Vitamin D

DEAR HELOISE » With so many of us spending time indoors due to health concerns, we’re not getting enough vitamin D, and this is especially true for the elderly. Besides pills, what foods are rich in vitamin D that we can add to our diets?

— Adell D., Newport, R.I.

DEAR ADELL » vitamin D is important in our diets. Here are some of the foods that you can eat to help keep that vitamin in your daily intake of food:@TX BodyLeft:— Cod liver oil

— Herring

— Swordfish

— Salmon

— Egg yolks from range-free chickens

— Fortified foods, such as cow’s milk — Orange juice

— Some breakfast cereals

DEAR HELOISE » When I make wedding soup, I shred my carrots and cut my celery into small pieces. After my escarole greens are cooked, I put them in a flat freezer bag to freeze.

When I start making my soup, I cut my greens fine so I don’t have to cut my greens in my soup at the table before I eat them.

Restaurants often have big hard greens in their soup that you must cut up before eating, which can be dangerous and messy.

— Reader in Canfield, Ohio

DEAR HELOISE » I think one of my alltime favorite recipes of yours is your War Cake. We remodeled our kitchen recently, and now I can’t find the recipe. Would you please re-print that recipe?

— Sophia P., Darby, Mont.

DEAR SOPHIA » this is one of my most requested recipes, and it is so easy to make. Here it is.@TX BodyLeft:War Cake

Using a medium to large cooking pot or pan, mix together 2 cups brown sugar, 2 cups hot water and 2 teaspoons shortening. Add ½ to ¾ cups raisins, 1 teaspoon each of salt, cinnamon and cloves. Boil for 5 minutes after the mixture begins to bubble. When the mixture is cold (and it MUST be cold), add 3 cups of flour and 1 teaspoon of baking soda that has been dissolved in a couple teaspoons of hot water. Mix well. Pour into a greased tube pan and bake for about 1 hour at 350-375 degrees.

If you like this recipe and wish to have a copy of Heloise’s Cake Recipes, visit Heloise.com or send $3 along with a stamped (70 cents), self-addressed long envelope to: Heloise/Cakes, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 782795001.

DEAR HELOISE » I read your column daily in the Pasadena Star News. I often purchase meats in value packs then separate portions for the freezer. To prevent freezer burn, I find it’s best to store them in heavy-duty, freezer-safe zip-top bags. However, I’m trying to cut down on non-reusable plastics. So instead of putting all of the portions into individual bags, I wrap them in earthfriendly wax paper then put all of the portions into one zip-top bag. While this does not eliminate the bags, it cuts down greatly on the number used. Since the portions are wrapped in wax paper, they can be easily separated.

— Melody S., Monrovia, Calif.

DEAR MELODY » this is a creative solution to one of our most pressing environmental problems of plastics in landfills and the ocean