Flavored recipes

Dear Heloise: I used to have recipes for flavored coffee and cocoa. These were the types made with powdered milk and mixed with hot water.

I want to make gift boxes for my friends, and now I can't find the recipes.

Can you please reprint some of these? Thanks, and keep up the good work! -- Michelle Longbottom, Lancaster, Calif.

An assortment of flavored coffees and cocoa is a wonderful gift, and don't forget to make some for yourself.

Here is the recipe for Mocha Coffee:

1/2 cup instant-coffee granules

1/2 cup sugar (or equivalent measure using sugar substitute)

1 cup powdered milk or powdered creamer (nonfat creamer can be used)

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Mix ingredients together and store in a labeled container. To make a cup, put 2 teaspoons or more (depending on taste) in a cup and add 8 ounces boiling water. -- Heloise

DEFATTING CHICKEN STOCK

Dear Heloise: I have a hint for defatting chicken stock. Place the broth in the refrigerator until the fat is evident on top of the broth, then remove it from the refrigerator and place a paper towel on the top.

The fat will stick to the paper towel. Two or three paper towels usually remove all the fat from the broth. -- Debbie Best, Missouri City, Texas

DOUBLE DIPPERS

Dear Heloise: For some reason I started saving the plastic cups from single-serve applesauce instead of recycling them, and now I find I can't get along without them.

They come in so handy for dipping sauces with chicken, cocktail sauce with shrimp, blue cheese with breaded mushrooms or butter with clams.

They can also be used at children's parties for candy cups, or simply refilled with applesauce, pudding or gelatin for after-school snacks. -- Diana H. Bott, Rochester, N.Y.

One of my secretaries said that when she makes bread in the bread machine, she uses the small applesauce cups for each ingredient.

And sometimes she just tosses them when she's done or else washes and saves them for the next time. -- Heloise

ONION CUTTING

Dear Heloise: I buy large sweet onions. One end I use for slicing. I make small cuts in the other end and use it for salads or for a small amount. -- Jane, Wadsworth, Ohio

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