Dear Heloise: This may be considered sacrilege to some people, but this helpful hint is a shortcut to roux for making a stew. Place all of your “holy trinity” (veggies) and your meat for the stew in the pot, and cook it down. At the time I needed to add the roux for my stew, I realized I did not have any flour to make a roux. Realizing that browned flour is how you make gravy, I grabbed a pack of brown gravy mix and prepared it.

The shrimp and crab meat stew was awesome, and no one was the wiser. Hard to believe a bunch of Southern Louisiana guys who also like cooking didn’t know the difference. I love to cook and eat in Southern Louisiana. Enjoying the fruits of your devotion to preparing great food, and having people who you can share it with, is priceless. Bon appetite! — Ray, Des Allemands, Louisiana

FOR CRUISING ­PEOPLE

Dear Heloise: When we cruise, we always make a door “poster” so that people can find us and we also can easily find our room. People get a kick out of it, too. This last cruise for us was over the week of Valentine’s Day, so we had hearts on the door. — Dave & Corrinne Berkland

COPPER NEEDS CLEANING?

Dear Readers: Pour a bit of vinegar over the copper, and then sprinkle salt from a saltshaker over it. Then, wipe with a paper towel. Rinse and dry well.

Vinegar is such an indispensable and safe household product, which can be used for cleaning, deodorizing and cooking, as you have discovered. I’ve put together a six-page pamphlet full of vinegar uses that you can have by visiting www.Heloise.com or by sending $5 and a long, self-addressed, stamped (84 cents) envelope to: Heloise/Vinegar, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001.

FYI: Fluff up your meringue dessert by adding 1/4 teaspoon of white vinegar to three egg whites. — Heloise

ELDERS AND SMALL PRINT

Dear Heloise: I agree with the gentleman who complained about the small print being hard to read. I solved the problem by taking a picture of the printing with my phone, and then, with my fingers, I can enlarge the print! This works for almost any of those types of problems! — Craig Hagman, Long Beach, California

SMELLY SPONGES

Dear Heloise: I have been sick and tired of sponges getting smelly after just a few uses. So, I found a good way of getting rid of the foul smell. Soak the sponge in water and bleach for at least 30 minutes. Heloise, I really enjoy reading all your hints. — A Reader, via email

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Hints from Heloise run occasionally in Lifestyles. Readers may send a hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE, or email: Heloise@Heloise.com. Letters won’t be answered personally.