BKay, is that Squash Casserole? I don't think it looks too bad myself. Mine is still clinging to its color, and now we have some warmer nights again. However, with the sun lower in the sky and only a few weeks before first day of winter, I'm thinking the sun won't have the effect it had during its high-in-the-sky days. I figured out during the summer that my problem was not keeping the hosta away from sunlight IN THE SUMMER. No, it was KEEPING THEM IN THE SHADE in the WINTER. So now is the time I'm supposed to be raising the shadecloth over them. The hosta garden is over ankle deep in dead pecan leaves, which I must blow away before I get crowded in with shade cloth. My cloth is the 90% shadecloth, so it is very effective. Babka, the fact you get no frost and have to contrive a dormancy for your hosta is amazing to me. Have you tried a ceiling fan to circulate air in your atrium? A tub of ice, a fan blowing cold air over them, I mean, any old port in a storm. Note: I am ringing the bark of my smallest pecan tree to kill it. I plan to do something similar to the next pecan tree as well. But it will have to be taken out in pieces, hopefully by the young man who did the 25 fioot pine stump earlier this summer. He did not harm a single hosta. Dormancy is a good time to do the dirty work in the garden. The house is all to pieces, the rest of the lawn is too with lumber and construction crew compressing the ground, and the hosta garden is all brown looking, so why not do ALL the messy stuff and be done with it.

I find that cleaning and chopping vegetables always takes more time than I plan for so I do as much as I can the day before. I totally assemble the veg casserole the day before and put the topping on just before it goes in the oven. I have a recipe for make-ahead mashed potatoes that I like even better than freshly made! Cranberry sauce is tastier if made a few days early and allowed to sit. Even though I don't assemble the dressing until that day I have all of the veggies chopped (and this year I am adding sausage to the dressing and will pre-cook the sausage). Same thing with the salad - components all prepped and ready to assemble that day. I'm making a pumpkin trifle this year and will probably make the cake on Tuesday, assemble on Thursday. Butternut Squash Chowder will probably be prepared on Tuesday and reheated in a crock pot on Thursday. The bottom line is that if there is anything that can be made or prepped ahead of time, it should be. I find I do a lot more cooking the day before than actually on the holiday. Thanksgiving day I mostly throw stuff in the oven and make the turkey. The week before gather all of your serving pieces and label them with post-it notes as to which dish goes with what food. Set your table Tuesday. You can arrange the bar on Tuesday as well, except for ice. Skewer olives on plastic swords and place in a bowl, cover with water, refrigerate. Make lemon twists, dump in a glass and cover with a damp paper towel, refrigerate. I'll say it again - anything that can be done ahead of time should be! Lists are your best helper on days like these. Make them and use them! Also, I am not one to turn down an offer if someone likes to bring a dish. If your SIL wants to know what she can bring, tell her to do the sweet potatoes (or whatever). If you need table linens pressed or purchased, do it now! Plan your decorations and centerpiece this week as well. Candles? Candlesticks? Plan or order your flowers. Guest towels. Music. Kids games. Arrange or plan for house cleaning as well. All of this can be done in the next few days. Oh, and I love the turkey gravy base from Williams-Sonoma. It is a huge time-saver and the gravy always comes out perfect. Be sure to add the turkey drippings to the pan while you are heating it up! Nicole

Thanks for all your hard work Karen! Can't wait to read it in its entirety. Jodi-

vas711, do you have a BM paint outlet that could tell you about the "Super White" vs. "01"? I'm not sure if what I have is Super White "02" or not; my online search called it "PM1" (see link). The designer I was consulting with (years of experience) said Cloud White does go yellow. She gave me the White Dove or Super White as the best two choices, stating that White Dove is a little softer. She used the description "crisp" for Super White. (And she said, Simply White is the "whitest of all" - so to avoid that if I didn't want "too white".) It was a hard choice for me too, so I sympathize; I really, really didn't want chalky! Both she and my cabinet maker said that either choice would be good. I'm not sure that either choice is "perfect", but I do like what I ended up with. One other thing - I could tell a difference when I put White Dove and Super White (painted samples) next to a sample of countertops I was considering. Problem was, I hadn't decided on the countertop. But for some counters, Dove was best, and other, Super was. Maybe you've done that already with your counter samples. Here is a link that might be useful: Super White