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There’s no need to preheat oven

Dear Heloise: Almost every recipe I read starts with: “Preheat oven to the ‘appropriate’ degree.” Most ovens will preheat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit in less than 10 minutes. Some recipes’ prep time is 30 minutes or more; therefore, you are wasting energy and money. While I realize the importance of preheating for the finished product, I wait until I’m about 5 minutes from finishing prep time to start the oven. -- Smitty, McGaheysville, Virginia TAP-ON-THE-FLOOR LID TRICK Dear Heloise: I endorse the “tap on the floor” method of breaking the seal on a lid. It works for ...

Giving grandkids the gift of quality time

Dear Annie: When my nephew was a toddler and his family visited, my mom (his grandmother) got big furniture boxes discarded from stores and made forts and tunnels in our large family room. She got down on the floor and played whatever character he chose her to be in this turf maze. She didn’t care if she played a dinosaur or the Lone Ranger. You could hear them giggling and laughing and enjoying play time that lasted for hours. She wasn’t concerned about her appearance or how others might see her as weird. She knew the impression she left on her grandchild and knew she had ...

Food poisoning or stomach bug?

Dear Heloise: So many people can’t tell the difference between food poisoning and a stomach bug. It’s important to be able to know the difference: -- Food poisoning: You experience diarrhea, cramps, nausea, vomiting and possibly a low-grade fever. It’s usually brought on by contaminated food, food that wasn’t kept at a proper temperature, or bacteria on a food handler’s hands. It can also be caused by a number of toxins. It’s not contagious, and over 48 million Americans report a case of food poisoning each year. -- Stomach bug (or flu): You experience diarrhea, nausea, ...

Racing through the Dairy Expo

A dairy expo is the type of event where you can walk around all day and never go hungry thanks to all the free cheese and ice cream that are available. It’s a dairy aficionado’s dream. The Central Plains Dairy Expo is an event where one can view all of the latest and greatest advancements in dairy equipment. This includes such things as humongous mixer wagons that are the size of a house but have scales that are so sensitive that they can tell when a butterfly lands on them. Another interesting gizmo was a self-guided thingy that herds manure with a squeegee. It’s a dairy ...

Saying ‘thank you’ at the grocery store

Dear Readers: We recently ran a letter from someone who complained that cashiers at grocery stores rarely thank them, the customers. I heard from many of you who have worked as cashiers at supermarkets, and I am grateful for your letters as they provide a firsthand account of the other perspective. Below are two of those letters. The second letter addresses what it was like to be a grocery store worker during the pandemic, and the first goes almost 30 years back and discusses what it was like to work at a grocery store at that time. Looks like we are still dealing with the same ...

Stretch out your clothes

Dear Heloise: Frugal plumber here! Everyone likes to make fun of plumbers when they bend over, but I do not have that problem. I stretch cotton materials before I put them in the dryer or hang them to dry. Doing this makes some quite a bit longer; it adds over 4 inches to my shirts, even after the dryer. I also do this with my young kid’s clothes. Pants and shirts will last months and are longer for length. I read you in the Charles City Press. -- Allen Pederson, via email WATER INTAKE Dear Heloise: I wanted to write in regarding the tip from Susan I., in Yuma, Arizona, about ...