Heated blankets a comfort in winter
DEAR HELOISE: I want to comment on a tip from a reader about electric pads. I’m assuming she’s talking about heating pads? They only have a twohour window before they shut off automatically.
There are electric heating blankets, and they come in sizes from twin to king. My husband and I have a king-sized bed. Our electric blanket is dual-controlled and stays on for 10 hours. Then it automatically shuts off.
We turn our blankets on high about an hour before bedtime. Also, we have flannel sheets on the bed. So, when we go to bed, it is nice and toasty warm when we crawl in. Then we turn it down to the fifth or sixth setting for sleeping during the night. Electric blankets have been around for many, many years.
— M.B., California
DEAR HELOISE: I also use denture tablets for cleaning tea stains and so many other things.
In my very small, organized closet, I tie ribbons that are the color of my slacks around the neck of the hangers. I can easily grab the color I want.
Boxes and containers on the high shelves are easier to get down if you make a flap on the bottom made out of packing tape, doubled over to contain the sticky part. This flap extends beyond the box and over the edge, and you can easily pull it forward off of the shelf.
Love your column and your mother’s before you! Currently reading it in the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash. —Cindy Matthews, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho DEAR READERS: To get rid of burned food encrusted on cookware, fill the pan with enough water to cover the bottom and add 3 tablespoons of baking soda. Simmer on the stove until the burned food comes off.
Baking soda is good for cleaning and deodorizing. I have put together a six-page pamphlet titled “Heloise’s Baking Soda Hints and Recipes.” To get a copy, send $5 and a long, selfaddressed, stamped envelope to: Heloise/Baking Soda, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 782795001.
FYI: For more fighting power to remove burned food, add 1 drop of mild dishwashing liquid.
— Heloise DEAR HELOISE: With all due respect, the recipe for Swedish meatballs in a recent column isn’t Swedish. My Swedish grandmother is rolling in her grave over that recipe. She made the best Swedish meatballs; in fact, her meatballs were the only ones served at her church’s annual smorgasbord.
Swedish meatballs are definitely not spicy and are normally made with beef, pork and veal, along with, crumbs and spices like nutmeg and allspice. Then they are served in a cream beef gravy. Your recipe may be for delicious cocktail meatballs, but they are definitely not Swedish.