Tips from Mom.

* When a recipe calls for a graham cracker crust, don't forget that you can substitute other types of cookies for for the graham crackers. Just use 4-5 tablespoons of margarine melted to 2 cups of cookie crumbs. Crispy or dried out cookies work best. Vanilla wafers, gingersnaps and peanut butter cookies all work great. Or try chocolate chip cookies for a chocolate cream pie.

*As with Christmas, don't forget to buy the Valentine's Day candy that is on sale after Valentine's Day to use for Easter. You can also use the chocolate as a substitute for almost anything that calls for chocolate chips.

*Don't forget to stock up on Valentine's cards and other things for next year.

*I love fresh flowers but they are so expensive and are a luxury item for me. The mornings after Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, I go to my regular grocery store where I can usually find unbelievable buys on fresh flowers.

*Everyone has her own favorite way of keeping flowers fresh. Mine is to cut all the stems at an angle, add about a 1/4 tsp. of sugar and 2-3 drops of Clorox to a vase of warm water. The warm water helps the blooms to open fully out. Change the water every 3-4 days. Most of the time my flowers last for 2 weeks or more when I do this. I also remove any flower as it dies so it won't contaminate the other ones.

*If you smell a strange odor in you house and can't figure out what it is, check your fresh flowers. If they start rotting, they can smell awful.