Helpn with buffet that can be pre-prepared

[Mawsymoo]

I will be having 10 adults and 3 children to my house after my sons christening and I want to provide a hot meal. However on the day itself I will have no time to prepare anything so I want to do as much as possible in advance. 4 of the adults (our parents) would be quite traditional in their food tastes.

Here's what I'm thinking:

• 2 options of "casserole" type food that just needs to be heated on the day. I'm thinking of beef bourguignon and a chicken dish (any suggestions welcome)
• side dishes - now this is where I run into problems. Are there any potato dishes I can prepare the day before that will heat up well?
• selection of side salads with breads
• christening cake for dessert

How does that sound? I've never done anything like this before and it's keeping me up at night after I've fed the baby! It's the side dishes/carbs I just can't figure out so I'd love some advice.

How about adding baby potatoes to the beef dish and some crusty bread to dip?

Personally I would cook a gammon joint to have cold with salad and bread as the other option

Maybe also add a quiche to go with the salad too?

Potato dauphinoise is easy to make in advance, layer up then just bung in the oven to cook for about an hour. Or briefly par-boil loads of small new potatoes, let them cool and dry out, coat them in olive oil and some chopped rosemary and crushed garlic, salt and pepper and cover in foil. This can be done the day before, then bung them in a hot oven oven to roast for about 40 minutes or until crispy and browned.

Or pulled pork with buns and coleslaw is always a hit

Or just boil or steam a load of new potatoes on the day - no effort at all.

You could do stuffed jackets - bake a lot of potatoes as normal, halve them and scoop out the flesh, mix with cheese/bacon/whatever then put them back in the shells. On the day just put them in the oven for 20-30 mins. They can also be frozen

Id do baked new potatoes, no real prep needed just scatter small ones onto a roasting tin, sprinkle with rosemary, salt and olive oil, and roast hot for 30-40 minutes.

Or I'd do rice the day before and just refresh it by pouring boiling water through it until it was hot.

Or, as a pp suggested, put potatoes in the casseroles, and just serve with big wedges of crusty bread.

Thanks all - some great ideas there so I'll have a think about it. I was hoping to have everything prepared and just heat and lay out food when we get back from the church as I'll have my hands full with a 12 week old (and a 22 month old) and the guests will have been on the road from early to get there so will probably bend famished! Baby new potatoes might be the quickest option