To ask for oven-free catering ideas??

[TyrannosaurusBex]

Oven has blown up - not even the hob works - and I have 40 people invited for tomorrow evening! All potential places to buy an oven are shut tomorrow (I'm not in the UK) but I'd rather not cancel if humanly possible as it's a bunch of families who've been through Covid in the past few weeks. My usual thing is to serve curry and rice but obviously that's off - AIBU to ask for any bright ideas for cooker-free catering??

Are any places open where you can buy a camping type stove?

You can cook cous cous with booking water from the kettle. Can you get out to get some nice bread, cold meats, cheeses, salad things?

@Tinkywinkydinkydoo, that's a very good thought, thank you! I'm panicking slightly and am not using my smartie brains...

Is a slow cooker an option?

Couscous is also a great idea, @crankysaurus, thank you!

Buffet, bread, oatcakes, crackers, pittas

Hummus, pate, cheeses, pasta salads

Fruit, salad, sausage rolls, mini sausages

40 people that’s huge even with a big oven.

Message guests and ask that they bring a dish - so much left over food will be eaten by others so they’ll be great full.

Do you have a slow cooker? Or pressure cooker? That will help.

No slow cooker but I will ask relatives this afternoon if I can borrow one, thanks for the idea, @Emsie1987.

Means a trip to the supermarket but different chicken types (bbq/plain/lemon), loads of wraps, salad, coleslaw and sauces. Crisps as the side.
Mince pies and buns.

And yeah .. slow cooker with a meat in then just loads of bread buns

Bbq?

Right, I'm pursuing all these ideas as well as making a shopping list, thanks for jolting me out of my paralysis of panic!

Oh blimey!

People need to bring things. Maybe get guests to sort the desserts or something. Loads of cold Christmassy options available. Mince pies, stollen, gateaux etc.

You could do a cold buffet, though I suppose a rotisserie chicken or two might work.

Baguettes/crusty bread
Proper butter
Cheeses
Ham, salami, cured meats generally
Pate
Hummus
Salad
Pre prepared couscous
Veg sticks
Smoked salmon and/or mackerel
Cherry tomatoes
Coleslaw
Kettle crisps
Nice crackers
Grapes

If you can scrounge a couple of slow cookers that might work too, as this would be probably loads dearer than curry. Otoh something a bit lighter can be nice a couple of days after Christmas.

Ooh get pringles too.

Oh no! What a nightmare!

Definitely get people to bring things, maybe desserts as a start.

Have you got a microwave / slow cooker?

You can do lots of things like vegetables/cakes/ rice in the microwave.

A slow cooker is wonderful - try and get one today if you haven’t got one. You can get a decent one from a large supermarket or Argos. You can do whole joints of meat in them, stews, puddings and cakes. Just google things like ‘slow cooker gammon recipe’ etc

Also get things you can eat cold, like cheeses, salad, dips, bread…

Good luck!

If you have Lidl where you are they sell plug in one ring induction hobs.

Buffet food:

Baguettes
Pate
Cream cheese
Butter

And so on

Could you get some hot cooked chickens.

I was saying earlier get guests to do desserts, but depending on the crowd you might be able to request people bring some cold dishes too. If I were one of your guests I'd be happy to rustle up a couple of pasta salads or something, or bring some leftover Christmas meat for cold cuts.

Even with a camping stove and slow cooker you will struggle to feed forty people.
I think that you will have to ask the guests to contribute dishes, no one will mind that I'm sure.
Your could provide things like ready cooked chicken, ham, salami, cheeses, bread, gateaux, fresh fruit salad. Depending where you live, and what your local shops offer, perhaps things like a seafood platter, cook roll of beef, ham on the bone.

Just keep telling yourself that everyone loves a picnic!

Just popping back to say thanks for the suggestions, we combined lots of the ideas - borrowed a slow cooker and made a cassoulet, bought good bread, butter, pâté, cheese and salad etc and asked friends to bring a dish. It was a feast and a lovely evening - we kicked off at 5pm, nobody left before midnight and I took to my bed at 2am leaving some of the guests to party on with DH, so evidently nobody was desperate to get home for a sandwich!

Oh good! I wondered how things had gone.