't. As you use them or when time allows, make your own inventory and keep it on the inside of the cupboard door. (If the piece is terra cotta or similar material, write on the bottom of it -- along with your name.) You'll find you will use a seldom-used casserole dish more often if you already know its capacity. And when you use a recipe that you would use again, make a comment on it -- with the date and to whom you served it, and the dish you used. (Recalling dinners with friends is an added bonus.) Barbara Beyer, Lighthouse Point, Fla.
Dear Heloise: To spread butter evenly, freeze the butter and then grate it evenly over the dry ingredients. This also works well for adding butter to flour for pie crust or pastries. Margaret, via e-mail
XSend a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com. I can't answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.
King Features Syndicate