Hi Jeff - I don't know if you'd classify me as one of the 'more experienced guys', but I'll give my 1.5432cents worth anyway
Once you blow your highlights they are blown - no matter what you do in PP (even if you shoot raw).
I've found however, that the flashing highlight preview tends to work on the side of conservatism (always a good thing).
I tend to go with the Histogram more than the highlight preview, simply because it gives me a better feel for the extent to which any highlights may be blown. I've found that at times the preview screen will show a highlight as blown, and then have been able to be recover it. This only happens when the degree of 'blowness' (!) is minimal.
If unsure, adjust EV and take again - it's best to avoid that blinking highlight if at all possible! If it's impossible to avoid blown highlights, at least this screen helps identify where they are going to be (if you can't already tell for yourself!).