DEAR HELOISE: How do I keep ants out of my cat's dish of food in the kitchen?
-- Bernice N. in Honolulu
DEAR READER: Place the cat food dish in a clay tray that you put under a plant pot to catch water, and make sure the tray is larger than the cat dish. Then put a little water in the clay tray. The ants won't be able to get to the cat's food.
DEAR HELOISE: Years ago, you printed a recipe using a beef tenderloin that my family loved, but I've somehow lost the recipe. Would you please reprint it?
-- Theresa, via email
DEAR READER: I'd love to! It's my Creole Roast. You'll need:
2 to 21/2 pounds beef tenderloin
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon snipped parsley, or 1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Trim off any fat and rub the meat with Worcestershire sauce. Combine the parsley, salt, pepper, celery seed, red pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and ground cloves, then sprinkle the mixture over the meat and rub it in. Cover the roast and let stand at room temperature for one hour or overnight in the refrigerator.
In a covered grill, arrange hot coals around a drip pan; test for medium heat above the pan. Insert a meat thermometer near the center of the roast and place on a grill rack over the drip pan but not over the coals. Lower the hood and grill until the thermometer registers 140 degrees for rare (about 45 minutes), 160 degrees for medium (about 55 minutes) or 170 degrees for well-done (about 1 hour).
FYI: For a quick lunch, cube leftover meats and mix with noodles or rice, or slice for a delicious sandwich. Enjoy!
DEAR HELOISE: I used to freeze hot dogs in the entire package, but they were difficult to separate when I needed only one or two. Now, I remove them from the package, lay them one by one on a cookie sheet and freeze them. While still frozen, I place them a freezer bag, and when I am ready, they come right out, and they don't stick together.
-- Betty Lou R.,
Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email
Heloise@Heloise.com
Food on 05/22/2019