You may be surprised to learn that Dr. Dare is extremely cultured. And I'm not just talking about bacteria cultures. I throw some of the most sophisticated dinner parties on my block. Dr. Dare's dining room is the place to be in the party season-or if you're really ill-which often happens at the same time.

And as any Martha Stewart wanna-be will tell you, the very first step to throwing a lovely dinner party is the place holders. I'm talking about those little cards the host or hostess will set out to shows the invited guests where to sit.

The idea is to arrange your guests in the best configuration for scintillating dinner conversation. It's also a good way to make sure you'll be sitting by that special someone you've had your eye on-or not sitting by that certain someone who's had his/her eye on you.

Anyway, with the holidays coming on, I just knew you'd want an idea for making a good first impression. And this holiday tip uses my favorite of all foods-Jell-O®.

Here's the deal: Make all your guests RSVP with a school picture of themselves. Then on the day of the party, prepare to make a pan of Jell-O according to the instructions on the box. Be sure to choose a festive color-and one that you can see through.

When it's time to pour the liquid into the pan, only use about half of it. After you've let that set up, carefully arrange your guest's photos on top of the Jell-O.

Be sure to space them evenly and to leave at least two inches between each photo and the sides of the pan. If you're having a lot of guests, you might need to make several pans of Jell-O.

Finally, carefully pour the rest of the liquid over the photos, trying not to disturb them. After the second layer has set, you should be able to see your friends' photos through the Jell-O.

Not long before your guests are due to arrive, take the pan(s) of Jell-O out of the refrigerator and carefully cut around the photos. You should end up with little cubes of jello with your friends' faces floating in the middle. This can be a little creepy at first, but you'll get used to it.

Place each cube on a small plate and set that plate on top of the dinner plate at the place you'd like them to sit for the evening. If you really want to make things interesting, split up all the couples and good friends so people will be forced to talk to someone they wouldn't normally converse with. (Of course, your friends will hate you for this. But oh well.)

Bonus: Warn your guests to save their Jell-O faces for the end of the meal. Draw a big target on poster paper, and set it up in a place that can afford to get a little Jell-O-y (e.g. the basement, the garage, your parents' bedroom).

Tell your guests there will be prize for the person who can fling their Jell-O face closest to the bull's eye. Win they're done tossing, gather up all the bits of Jell-O on a big plate and present it to the winner.

I dare you.

Don't look now, but here comes that odd biblical tie-in you were waiting for:

Proverbs 15:13 says, "A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit."

Have you really looked at your friends' faces lately? Can you tell who has a cheerful heart and who's going through heartache? You might be surprised.

Take some time to look at some faces this month-then ask how your friends are doing. It's amazing how showing a little interest in another person's life can begin to turn an aching heart into a cheerful one.

You'll know if you're succeeding by the look on their faces. If taking an interest and listening to their problems doesn't help, you can always offer them Jell-O. It works for me.