Dear Heloise: Every summer we see a number of people who are suffering from food poisoning because they did not store their food properly. Items such as hard boiled eggs, potato salad, fish or shellfish, or anything containing eggs or oil can become rancid in the summer heat. These are items that should be stored in an ice chest with lots of ice surrounding the container. Food poisoning can ruin a vacation or a sunny day at the beach. This is just a reminder to stay safe and stay healthy. — Janet H., Daytona Beach, Florida

VITAMINS

Dear Heloise: Every morning I give each of my three children (ages 9, 12 and 13) a chewable vitamin. My husband thinks vitamins are unnecessary for children, but I don’t think they can eat enough to get all the vitamins they need while they are still children. Although my three youngsters are very active in sports and have healthy appetites, I still believe chewable vitamins are good for them. Which of us is correct? — Tina W., Pineville, Kentucky

Tina, first check with your doctor to see if they think your children need to take vitamins. If they think it’s a good idea, use vitamins designed for your child’s age group. And never call chewable vitamins “candy” or exceed the recommended dosage. Most experts, and that includes the American Academy of Pediatrics, prefer not to offer an official opinion on vitamins for kids because each child and each situation is different. To further investigate vitamins for your children, you might want to go to www.hopkinsallchildrens.org or www.mayoclinic.org. — Heloise

LEMONADE ICE

Dear Heloise: My family loves homemade lemonade or iced tea on a very hot day. The only problem was that the ice watered down our drinks. To solve this problem, I now freeze an ice cube tray of lemonade and another one of iced tea. Sometimes I pick mint leaves while the leaf is still small and place one mint leaf in each cube of ice to help give our tea a slight minty flavor to the tea. — A Reader, via email

Hidden treasures

Dear Heloise: In response to the reader who found money hidden around her mother-in-law’s house, we had a similar experience. We found money hidden in our dad’s house after he moved to assisted living. He told us places to look: under the carpet, inside picture frames between the picture and cardboard backing, and various other places.

The most creative hiding place was in the toilet tank. He partially filled a mayo jar with sand for weight and placed a roll of almost $5,000 in it. He added more sand to cover it and then into the tank it went! We never would have looked there if he hadn’t told us. We deposited about $15,000 into his account the next day. We’re grateful he was such a sharp cookie. — Grateful in California

ADDITIONAL HIDING PLACES WE FOUND

Dear Heloise: Regarding your article “Hidden Treasures Everywhere,” I was reminded of emptying my mother’s home after her passing in 1990. She was also a product of the Great Depression and had a large number of valuables hidden throughout her home. Some of our discoveries were covered in your reader’s letter, but my mom had a few other spots that readers might want to check.

She had many sets of sheets in her linen closet, and slipped inside the “ugly sheets” in the very back was over $3,000 in hundred dollar bills. Hundred dollar bills were also stashed in what at first glance appeared to be unopened Avon bottle boxes, as well as behind framed pictures of grandkids that were on her dresser. The biggest surprise was when we were getting ready to have the home interior repainted before putting it up for sale.

As we were taking down the decades-old drapes, we found several diamond and gold dinner rings hidden in the drapery hems. Additionally, last year we were cleaning out my mother-in-law’s sewing room and discovered a loaded derringer at the bottom of a box of thread. Just a reminder to leave no stone unturned. — Joe Nottingham, Beaumont, California