This cream is heavy, not whipped

Dear Heloise: I read your column every day. I have recipes that call for HEAVY CREAM, but all I see on store shelves is whipped cream. Is there a substitute for heavy cream? — Jerry B., Hammond, La.

Jerry, you can make your own heavy cream. It needs just two ingredients:

3/4 cup whole milk 1/3 cup butter

Melt the butter. Once it melts, pour it into the milk and stir. You can use your substitute in place of heavy cream, but this will not whip. If you need to whip the cream into peaks, then use a whipping cream. — Heloise

Bean Soup with Tortellini

Dear Heloise: Can you please reprint your bean soup recipe that had cheese tortellini in it? My family loved it! — Trena, Sacramento, Calif.

Trena, I’d love to! You’ll need:

1/2 pound dry kidney beans or 2 (16-ounce) cans of kidney beans

1 bay leaf Sprinkle of garlic powder

1/4 pound sliced bacon (save the drippings) 1 onion (diced)

2 garlic cloves (minced) 4 cups chicken broth 1 (29-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 cups beef broth

1/4 teaspoon basil (dried, crushed)

1/4 teaspoon oregano (dried, crushed)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

9 ounces of cheese tortellini 2 cups fresh spinach (chopped fine)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (for garnish)

Cook kidney beans with bay leaf and garlic powder. Fry bacon. In bacon drippings, saute 1 onion (diced) and 2 garlic cloves (minced) until golden brown. Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, beef broth, basil, oregano and black pepper, then simmer. Add the tortellini and the kidney beans; cook 20 minutes. Add the spinach and cook another 10 minutes. Garnish with Parmesan cheese. If this sounds like a recipe you’d like to try, then you might want to order my Heloise’s Spectacular Soups pamphlet, which you can have by sending $5 and a long, stamped (71 cents), selfaddressed envelope to: Heloise/Soups, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. Or you can order it online at www. Heloise.com. To make this soup vegetarian, omit the bacon and use vegetable or olive oil to saute, and use vegetable broth to replace the chicken and beef broth. Enjoy! — Heloise

Bisque vs. chowder

Dear Heloise: What is the difference between bisque and chowder soups? — Maddie H., Braintree, Mass.

Maddie, bisque is a rich, creamy, shellfish-based soup, and chowder is a creamy soup that has vegetables (usually potatoes and onions), meat or fish prepared in a milk base. Hope this helps. — Heloise

Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to 1-210-HELOISE or email it to Heloise@Heloise.com. I can’t answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.