Watching Rachael Ray

The short hair is back! Maybe someone listened to me after all! (ha!)

We start off in the kitchen again, with double duty foods for Chicken Parm. While Rachael is out of town, there’s a huge interoffice cook-off, and Andrew Goldmen made Chicken Parm Bundles based off of everyone’s favorite Chicken Parmigiana. Rachael shows us how she makes her own take on them with Chicken Parm Bites. While folks are snacking on those, she gives us a Viewer tip - double duty use for empty tissue boxes. Use them to save your plastic shopping bags!

Next up, it’s the incredibly cute James Marsden from Enchanted, Hairspray and 27 Dresses. He dishes about his co-star, Katherine Heigl, and he says he wishes every year could be like this. He and Katherine got along really well, because she has the same off-color sense of humor that he does.

Not only is he a fun guy, he’s a great family man too. James says his best wedding was his own (awww!) and they decided to have a lot of fun and not get hung up on the details. They had fun and got drunk. His wife’s dress had stains on it, footprints all along the bottom, and they loved it. James then admits “I’ve never had this much to say about dresses…”

Even his daughter gives him things to say about dresses - she’s discovered princess dresses and everyone has to wear them. They don’t fit him of course, so he wears the tutu’s on one of his legs. Now where’s the pictures of THAT? His son even got some airtime, as James admits when his boy gets upset, he later confesses that Dad’s x-men figurine is tied to the remote control car and destroyed in effigy. Nice.

Upcoming projects for James include The Box with Cameron Diaz, a dark morality type tale based in the 70s - a slight departure from the recent comedies and musicals, but sounds good none the less.

Up next were three women who beg for help changing their man’s style. One won’t wear dress pants, one won’t wear color, and a third hates t-shirts. One of our favorite Survivor’s, Colby Donaldson is on the scene to help out, and with Gretta’s aid gets the men to find compromises that help them step outside their comfort zone. Colby explains that a man’s ego is fragile, so you have to have a strategy, which is where Gretta comes in with these tips:

Pre-negotiate things! Know you’re goals, and what stores you’re going too as well as a time frame. Men have low endurance for shopping, you don’t want him grouchy!

Warm up and cool down - start with a visit to the electronics store, and end with lunch at HIS favorite restaurant. Makes what’s in between more palletable.

Be reasonable - men take baby steps when it comes to fashion. Wait before breaking out the fuscia!

Use foolproof colors - plum or lavendar, which is close to the blues he might already wear, or modernize any wardrobe with a nice steel grey.

Be generous with your praise - when he looks good, TELL him. Stroke that ego, baby!

- and? All three men looked fantastic with their mini makeovers, the wives were all happy, and the whole segment was a success. Little things go a long way, ladies!

And of course - what’s for dinner? Mini Cannelloni Bake.