Make it the day before and let it improve
The best watch-party food is the kind that gets better sitting in the fridge overnight. A big tray of baked pasta, a chilli, a lentil and chorizo stew: all of these deepen in flavour and reheat in one go while people are arriving. If you're doing something warm, make it one thing only, and let everything else be cold.
Marinated items are your friends too. Butter beans dressed with lemon, parsley and plenty of olive oil, left overnight, are the sleeper hit of any buffet. The same goes for a slaw dressed a few hours ahead with cider vinegar and a little honey, or roasted carrots and squash that you serve at room temperature with yoghurt spooned over at the last second. Bake anything sweet the day before as well. A tray of brownies or a sticky ginger cake cut into squares takes no serving effort and gives the second half something to look forward to.
The hour before everyone arrives
Set up the room, not just the food. Clear a surface for drinks that isn't where people will be standing, put out more glasses than you think you need so nobody is hunting in cupboards, and leave a stack of small plates and napkins at the end of the table. Put a bin bag or caddy somewhere visible. Nothing kills the mood faster than a host circling with a rubbish bag at a crucial moment.
