LITTLE ROCK — DEAR HELOISE: It is much easier and safer, if you are drinking coffee (or another beverage) while driving, to put a plastic straw into the hole in the sipper-mug lid. With the straw in place, you can get to the last drop without lifting the mug in front of your face - a no-no if you are driving.
- Beverlee Schiff, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
DEAR HELOISE: I purchased salt and pepper shakers with different amounts of holes in each. Which should be salt, and which should be pepper?
- Jean N., via e-mail
DEAR READER: Jean, this is a great debate for dinner-table conversation! Since it's your home, it's your call. A traditional saltshaker had only one hole, and a pepper shaker had more than three. Salt grains are larger, and they come out faster than pepper.
Did you know that there is a Museum of Salt and Pepper Shakers in Gatlinburg, Tenn.? According to the staff there, "The shaker with the least amount of holes is for salt ... and the shaker with more holes is for pepper."
Some folks are on a reduced-sodium diet, so you might want to make sure you are using the shaker with the least amount of holes or the one with smaller holes. An old Heloise hint is to add a little pepper to the salt, and you can see how much salt is being used
P.S.: There is no "salt versus pepper" shaker law that I know of!
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or e-mail
ActiveStyle, Pages 27 on 08/24/2009