Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

These restaurants have reported holiday hours for Christmas Day.

Asterisk Restaurant, 599 Thames St., Newport, (401) 841-8833, asterisknewport.com, opens from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. serving a special holiday menu along with the regular menu.

Andreas Restaurant, 268 Thayer St., (401) 331-7879, andreasri.com, opens for dinner at 5 p.m.

The Bay Voyage Inn, 150 Conanicus Ave., Jamestown, will serve a holiday buffet from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The cost is $47.95 for adults and $15.95 for children under 10. Children under 3 eat free. Call (401) 423-2100.

Café Paragon, 234 Thayer St., (401) 331-6200, will be open from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Castle Hill Inn & Resort, 590 Ocean Drive, Newport, (401) 849-3800, castlehillinn.com, will feature three-course dinners from 2 to 5 p.m. Entrée choices include Vermont butter-poached New England Lobster with foraged mushroom pastry; a grilled Hereford Beef Filet and Elysian Farms Lamb Roasted Rack and Braised Lamb Shepherd's Pie. The cost is $75.

Clarke Cooke House, Bannister's Wharf, Newport, (401) 849-2900, will serve lunch and dinner.

Faial Restaurant, 970 Douglas Pike, Smithfield, (401) 231-1100, is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Legal Seafood, 2099 Post Rd., Warwick, (401) 732-3663, will be open from noon to 6 p.m. For information, visit legalseafoods.com.

McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant, in the Providence Biltmore Hotel, 11 Dorrance St., (401) 351-4500, will be open serving breakfast, lunch, dinner.

One Bellevue at Hotel Viking, Newport, serves a three-course menu at 12:30, 3 and 5 p.m. for $49.99 per person; $18 children ages 4 to 11 (free for ages 3 and under). To reserve, call (401) 848-4824.

The Pines, 1204 Pound Hill Rd., North Smithfield, serves dinner from noon to 4 p.m. with chicken family style, baked haddock, steaks, prime rib and lobster. Reserve at (401) 766-2122.

Riviera Inn Restaurant, 580 North Broadway, East Providence, (401) 431-9231, will serve from noon to 5 p.m.

Sardella's Restaurant, 30 Memorial Blvd. West, Newport, (401) 849-6312, opens 3 to 8 p.m.

Shelter Harbor Inn, 10 Wagner Rd., Westerly, (401) 322-8883, serves all day. The 24-room inn offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch. Learn more at shelterharborinn.com.

-- Compiled by Journal Food Editor Gail Ciampa

Dinner at your house tomorrow?

Everybody wants to help you. Hotlines (and it can't hurt to ask for a coupon if you call):

Butterball Turkey Talk-Line: 800-288-8372. Home economists and nutritionists answer questions in English and Spanish from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today and Thursday; and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday. Check Web site for 24-hour automated assistance and info on other resources.

Crisco Pie Hotline: 877-367-7438 offers a live pie expert 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the holidays with the line available 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. now through Nov. 26 and Dec. 15-23. The line is not staffed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. But you can access videos with troubleshooting tips, step-by-step visual instructions to create pie crusts and recipes using seasonal ingredients at crisco.com.

Empire Kosher poultry customer hot line: 800-367-4734. Help is offered year-round Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Fleischmann's Yeast Baker's Help Line: 800-777-4959 has recorded messages about yeast, including storing it, checking if it's viable, substituting different types of yeast and more. Talk to a consumer representative 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. At the site, recipes and tips for using yeast.

Jennie-O Holiday Turkey Hotline is 800-turkeys, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including Thanksgiving Day. The site has recipes, tips, and a FAQ that tells you the plastic that ties the legs together is called a hock-lock.

King Arthur Flour Co. Bakers Hotline: 802-649-3717. Baking experts answer questions 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, through December. Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day; LiveChat is at www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes2008.

Land O' Lakes Holiday Baking Hotline, 800-782-9606, answers questions and gives advice about baking. It operates daily through Dec. 24 from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. Callers will receive a leaflet of year-round baking tips and recipes for holiday sweets.

Loews Hotel Wine Line: E-mail your questions to wineline@loewshotels.com where certified sommeliers will help guide you through your wine pairing or wine gift-giving dilemmas, no matter your budget, through Dec. 31. They recommend serving a Pinot Noir with turkey; their Holiday wine FAQs suggest a Viognier if you also want a white.

Nestle Toll House Baking Information Line: 800-637-8537 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., through Jan. 5.

Ocean Spray consumer help line: 800-662-3263. Year-round, weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Offers help with cranberries, as well as recipes, cooking tips, nutritional information and menu-planning worksheets.

Perdue consumer help line: 800-473-7383 or www.perdue.com. Representatives answer cooking, storage and other questions about poultry. Regular hours: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. Holiday hours: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Tuesday; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today; 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. Closed Christmas Day.

Reynolds Turkey Tips Hotline: 800-745-4000. A year-round 24-hour automated hot line from the aluminum foil people; through Dec. 31 offers advice on turkey defrosting, preparation and cooking options, free brochure and recipes.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Meat and Poultry Hotline: 888-674-6854. Food-safety specialists answer calls 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays year-round -- except Thanksgiving Day, when hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.. The Web site has a 24-hour automated response system; recorded information is available 24 hours a day. Service also available in Spanish.

A final option: Thank goodness for restaurants open on Thanksgiving.

The staff of the 7 to 7 News Blog is off for the Columbus Day holiday. Their blogging will resume at 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Well, they don't put it quite that way on the Official Gmail Blog, but that's what they mean: Stop sending mail you later regret.

When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?

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By default, Mail Goggles is only active late night on the weekend as that is the time you're most likely to need it. Once enabled, you can adjust when it's active in the General settings.

You can even adjust the difficulty of the problems, in case intoxicants bring out the latent Einstein in you.

Teetotalers and those of us who can't do math on our best days can ignore the feature.

How do you want to view this blog? Our new format offers several new options:

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