Hosting a Hi Fi Club meeting, what to cook?

Tomorrow is my Hi Fi Club meeting, I am the host.

Serving about 14 people.

I have an instant pot, slow cooker, normal stove top cookware, sous vide, and some paella pans.

I’m hoping for something I can ‘pre-prepare’ and have cooking/simmering/staying warm so I can enjoy the meeting.

In the past, I have done burgers, hot dog buffet, pizza, smoked tri-tip. I want less hands on this time.

I’m feeling acutely uncreative, it seems, and would love some advice on how others prepare for a casual group but not have to miss the social fun while cooking…what dishes do you all fall back on?

Plus, the meeting will involve a lot of plugging and unplugging gear for the meeting.

I have cheese and charcuterie ready, but then I go flat.

Pigs ears. Drum sticks. Fiddle head ferns. Trumpeter swan. That’s all I got.

Took me a second to catch on.

Maybe some Chilean Sea Bass.

Maybe some snacks with Bugles.

Maybe prepare some organ meats to go with sauternes.

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Stew is the obvious if unoriginal answer, boeuf bourguignon, veal Marengo that sort of thing. All the work is ahead of time, even the day before if you want.

I knew there were more out there, and that you would be the person to come up with them!

I think you are too late to be asking for advice if it’s tomorrow. Pizza delivery is your friend. Seriously

Hi-Fi club? What year is this? Not even a stereo club?

No sense having stereo if it’s not Hi-Fi.

How adventurous are they? The pressure cooker butter chicken recipe that was recently posted here is very good, easily scaled and pretty hands off.

Cold cereal buffet, but seriously a hot dog buffet is time consuming?
No kids at home to help out?

This chicken chile verde recipe from Serious Eats is about as tasty as it gets. And you can just pick up pre-made pico de gallo and tacos if you’re feeling super lazy.

Agreed. You can even cook noodles or mashed potatoes ahead of time. If noodles, just put a minimal amount of oil on them so they don’t stick together. Make a nice salad, cover and put in fridge until you dress it just in time to eat. This has worked well for me.

I realize it’s too late but stews and roasts were my go to before we started ordering a lechon for our parties.

Anton, all the time you spend here and leave us hanging?

Maybe he didn’t want to toot his own horn? No reason to amp things up.

He came here looking for clarity and, as usual, things quickly became distorted.

He’s probably still writing up a volume about the dinner.

They listened to stuff from Meatloaf, Fiona Apple, Phish, and Humble Pie. Then they got into an argument about whether cables matter and someone got a shotgun blast of Salt-n-Pepa to the face. Anton is freaking out because his homeowners policy won’t cover it and he no longer sees retirement in his horizon.

The person who got “shotgun blast of Salt-n-Pepa to the face” did it make their “Third Eye Blind”? Did they pray to the “Jesus and Mary (Chain)”? Did they become the “Outkast” of the party? Was there enough seasoning in the Meatloaf or did they add some “Red Hot Chili Peppers”? “Cake” to end the festivities or perhaps a glass of (Dropkick) Murphy’s Irish Stout over an “Ice Cube”? “Korn” on the cob?