Dear Sun Spots: I enjoy Sun Spots and read it every day. This is the first time I have ever made a request and am writing as a last resort to make this request. Would any of your readers have, or know someone who has, a used child’s battery-operated vehicle (car, jeep, truck) that they can sit in and drive? My 3½-year-old great-grandson is expecting Santa to bring him one, but it is not going to happen. Operation Santa Claus does not handle items of this size. His parents are having a very hard time financially and it really breaks one’s heart at Christmas to see this little guy get disappointed. I could pay a reasonable amount and arrange to have it picked up if anyone has one or knows of one. Please help. Thanks. – No Name, No Town.

Dear Sun Spots: I am looking for a knitting pattern – hopefully before Christmas – for knitted, ankle-high slippers for children and adults. I can’t find one in the area craft stores. Could you or your readers please help? – No Name, No Town.

Answer: In addition to responses from readers, you might like to check out http://knitting.about.com; or go to http://www.needlebeetle.com and look under “Free Stuff!” and then under “slippers/Aunt Alm’s dorm boots”; or look at http://knitting.about.com/library/blslipperspic.htm for patterns.

Dear Sun Spots column readers: Please check your cupboards and recipe boxes. For years, my brother has been looking for the Chinese chop suey recipe that used to be written on the cans of LaChoy Chinese vegetables. Our grandmother used to make it when we were little. Now, of course, the recipe cannot be found on either the cans or the company Web site. I’d be quite grateful for your help. Being able to give him that recipe would be the best gift I could possibly give this Christmas. – S. Graham, Lewiston.

Answer: Sun Spots located the following recipe online at http://www.ghosttraveller.com/THIRTIES%20RECIPES.htm, and wonders if this might be the very one you are seeking. In addition, you and other readers might be interested in noting that this Web site also included some wonderful cookbooks such as “Stories and Recipes of the Great Depression” by Rita Van Amber and “Depression Era Recipes” by P. Wagner, both for sale on www.amazon.com, which might make a lovely addition to your cookbook library:

The Chinese recipe for chop suey. Ingredients: 1 pound fresh lean meat, veal or pork, cut into small pieces; 1 can LaChoy bean sprouts; 2 cups sliced onion; 4 cups fine cut celery; 2 cups soup stock or juice from can of bean sprouts; 4 tablespoons LaChoy soy sauce; 1 tablespoon LaChoy brown sauce; 2 tablespoons cooking oil or lard; and 2 tablespoons flour. Method: Fry the meat in a deep kettle in the lard or oil, until well done. Add onions and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the celery, soy sauce, stock and brown sauce. Cover and cook over a brisk fire until the vegetables are done (about 10 minutes). Add LaChoy sprouts. Stir and heat for 2 minutes. Thicken at edges with a thin paste of flour and water. Stir thoroughly and remove from fire at once. Serve hot with steamed rice.

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