How to throw an easy and elegant dinner party

4. LEAN ON ONE-DISH CLASSICS Instead of taking Tuesday off to wrestle with an uncooperative veal breast, it would have been a lot easier if my friend had put up a pot roast the night before

while watching _The Voice. _It would have taken 45 minutes of prep time max, with no hovering required.   The advantage to roasts (cooked open in the oven), potted meats (cooked covered,

usually in 350-degree heat) and slow roasts (placed in pot or slow cooker on a low heat and left for hours) is that they cook with little help from you, and usually include side-dish

starches and vegetables within the cooking liquid. Best of all, they actually do taste better when made in advance.  If those don’t appeal, or you need a vegetarian option, lasagna offers

similar one-dish, make-ahead advantages. Lidia Bastianich even recommends assembling her lasagna a few days ahead.    An added bonus is that this is a kind of cooking most people rarely

order when eating out, and increasingly fewer restaurants offer on a menu. So the added surprise, nostalgia and heartiness that such a main-dish choice generates is sure to send warmth your

way. If you don’t have one already, get a great Dutch oven or an InstaPot, develop a repertoire of three made-ahead dishes, and sweat no more. Whether you are making a classic pot roast or

brisket, root vegetables with kasha or a seafood stew, the main course will always be done long before anyone arrives.   5. BUY A FANCY DESSERT Sugar is one of our oldest and most effective

preservatives, which means you can bake a cake weeks in advance — especially on a weekend when it’s probably easier to find time for the precision baking required — and then freeze it. Last

July, I thawed and served a cheesecake left over from Christmas. Not only was no one the wiser, three people asked for the recipe. (I never give out my cheesecake recipe, though. That’s

awful of me, I know. But still, no.)  However, in every city, and in many a neighborhood, there are those singular places that make sensational sweets that you and everybody else wait in

line or drive across town for. Well, just go buy that irresistible big yum and present it as your closer to gushes of delight. In the blink-and-you-missed-it hamlet in upstate New York where

I have a home, the woman in the local half-bare General Store makes the best apple pie I’ve ever eaten. Now I will never bake another one. Why bother, when hers is so smashing and I earn

substantial cred for bringing it to my table?   6. AND … CHEERS! There you go. Two (or three) dishes made in advance, one freshly assembled, and the possible appropriation of someone's

sweetest specialty. That’s it. And you didn’t lose a sick day. Now, go put on something comfortable that also makes you look confident. Then open a bottle of something and enjoy your guests.

   _Hal Rubenstein is a founding editor of _InStyle _and_ _former restaurant critic for _New York_ magazine. He is the author of five books, including _100 Unforgettable Dresses.