HELP THOSE GOING THROUGH TRAGEDY
Dear Heloise: Here are some thoughts regarding people or families going through some kind of trauma or tragedy: If a friend or relative ends up in long-term care due to an injury or illness, please don’t send just one “thinking of you” or “get well soon” card. Please don’t visit once and think you have done your “token” duty. You don’t have to make it a long visit.
Or, how about a phone call? People can get very lonely when they are stuck in rehab or a hospital waiting to be healed, and a visit or some mail or even a phone call can brighten their day. Immediate family members cannot carry the whole load of keeping someone in this situation cheered up.
While on the subject, please consider helping out the immediate family members who are busy making visits and taking care of the patient’s home, pets and bills. Maybe give them a gift card so they can eat out during all of their running around. Offer to bring them a meal or do them a favor, such as running an errand. You can also ask what else would be helpful. Maybe send them a thinking-of-you card as well. -- Jo B., in New York
PRESERVING OPENED WINE BOTTLES
Dear Heloise: Since the advent of screw-top wine bottles, I have successfully lengthened the time that my open bottles of wine retain their drinking quality. Simply pour the wine in an old wine bottle with a screw top and store it in the refrigerator. Some wines retain their drinking quality for weeks.
As a fellow Texas State University graduate, my wife and I benefit regularly from the advice in your columns. -- Kelly, in Houston
ON-THE-GO SNACKS
Dear Heloise: My sister-in-law does this every morning: She uses a plastic to-go container with different sections and a cover. She fills it with fruit and fresh veggies, such as carrots, celery, radishes, apples, grapes, as well as a couple toothpicks. If she is on the go, she can munch on this healthy snack anytime. If she is at home, she can eat as she works around the home. What a great idea! -- Corrinne Berkland, Universal City, Texas
WASTEFUL PRACTICES
Dear Heloise: I read your column every day, and I am startled sometimes by the wasteful practices some people describe. For example, in a recent column, a person wrote in to say that they threw garlic cloves in the trash because they had “sprouted.”
First of all, they are still good to eat. Second, just put the cloves in a pot of dirt or outside (if possible) with the sprouted part above the soil line. Now you have future garlic cloves.
We all need to stop being wasteful. Thank you for your column and for listening. -- Constance Hammond, via email
SAUSAGE PATTIES
Dear Heloise: My family loves sausage patties on Sunday morning when we are all gathered together around the breakfast table. Unfortunately, I hated making them because the sausage got stuck to my hands, and the greasy fat was so difficult to get off. So, I tried wetting my hands with water before I started and discovered that the fat did not cling to my skin. Between each sausage patty, I wet my hands with water, and it makes washing my hands afterward so much easier! -- K.G., in New Jersey
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