Tiffani Thiessen hosts “Dinner at Tiffani’s”

I think that people fall into two categories: those who love hosting dinner parties and those who hate it.

Dinner parties can be a lot of work, sometimes even taking days to plan and execute, depending on how "big" you want to go. There's cleaning the house, preparing the menu, carefully choosing which dishes to use, sending out invitations, running to the supermarket -- heck, all of this before you can even start cooking, let alone waiting for the guests to arrive!

For the record, I'm firmly in the "love" camp here, and it looks like I'm in good company. It turns out that actress Tiffani Thiessen is a bit of a dinner party hostess extraordinaire, and she's inviting all of us to join her with her new Cooking Channel show "Dinner at Tiffani's," premiering Wednesday, Feb. 25.

Thiessen's been a presence on our TV screens for decades. Her first major role was as high schooler Kelly Kapowski in 1989's teenaged comedy/drama "Saved by the Bell." After it wrapped up in 1993, she joined the cast of "Beverly Hills, 90210," where she stayed until 2000. More recently, she's starred as Elizabeth Burke in USA's "White Collar."

But enough about her acting: we're here for her food. Each episode of "Dinner at Tiffani's" will feature the hostess cooking up her own special crowd-pleasing dishes, like roasted dates with smoked bacon and goat cheese. We'll get to tag along, too, as she figures out the theme for each dinner and creates some on-theme decorations to tie the whole experience together.

And what would a dinner party be without guests? (It sure wouldn't be much of a party!) Each episode will feature actors and entertainers stopping by for dinner, including former "Saved by the Bell" co-star Mario Lopez.

"I have played many characters, but my favorite role is playing host," Thiessen said in a statement about the show, and if she's as entertaining a host as she is an actress, then it's the TV viewers who will really be the ones in for a treat.

"Dinner at Tiffani's" premieres Wednesday, Feb. 25, on the Cooking Channel.