Holiday menus, cookie champions and last-minute gift gab from the LA Times

BERLIN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 21: Traditional, home-made Christmas cookies lie on plates in a household on December 21, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. Christmas cookies are an intrinsic part of Central European Christmas tradition and are usually baked at home according to recipes passed down through generations. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

From hot cocktails for cold nights to leftover turkey made nice (with melted camembert and mostarda!), the Los Angeles Times Test Kitchen has you covered.

Top LA Times chef Noelle Carter and the newspaper's food writers have the spectacular annual version of the California Cookbook on their website. Another batch of recipes to sweeten the season are the finalists of their annual holiday-cookie competition - winner to be announced Friday.

If you need advice for a new-fangled appetizer (apple n' brie soup?) or some last-minute gifts you can make at home without the MacGyver look, call in for advice from Food Editor Russ Parsons or Chef Carter.

Guests:

Russ Parsons, Food Editor, Los Angeles Times

Noelle Carter, Director of the Los Angeles Times Test Kitchen

If you still have questions about holiday entertaining, you can send them to Russ, Noelle and the LA Times Food staff on Facebook and

Tweets by latimes

(#LATHoliday).