CHECK OUT: NEWS AND TIPS : FREEBIE LEAFLET.

Keep cool this summer with a collection of quick and easy recipes and meal solutions from Kraft that utilize the grill, microwave oven or top of the stove. Recipes in the collection range from salads to marinades to barbecued ribs and desserts. They are ideal for casual summer entertaining from family picnics to neighborhood cookouts.

To obtain the No Oven Summer recipe collection in two leaflets - ``12 Cool Summertime Recipes'' and ``12 More Cool Summertime Recipes'' - call [phone]. Allow four to six weeks for delivery.

Apricots plentiful

This year's fresh apricot crop is almost double the 1996 crop - and should yield about 48 million pounds of the golden fruit. But the season is short - so buy them before the middle of July - when they'll be just a memory. Apricots are ripe when they give slightly to the touch. Ripen at room temperature or in a loosely closed paper bag. Refrigerate ripe fruit, unwashed, in a paper or plastic bag and use within a couple of days. Don't wash until ready to use. Apricots are an excellent source of vitamin A and a fair source of vitamin C. Three apricots contain about 50 calories.

Smart & Final plus

Smart & Final, the nonmembership warehouse grocery chain that stocks large institutional-size products used by restaurants, caterers, small businesses, organizations and for home parties, recently opened a 30,000-square-foot food research and development store (it will serve as a lab to test new ideas, categories and services) at 6601 Laurel Canyon Blvd. (in the former Builders' Emporium location) in North Hollywood. It's twice the size of an average Smart & Final store. The new concept store features a bakery, fresh meat section, and food service and janitorial equipment in addition to greatly expanded fresh produce, beverage, deli and frozen food sections. A gourmet and specialty food section spanning the globe offers all kinds of Mediterranean, Italian and Latin selections.

Contest alert

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Reddi Wip whipped topping, the company is searching for prize-winning fresh fruit recipes, from peach pie to plum parfaits, that are topped with Reddi Wip. 50 winners - one from each state - will be selected. A grand-prize winner will receive $5,000. Forty-nine runners-up will receive $50, a cookbook and a year's supply of Reddi Wip whipped topping. To enter, mail recipes to Reddi Wip Fifty Fruit Salute Contest, LS-100, 1716 Locust St., Des Moines, Iowa 50309-3023 by July 4. Recipes will be judged on taste, originality, visual appeal, ease of preparation and the importance of the fruit to the entrant's home state. For more information, use your Web browser to visit the company's site (http://www.beatricecheese.com).

Watch prohibited foods

You can't resist the sausages from Germany, the prosciutto from Italy. It returns in your suitcase after your visit. But keep this in mind: U.S. government regulations prohibit bringing in fresh, dried and canned meats and meat products from most foreign countries.

In an average month, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service uncovers more than 3,000 violations at international airports, seaports and border ports. A traveler who fails to declare a prohibited item is fined on the spot up to $250, and the item is confiscated.

If your summer travel plans include a country where you love the food, you might want to be fully informed before you go. For more information, write to USDA, APHIS, P.O. Box 96464, Washington, D.C. 20090-6464, attention: National Center for Import/Export.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--Color) no caption (Kraft - 12 Cool Summertime Recipes, 12 More Cool Summertime Recipes leaflets)

(2--Color) no caption (Reddi Wip whipped topping)