Use assembly line method for pancakes

DEAR HELOISE: Pancakes can take a long time to cook when your family is large and you cook them individually, so I utilize a time-saving method, with each cake coming out the same size, perfectly cooked. I use a two-pan method, which gets the family fed faster with less trouble.

I start the process with a small skillet, which is only 5 ⁄2

1 inches wide. I pour 1⁄2 cup of batter into this pan to cook until it’s time to flip that cake. Instead of awkwardly trying to turn the pancake into the same pan and making a mess, I flip the cake from the small pan directly into a second, larger pan that is already heated.

While that first cake is browning in the second pan, I pour another 1/2 cup of batter into the first (small) pan. The cake in the second pan becomes browned and gets removed just in time for the next pancake to be “flipped” from the first small pan into the second pan. Repeat the process until you have a few stacks of perfectly sized pancakes that are made quickly, utilizing an “assembly line” method.

— T.J. McDougal, Retired RN,

Amarillo, Texas DEAR HELOISE: I read the letter from Casey in Colorado on picking up acorns and using them in craft projects. Acorns can hold insects, so I pop them in the microwave for a minute. Or you can put them in the oven on low heat to kill any larva.

—Nancy Lukunich, Simi Valley, Calif.

DEAR HELOISE: If you keep salad dressing bottles upside down in old cardboard oatmeal containers in the refrigerator, the containers hold the upsidedown bottles in place, and the dressing is always available — no more trying to shake out the contents inside.

— Richard Kolkman,

Fort Wayne, Ind.

DEAR HELOISE: There is a much easier way to use soap chips. When a bar of soap gets too small, lay it in a soap dish with a little water in it. The chip will soften in a few minutes. Then, press it into the top of a new bar. Let it dry overnight, and then use it. Easy-peasy.

— Daniel Kennedy, via email DEAR HELOISE: I read the hint about having your dryer vents cleaned out regularly, which is an excellent hint. I also have one: After each drying load, I run the dryer (empty) for about 5 minutes to blow out pieces of lint, but especially after drying towels, you should let it run for up to 10 minutes. You get a lot more lint from towels. — Pat Tumusiak, The Villages, Fla.