Do you have party planning and shopping to do in the coming weeks?

You don't have to become overly competitive, but you still can get an edge on the holiday season with a few tips to make this year's party planning easier to do than ever.

Katie Brown, author of the new book "Katie Brown's Weekends" (Little, Brown & Co.), mother and host of the upcoming PBS series "The Katie Brown Workshop," offers answers to some common questions about holiday parties:

Q. How do you set table and chair arrangements if you aren't sure how many guests are going to arrive?

A. Sometimes it is hard to gauge how many people will be coming for dinner if you are throwing together a last-minute gathering. A great way to avoid that awkward moment where you find yourself with too little or too many places at the table is to set your spread buffet style. This way there is room for as many or as few who end up showing up.

Q. How do you make a table look unique and festive without spending a lot of money?

A. Gather all your mismatched glass vases together, tall, small round or square, and fill them to varying heights with water. Next, get your food coloring. Pick a color that matches your table linens. Squirt in a few drops and stir till it reaches your desired shade. Now, group them together down the center of your table, and you have a quick and easy focal point for your table. You also can surround your pools of water with a collection of candles. The candlelight will illuminate the water and give it a shimmering effect.

If you have any flowers either in your garden or in your home, another fun way to dress up your ponds is to pop just the flower heads off the stems and float one head per vase. This adds a simple decorative element.

Q. It's five minutes before guests arrive. What must get done and what can be skipped?

A. A great way to make your guests feel at home is to get them involved the minute they walk through the door. If you run out of time before they arrive, don't sweat it. Just plan your to-do list so that the last things on it are the things your guest can do — filling the ice buckets, taking things out of the oven, mixing the drinks, etc.

Make sure the first things on your list are things you could and would never ask your guest to do. For example, you want to make sure your home shines. So focus on the areas you know your guests will see.

Q. What's an easy and impressive dish that can be whipped up on short notice?

A. Roasted chicken and potatoes is one of the quickest and most impressive meals to dish up at a moments notice. Simply buy a whole chicken, rub it with olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon. Then stuff the cavity with fresh parsley and the juiced lemon. Cook at 350 degrees. While that cooks, cut up red potatoes into bite-size pieces and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic. Then place the dish in your oven with the chicken. Now you are ready to relax and enjoy your guests while the oven does the work for you.

Q. Do you have a favorite dessert you serve your guests?

A. I always have a box of premixed brownies on hand. You can make them your own by adding to them. One of my favorite new ways to twist them up is melt down caramels and swirl them in with the batter, then serve them with fresh strawberries and whipped cream — so easy, but so impressive.