Dear Heloise: After reading the comments in your column about things accumulating in the bottom that clog up dishwashers (Heloise here: labels from jars), I'd like to add another thing to check for when one's dishwasher stops working properly.
I thought I was going to have to replace the dishwasher, which had stopped working. It wouldn't fill. I don't recall what prompted me to do it, but I checked the opening from the drain tube that connects from the dishwasher to the garbage disposal. It was plugged with grease. I decided to replace the tube instead of just cleaning it out. A few bucks, a couple of minutes and some elbow grease later, and the dishwasher was working fine.-C.F., North Beach, Md.
CLEAN STOVETOP
Dear Heloise: I read your column every day in The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va. I was cooking soup and had to bring it to a boil. I did not watch it, and the soup boiled over. It was a cream soup, and it left a mess on the burner. I could not get it clean. Then I remembered baking soda. I made a paste and worked on the mess quickly, getting it clean.-Margaret T., via email
Baking soda to the rescue again! Using baking soda as a nonabrasive cleaner in the kitchen is a great hint for all readers! For more money-saving, ecologically friendly cleaning hints using baking soda, order my pamphlet by going to www.Heloise.com, or by sending $5 and a long, self-addressed, stamped (68 cents) envelope to: Heloise/Baking Soda, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. Use a damp sponge and a little baking soda to clean your kitchen sink and stainless-steel items as well. Make sure to wipe clean when done.-Heloise
REUSE CONTAINERS
Dear Heloise: Here is a hint for reusing the plastic cups that individual-size applesauce and fruit snacks come in. When making gelatin or pudding at home, these cups make perfect containers to hold them. And they are just the right size for snacking. I even make cups of nuts, trail mix or cubed cheeses, and seal the top with self- sealing plastic wrap for grab-and-go snacks.-Lisa W. in Indiana
BAKING HINTS
Dear Heloise: I do a lot of baking for bake sales and other events. Instead of using toothpicks to hold up plastic wrap away from icing, I use drinking straws. I get a pack of drinking straws and cut them to lengths around 3 inches. Insert them slightly into the cake, and place plastic wrap over the straws. They don't poke through plastic wrap like toothpicks do.
I also save wraps from sticks of butter and lay them over my fresh-baked rolls. This allows the leftover butter on wrappers to melt over rolls while also helping to cover them up.-A. Dove in West Virginia
COOKIE CRUMBLES
Dear Heloise: I save the cookie crumbs that are left behind in the package to use as ice-cream topping.-Denny T., Lexington, Ky.
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