* "If you are making cookies with raisins, do yourself a favor and soak them in hot water for about 10 minutes prior to using. I had never done this before, and my sister-in-law suggested it. It makes such a difference. The raisins get plump and juicy." -- A Reader, via e-mail from Minnesota

* "I'm always looking for ways to jazz up recipes for chicken, since we eat it so much. I like to bread chicken cutlets in different things, and a suggestion from a friend that I recently tried was delicious! To add flavor to chicken breading, use a tablespoon of a dry seasoning packet, such as one for making Italian or ranch dressing. They have a lot of flavor and really change the taste of fried chicken." -- R.L. in Tennessee

* "While tooling about the neighborhood with the little ones in their wagon one evening, we decided that the wagon needed some taillights. We made a loop out of duct tape, plucked a couple of our solar-powered landscape lights and stuck them in the loops. Now if we go out in the evening, we just grab a couple of the landscape lights and put them in the loops. We are adding additional loops for trick-or-treating." -- A.C.M. in Florida

* If you've moved, you might have a mountain of now-outdated address labels. You can use them to close freezer paper for storing meat packages -- just use them like stickers. Also, you can use a thick permanent marker to write a date on them for other packages in the freezer.

* Go Green Tip: Some items to dispose of properly (never in the trash): paint and paint solvents, antifreeze or motor oil, other shop chemicals and batteries. Purchase only what you can use, and check first for local recyclers accepting these items, then for proper toxic drop-off sites.

Send your tips to Now Here's a Tip, c/o King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475 or e-mail JoAnn at heresatip@yahoo.com.

(c) 2009 King Features Synd., Inc.