HELOISE: For something healthy, got buttermilk?

Dear Readers: Doesn’t buttermilk sound like it’s a rich, high-fat, decadent drink?

Guess again. Buttermilk is low in calories and fat. According to the California Milk Advisory Board, one glass (8 ounces) of buttermilk has just 102 calories and 3 grams of fat, and 2 percent white milk has about 132 calories and 5 grams of fat. So, if you have ever wondered about buttermilk, it’s not fattening!

Buttermilk originally was what was left over after milk was made into butter. Yep, leftovers. Today, buttermilk is low-fat white milk that has had lactic acid added to it, which thickens the milk and gives it a velvety texture and a tangy flavor. Some dairies add tiny bits of butter to the milk to give it a slightly yellow “buttery” hue.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: My mother, like yours, never met a recipe she couldn’t change and make better. I make a soup by cutting chicken, beef, etc., into small pieces, then adding veggies and either barley (my favorite) or rice before adding the broth or bouillon. Just a short time before serving, I mix about a cup of biscuit mix (prepared by package directions — Heloise) with a little flour and maybe some grated cheddar cheese, patting the dough out about an eighth of an inch and cutting into strips or triangular shapes -- just like the old-fashioned dumplings. It’s a very good, hearty .

A.F., via e-mail

Soup can be an easy and low-cost meal! For some really delicious soup recipes that are tried-and-true, you can have a copy of my soup pamphlet by sending $5 and a long, self-addressed, stamped (61 cents) envelope to: Heloise/Soup, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. Toss extra ravioli or tortellini that you may have on hand into soup at the end of cooking to make the soup more like a meal.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: It had always been a challenge to get jellied cranberry sauce out of the can due to suction. Having struggled with that every holiday season, and usually butchering the contents, I figured out a way to vent it and relieve the suction so the sauce would slide out easily.

This past holiday season, I took a straw and pushed it down the center of the cranberry sauce, put my finger over the end of the straw and pulled it out. Voil ° — instant vent, and the jellied cranberry sauce slid nicely out of the can for easy slicing.

John Frazier, Fayetteville, N.C.

Dear Heloise: To save a head of lettuce and prevent it from turning brown, I wrap it tightly with plastic wrap to prevent air getting to it. Use what you need and rewrap.

M.L. Sullivan, St. Augustine, Fla.

King Features Syndicate