Post Punk Kitchen Forum

This will be my third year hosting dinner, and my second year running an 8K in the morning. The whole "get everything out to the table together" thing has always eluded me, even without the complication of being out the morning of.
So I need make ahead ideas for the whole shebang - main courses, sides, desserts...
I have large and teeny crockpots, and a large freezer that I can put stuff in for make ahead and freeze.
Thanks in advance!

I've never made it but this green bean casserole from fat free vegan is totally on my list this year - you could prep it in advance and then just toss it in the oven.

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/11/be ... erole.html

V'con corn pudding reheats very well and was a huge hit with lots of omnis at my Thanksgiving last year.
Maybe you could make some sort of marinated salad that is supposed to sit overnight to improve?
You could slice sweet potatoes, put in casserole dish, drizzle with maple syrup, (dot with EB or drizzle with canola oil if you like, but I don't) and sprinkle with any ground spices you want, or throw some whole cinamon stick, cloves and star anise in. This can sit unbaked overnight and get thrown in the oven about an hour before you want to eat. Or, you could probably adapt this idea for one of your crock pots.

Yeah, you could easily make casseroles the day before.

Bryanna's pumpkin pie. The recipe specifically says make ahead.

where can i find this recipe? is it here in the forums?

I like the squash and caramelized onion casserole from V'con, the one with chestnuts, as a main dish, and that works really well for making the day before and then putting in the oven before serving.

Thanks, everyone!
Larisa - I was just looking at that V'con casserole and wondering. That's great that it can be done ahead.
I will check out that green bean casserole and I think I have the pumpkin pie recipe - I'll dig it out.

What about stuff like mashed potatoes? It's so time consuming to peel them. Has anyone made them the day before and reheated them, maybe with a little extra soymilk and EB?

Also, seitan roasty types of things - anyone make them ahead?

bryanna's pumpkin pie recipe




i like to make as much stuff ahead of time as possible too, since otherwise i will get overwhelmed cooking for that many people. for mashed potatoes, i pick a kind that doesn't need to get peeled like yukon golds. i will wash, chop, and put in a pot of water the night before, then day of i change the water and put it on to boil when i start doing other day of stuff.

when i've made a seitan roast from scratch, i definitely make that ahead of time; if i'm using a storebought, there's really not much prep involved day of . . . other than throwing it in the oven.

things i make the day before: stuffing, cranberry relish, pies, macademia creme (from vwav, i use it with the pumpkin pie), homemade roast, bread

prep the day before: washing & chopping greens, wrapping sweet potatoes in foil, washing & chopping potatoes

day of, i basically just have to make everything warm, mash the potatoes, & make the gravy.

Thanks, sunshower!
I may try my hand at a homemade roast this year, so it's good to know you can prepare it ahead. Do you have any faves?

i like bryanna's soy & seitan roast, though i can't find the recipe online right now (but i do have it written down if you need it!). it has instructions for a skin too, but i don't think the skin is worth the trouble.

found it - thanks! :)