HELOISE: Reader has tip on cake-mix cookies

Dear Heloise: I love your cake-mix cookie recipe. I found that instead of adding the egg and oil to the cake mix first, I added nuts/etc. first and gave them a mix, then beat the egg and oil and added it to the mixture.

Maggie, via e-mail

Maggie, a super hint, and how smart! Yes, add the nuts, etc., first, then the “wet” ingredients. I, too, mix the eggs and oil in a measuring cup and then add them to the dry ingredients. Here is the Heloise Cookies From a Cake Mix recipe for those of you who might have missed it:

1 (18.25-ounce) box cake mix

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Optional: 1/4 cup raisins, nuts or chocolate chips

Choose your favorite flavor of cake mix — I like chocolate, strawberry and even pineapple! Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix only the above ingredients in a large bowl until blended. Drop the batter by spoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake on the middle rack for 8-10 minutes, watching carefully, because they brown quickly.

You can find this and a bunch of other cheap and easy-to-make recipes, such as Heloise’s Mock Apple Pie and Baked Italian Chicken, in my All-Time Favorite Recipes pamphlet, which you can have by sending $5 and a long, self-addressed, stamped (61 cents) envelope to: Heloise/ Recipes, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. Make a copy of sauce and spice recipes and affix them on the jars that hold these concoctions; you’ll have the recipe right there when you need to mix up a new batch!

Heloise

Dear Heloise: I am a faithful reader of your column in the Kerrville (Texas) Daily Times paper. A reader wrote inquiring if eggshell color had anything to do with the flavor of an egg. I raised Araucana chickens, a breed from South America, which lay colored eggs. My hens laid green eggs! The shades varied from pale turquoise to pale olive green. The birds were beautiful! The eggs tasted fine and were a hit in the kindergarten classes when reading Dr. Seuss’s “Green Eggs and Ham”!

B.V. in Texas

The American Egg Board agrees — eggs of a different color all taste the same.

Heloise

Hints from Heloise Central:

Cheese puffs jazz up meatloaf. Use them instead of bread crumbs.

Parmesan cheese can spice up popcorn. Sprinkle some on!

For a party, drop a maraschino cherry in each compartment of the ice tray.

Dear Heloise: I like sparkling cider, but the brand I buy is a little too sweet for me. I make my own by mixing all-natural apple juice in equal parts with seltzer or sparkling water. I like the taste better, and it’s less than half the calories of the pre-made sparkling cider!

Elizabeth in D.C.

Send 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 it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate