Phew! Got all the outside decorating done for the holidays (lights, etc.), pulled out all the decor for the inside, and did the big clean downstairs before putting everything out (the tree goes up next weekend, thank goodness). I am so glad I stockpiled a dinner from 4+ weeks ago, as I recommended in this post. It’s still not too late to use the same holiday planning strategy, and this is a prime example when you will be happy you did.

Today brought to mind six tips for your holiday decorating — hope they help:

Pick and choose – I have a lot of Christmas decorations, but each year I decide on a theme — this year’s is an “Old-fashioned Christmas,” so out came the Santas, the garlands, and the red and green decor items. Other years (click the links to see), it was “an elegant Christmas” with a lot of silver or even a “retro Christmas” with what I called a Nancy Sinatra Go-Go Tree. But rather than put everything out, I pick and choose. Pick a theme and color choice. You don’t want it to look as if Santa threw up in your home.

More than anything, Happy Holidays and may I be the first to say, “Merry Christmas.”

I’ve already done some online shopping — so much easier than hitting the stores (and many are offering free shipping!).

At any rate, I found this great site in which you get an automatic $5 to sign up, and then have access to thousands of online codes and discount specials. Many offer a percentage back to you on any purchases, or you can net the codes you need to get free shipping, etc.

The stores featured all all the big ones — Target, Kmart, Nordies, Walmart, Amazon, etc! You might as well make some money on your Christmas shopping this year.

Just click this link for Ebates, sign up, and you automatically have $5 added to your account. I already have $10 in cashback just for shopping (and yours truly nets a bonus after you sign up!) So save yourself — and make some money — with your shopping, and automatically send a “thank you” to Prohomemaker.

Happy bargain-hunting!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I did! I helped my friend Jayne in LA with our dinner of 4 people. It went off without a hitch — Roast Turkey Breast in a honey-mustard-rosemary glaze, Cornbread Dressing with fresh sage, Mashed Potatoes with cream cheese and green onions, Cranberry Sauce accented with fresh orange zest, biscuits, Turkey Gravy with fresh rosemary, and a delicious broccoli salad

But last night, as I was recovering from the carb overload, I thought, “What dinner can I make now to leave Jayne with when I come back home?” and I came up with a great standby that works perfectly with all the leftovers from Thanksgiving — just sub diced turkey for the chicken, and you are ready to cook!

So, as I recover from the fun, please allow me to re-post what I left in the fridge to thank Jayne for a wonderful two days. Hope it comes in handy! More to come after a good night’s rest.

This recipe is perfect for Thanksgiving leftovers — it calls on so many that you may have on hand. It’s also pantry and freezer friendly. It’s perfect comfort food, without the time commitment. It’s even faster if you pre-cooked and pre-diced your chicken breasts with this tip. You’ll also find three other great tips at the end of the recipe. Lots of tips here! The recipe is called Chicken and Biscuits, but I think it’s akin to Chicken and Dumplings without the pain factor. Serves 4 big servings, or 6 with a big salad.

Hope you enjoy it, too.

Chicken (or Turkey!) and Biscuits

Basic Ingredients
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
3/4 cup sour cream (divided)
2 cups diced, cooked turkey or chicken
1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed (see note)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup Bisquick (see note)
3 Tbs. milk

Directions
Pre-heat oven or toaster oven to 375 degrees.
Mix soup and 1/2 cup sour cream in mixing bowl. Add cheese, chicken and vegetables. Mix well.
Put Bisquick in medium bowl. Add remaining 1/4 cup sour cream and milk. Stir till stiff dough forms. Add teaspoon of milk if too stiff.
Grease 8-inch square baking dish. Place chicken mixture in, and pat down. Drop biscuit mixture with tablespoon and knife into 6 biscuits.
Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes, and serve.

Notes:

You can print the recipe by clicking on the title.

I’m off to Los Angeles to spend Thanksgiving with my pal Jayne (and help her cook Wednesday night), so wishing you and your families a wonderful holiday! I’ll be back Friday evening with a new post!

Just wanted to jog your memory on three tasks that are very easy to overlook in these hectic times before the doorbell rings, with guests on the other side.

Before anything else, remember, your mood will set the mood for the day, so welcome your guests with a broad smile, a hug, a kiss or a handshake to make them feel welcome. What’s most important is the smile.

Now, for the tasks, which you can do days in advance:

Clear the refrigerator – You need room for the preparation and the prepared dishes, so clear that fridge now. Toss the science experiments, consolidate items, just make room. This will keep you from screaming as you try to shove a 14-pound turkey into 6 inches of space.

Hope these tips help, and remember to enjoy yourself, too!

Been awhile since I found a good enough sample to request, and this one qualifies.

Click this link for three free samples of Celtic Sea Salt from France.

Sea salt is akin to Kosher salt, in that it’s preferred by cooks. I would use it more as a gourmet seasoning to some of your favorite dishes — and it’s free!

Easy form to complete, too, and is supposed to arrive in 7-10 days. You’ll get a catalog, too. Just in time for the holidays.

“How to set a table” — sounds pretty simple, huh?

But it’s a lost art. I think a lot of people may believe it’s pretentious to put much thought into it; however, it sets the stage for your meal — and helps your guests know what to use and when.

I am not going into “tablescaping,” and such, but just the basic details of what goes where. You’ll see it’s easier than you think (and thank goodness we are not in Victorian times, in which they had separate utensils for the fish course, etc., or even such things as oyster plates). We’re just addressing a standard dinner with salad, dinner, water and wine, and all the standard utensils.

So let’s start, it’s 5 easy steps!

1. Put down tablecloth or set placemats or put chargers at the center of each placesetting.
2. Place plate at the center of each placesetting, about 1 inch from the edge of the table. Ensure any plate pattern is centered toward each guest.
3. Place all flatware about 1 inch from plate, 1 inch from edge of table, and about 1/2 inch apart. Additional info on placement is noted below, but here are the basics: knife goes to the right of the plate with blade facing plate, a soup spoon should also be to the right. Forks go to the left in order of usage (see below).
4. Place water goblet at the tip of the knife, and the wine glass to its right and down 1 inch so the rims clear each other.
5. Place folded napkin (see note below) to the left of the first piece of flatware to the left. The fold should face away from the plate.

That’s it! For the visual folks, a photo is provided above for a basic dinner in which no soup or wine is being served.

This is it — the final chapter on planning for Thanksgiving — or any holiday dinner. We are now down to the crunch period — one week before!

Now is the time to focus on the shopping, the dinner-timing countdown and the cooking. If you need to come up-to-date, refer back to this post, this post, and this post — these are all items I am assuming you took care of.

I am going to reinterate, the only way you will have a stress-free holiday is with planning, and that means doing a little every day, so let’s cut to the “to do” list:

One final tip — You enjoy yourself. You are a guest, too, so make it look effortless, and people will be amazed, and you will be so much more relaxed! Good luck!

Wow, two posts today — one the happy conclusion of the Neiman Marcus saga (below this post), and this, a re-post from August.

Tomorrow, I will give you the final details on planning your holiday dinner, but this is worth a re-visit today:

I came upon this interview today that Ina Garten of Barefoot Contessa and Food Network fame did with House Beautiful awhile back.

In the article, she discusses her philosophy of entertaining at home, and it’s what I truly believe.

Just a quick, excellent read for anyone who likes to have people over:

You have this way of making people feel instantly comfortable. What’s the secret?
When people come to your house, you don’t ever want them to feel that you’ve been cooking for three days. You want them to feel like this is just something you whipped up and come on, we’re having a party.

Is there any hope for people like me, who love the idea of entertaining but get so stressed out, trying to make it perfect?
Entertaining should be about having fun, as opposed to, Oh my god, why did I do this and who are these people? There was something I read when I was first married that I’ve never forgotten — If you spend the entire day making dinner for your husband, he can’t possibly appreciate it enough, and it’s not his fault, it’s yours. And that’s true for your friends. I actually think it’s counterintuitive, that the most important thing you can do for friends, to make them feel special, is to give them your attention. My whole goal is never to leave the table.

How on earth do you manage that?
Everything is done before they get there. Because I think if you’re worried about what’s going on in the kitchen, people sense that. I don’t care what I serve, as long as people feel like I’m not doing anything. It could just be roast chicken. At the end of the day, isn’t that what everybody wants for dinner anyway? The truth is, I’ve had more experience than most people, but I’m not really a trained cook. I still make little notes for myself — at 5 p.m., do this. At 5:30, do that. I just think the more organized I am, the more relaxed I’ll be when people show up and the more fun we’ll have.

Ina said so much in her answers to these three questions — whether you’re planning a holiday dinner, or just having two friends over for lasagna.

Guests don’t like to see a host or hostess working their tail off when they come over. It makes them feel as if they’re trouble. A little pre-planning and pre-prepping will allow you to make it look effortless. This includes not making anything that requires you to do a hurried or last-minute task. If I see any recipe that says, “serve immediately,” it’s out.

On planning a menu, I always gravitate toward dishes in which I can pop it in the oven, and then enjoy my guests, and always ones that allow me to make it in advance (and clean up the mess before people arrive).

Ina made a very good point about timing. Usually the afternoon of a dinner, I type out a note to myself, indicating all the times when items need to go in and out of the oven, and on and off the stove. I stash it in a drawer and refer to it as I chit-chat with guests. I asked one friend, and she said she never knew that’s what I was doing — she thought I was just looking for something and opened the wrong drawer.

Find another Ina Garten tip here on cocktails and hints from me on cleaning the powder room in 10 minutes or less with this post.

Hope these thoughts give you something to think about when next you’re having guests over. And I highly recommend Ina’s first cookbook for simple, easy and delicious recipes:

When last we tuned in, Prohomemaker was frustrated by Neiman Marcus over the hand towel order, but I’m happy to say today, there was a happy ending.

In my last email I included a phone number, and this morning had a message from our heroine, Marjorie Hoyt, from Neiman Marcos customer service to call her to get the situation rectified.

I called, and she was a doll — and a thorough one, to boot! She looked at the history and saw that they had changed the color offerings, that the Papyrus was back-ordered, and I filled her in on the backstory.

Not only did she get the towels ordered, but also pointed out the updated color choices, so I ended up with what I originally ordered (now called “Khaki.”)

But when I off-hand pointed out the problem began with the free shipping and free gift wrap, she asked how I wanted them gift-wrapped. I explained it wasn’t offered for free with monogrammed items, and she said, “Oh, I’ll just credit back the fee.”

So not only did I get the color towels I wanted, but I also got the three gifts with the free gift wrap! Marjorie also netted a compliment to her supervisor for finally ending the order saga.

As I joked with her … and paraphrasing President Ford when he took over for Nixon when he resigned, “Our long national towel nightmare is over.”

She laughed, and I am happy. Thank you, Marjorie Hoyt!