Dip call: Apparently the Miracle Whip/Catalina recipe is not as close as we're going to get for the elusive steak finger sauce from the old Dairy Creme. Sybil Barrow, who owned the store with her husband from 1977 to 1990, called from Paris, Texas, to tell us she has the original recipe, now frayed and yellowed. Her friend Leta Meyerdirk dropped off a copy.
Mix 6 teaspoons garlic powder, 1/4 cup flour and 1/2 tablespoons each paprika and ground mustard. In a double boiler, combine the dry mixture with 11/2 pounds grated cheddar cheese, 1 quart mayonnaise, 1/3 cup oil and two 12-ounce cans tomato paste. Whisk and heat until melted. That should make enough for the entire neighborhood.
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QUESTION: I bought a prepared, packaged sandwich at a grocery store and was charged tax. Shouldn't I be charged sales tax only if I eat on the premises?
ANSWER: The Texas comptroller's publication on grocery and convenience store sales tax has lists of taxable and non-taxable items, with plenty of exceptions.
Sandwiches are taxable, unless frozen. Items prepared on premises by mixing two or more food ingredients are taxable, unless the item is reheated before eating. If a store has tables and chairs for dining, individual-size bags of snacks are taxed. No dining facility, no tax on individual snack bags. (The test is not whether the individual customer eats on premises.) Any food kept hot for sale is taxed, except for bakery products sold without eating utensils.
Here's a rule that will test your power of logic. Ice cream bars in packages of two or more are not taxable, but flavored ice treats that are not ice cream and that contain less than 50 percent juice are taxable, no matter how many in the box.
For a quick answer to a specific question about taxable grocery products, call the comptroller's office at (800) 252-5555.
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Q: I keep reading about "Lindale, Texas native" and "the Pride of Lindale" Miranda Lambert, but I've also read she was born in Longview. Does Longview have a claim to her, too?
A: Yes, Longview does have a claim to Lambert, if you can call it that. She was born at Good Shepherd Hospital on Nov. 10, 1983, according to someone who was there. I came across many references on the Internet to her being born in Lindale, but that just shows how reliable the Internet is.
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Q: I cannot find the word "surfactant" in the dictionary and would like to know what it means. I'm trying to come up with a home cleaning solution formula.
A: Soaps and detergents contain surfactants to stabilize their oil and water mixtures. The surfactant is a chemical that reduces the surface tension where oil and water molecules meet. It makes the water spread more easily and keeps the oil and water from separating. An example of a surfactant is ammonium lauryl sulfate, and there are many others, all with long chemical names.
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Q: Whatever happened to professional wrestler Stan Hansen?
A: The "Bad Man from Borger" has retired to Borger. Hansen entered pro wrestling in 1973. Most biographies note he broke Bruno Sammartino's neck during a bout in 1976. In 1984, the American Wrestling Association asked Hansen to return his title belt because he refused to defend the title. Hansen returned it, but first drove his pickup over it.
Not surprisingly, Hansen spent most of his latter working years, until 2007, in Japan. He wrestled there and was commissioner of a national wrestling organization. Recently, the video game Fire Pro Wrestling Returns featured Hansen as a character selection.
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Q: What's the status of the gardens planned at Maude Cobb?
A: East Texas Gardens, Arboretum and Conservation, a nonprofit organization, continues to raise funds, take in-kind donations and recruit volunteers for the Longview Arboretum, according to Dencil and Marcene Marsh. The Marshes are the force behind this project, which started in 2003. The board of directors has nine members now and meets once a month.
The group needs money for all-weather trails and a horticulture center. In-kind gifts of tools, equipment and landscape material are welcome, too. To find out how to donate or to volunteer, visit the Web site at www.longviewarboretum.org.
Leave a message at (903) 232-7208 or send an e-mail to answerline@longview-news.com. Sorry, no personal replies.
