Reader puts own spin on hard-cooked egg hints

Dear Heloise: After reading a reader’s solution for storing hard-cooked eggs in your column in The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, I was motivated to send you my system. I keep two egg cartons in my refrigerator. One contains raw eggs, and the second contains hard-cooked eggs. The second carton is marked on the narrow blank side of the carton, in bold letters, “hard cooked.” This is a no-fail system. Lila Ann Numair, Delray Beach, Fla.

This is an EGGcellent hint! The quick Heloise Hint? Simply spin the egg — a hard-cooked (boiled) egg spins, while a raw egg wobbles. Heloise

Dear Heloise: When I need to chop nuts, I just use my cutting board and my biscuit cutter. My cutter has a handle on it and is open so I can see the nuts as I’m chopping them. Jewell, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: Sometimes we skip down to the local supermarket and buy one of those whole roasted chickens, which we dismantle into chicken strips for lunch with pickles and chips and such. Leftover chicken bits go with our Texas pecan pieces into a chicken salad to graze on for several days. Good stuff, those roasted chickens, for a number of meals. Try it, you’ll like it. Bobbi and Joe Schott, Castroville, Texas

Dear Heloise: When I have to deal with raw meat, I put on rubber gloves like you find at a doctor’s office. It makes the handling of the meat so much easier and safer. After I’m done, I will wash my hands with the gloves still on. This takes care of the mess with raw meat. Vicki from Idaho

Dear Heloise: Lettuce goes bad before I can use all of it. So I came up with an idea that really works for me. I make my own vacuum bags. I take the lettuce from the original wrapper and put it in one of the thin, plastic bags that you put vegetables and fruit in at the grocery store. I insert a soda straw into the bag and wind the top of the bag around the straw. By sucking on the straw, a vacuum is created, and by twisting the bag as you extract the straw, your vacuum is maintained. This will keep lettuce fresh for several days. This is very economical. R. Schneider, Fairfield Bay, Ark.

Well, we tested this in the office, and it helps for a short while, but it does not “hold” the vacuum seal long. The key is to keep the lettuce dry, so don’t rinse before storing. Heloise

Dear Heloise: When only a small amount of bell pepper or onion is needed for a recipe, chop the remainder and spread it out on a cookie sheet and freeze. It’s ready for cooking the next time. Bette Yope, via e-mail

SBlt Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate