I need some cooking in advance advice

[MrsFogi]

How far in advance can I cook roast potatoes (and to what stage of cooking)? And, is there any way to do toast in advance (don't mind eating it cold, just don't want it to be soggy) and again, how far is the maximum in advance?

Roast potatoes aren't great cooked in advance - I had to on Christmas Day because my oven wasn't big enough, I put them back in for 10 mins after I'd taken the bird out and they were OK but not wonderful. You could definitely parboil for 5 mins in advance but you need to allow another 5 mins or so in the oven because they won't be hot when they go in.

What's the toast for? If it's to go with pate you can definitely do melba toast in advance. You should probably look up a recipe but off the top of my head you toast sliced bread lightly in the toaster then remove crusts and slice each slice into two thin slices with a bread knife. Then I think you put untoasted sice up under the grill to toast that. Gives you thin crispy slices which won't go soggy.

I did a Jamie and par boiled my spuds for 10 minute, bashed up the edges and put them in the fridge with garlic and rosemary ready for roasting the next day. They were delicious.