HELOISE Variations for iced-tea lovers

Dear Readers: Here in South Texas, iced tea is a favorite beverage all year long, so I polled Heloise Central to get our favorite iced-tea hints. Here they are:
UMake exotic flavors of tea using different flavored tea bags until you find one you enjoy. Just be sure to remember which ones you use so you can duplicate the mix again. I call this "surprise" tea.
UUse a cinnamon stick to stir hot or iced tea. It's delicious and can be used over and over.
UWhen brewing tea on the stove top, keep tea tags together by using a clothespin to attach them to the side of the pot. This keeps the tea bags from sinking and also makes them easy to remove.
UDon't toss leftover tea; freeze in an ice-cube tray, then add the cubes to your iced tea -- they won't water it down. Heloise
How many varieties of tea are there? Choose one of the following and see if your tea facts are in the cup:
U1,000
U2,000
U3,000 or more
If you guessed more than 3,000, you are right on the tea bag. Try a few new varieties -- you might just find a new favorite. To make some great tea (and coffee) blends at home, please send $3 and a long, self-addressed, stamped (60 cents) envelope for my four-page tea pamphlet to: Heloise/Tea, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. Don't have a slice of lemon to flavor tea? Don't fret -- just add a teaspoon of powdered lemonade mix. Heloise
Dear Heloise: I read the article in which a woman was asking the best way to send goodies in a care package. When I was in the Navy a few years ago, my church was kind enough to send me a package. The package included homemade goodies and soap, shampoo and toothpaste. Unfortunately, the goodies absorbed the scent of the soap and tasted like soap as well. I was disappointed. Please tell your readers to send toiletries separate from goodies. B. Zimmerman, Harrisburg, Pa.
Dear Heloise: When I make chicken and dumplings for a crowd, the next day I add cilantro, grated fresh ginger, hot-pepper flakes and a couple of squeezes of fresh lime to the leftovers, and you have a completely different Asian taste. Alice from Takoma Park, Md.
Read the following letter with a complaint about commercial soup from G. Dunlap, Fairfax, Va.: "Am I the only one who has noticed that the cost of canned soup has gone sky-high? I could understand that, but when you open it, what do you find? Seventy-five percent pasta or rice. I am watching carbs, and when I remove the pasta, what I have left are a few pieces of carrots and celery, and precious little chicken. Please buy a can of chicken-noodle soup, remove the pasta and see what is left. What a rip-off."
XSend a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000; fax it to (210) HELOISE, or e-mail Heloise@Heloise.com.
King Features Syndicate