well...  if you don't mind cooking a sort of for realsy mealsy dealsy...

first off, pick up a fair sized to-go container of fried chicken from your local supermarket.  or, if you like your players, get a good size box from popeyes.  if you relly like them, get the chicken from a local mom and pop place, assuming there's a good one near you.  pop it in the fridge (don't worry, fried chicken is just as good cold as it is hot).  do not, for any reason, purchase from KFC.  their chicken is an abomination.

next up, (alton brown's recipe for) collard greens:

2 lbs stemmed and washed collard greens
1 largish smoked turkey leg (ask yer butcher)
teaspoon each salt and sugar

wash collards in several changes of water--that is, wash your sink so it's clean, plug the drains, and dunk the greens.  swish them around, give the dirt time to settel to the bottom, then remove, drain, and repeat at least twice.  for stemming, fold 'em in half and cut out the stalk with a good knife.  after they're all prepped, roll them in bundles and cut them into strips about a half-inch wide.

while you're washing the greens, simmer the turkey leg in a quart or so of water for ten minutes in a large pot.  add the salt and sugar, and the greens, and reduce the heat to low and simmer the greens for about 45 minutes.  stir every ten minues or so.

once the greens are simmering away, heat your oven to 400.  take a box of jiffy cornbread and follow the directions on the back.

while that's cooking make some mashed potatoes.

1 large bag red skin potatoes (4 lb bag i think is standard)
1 cup sour cream
a few tablespoons butter
a few tablespoons milk or cream
a few grinds pepper
salt

wash and quarter potatoes, and add to a large pot with a half tablespoon of salt and enough water to cover by an inch.  boil about 25-35 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender, i.e., tender in such a way that you wouldn't mind just eating 'em as they are.  drain water, add sour cream and butter and mix 'til creamy and delicious (hand masher or powered hand mixer, doesn't matter).  if they're too stiff, add milk by the spoonfull and continue mixing.  pepper and additional salt to taste.

if you time everything right it should take only about an hour to make this whole meal.  just follow the order above and everything should be done at roughly the same time.  note: consider doing all the veggie prep work before you start cooking, so that way you can just toss things in pots and not worry.

anyway, i finally got a gaming group together here in gainesville.  we're all GMs by nature, and we're doing a run club with dinner once a month.  this month, our first game, is my turn to host and cook.  this is what i'll be making.  

protip: what are you, a savage?  make some sweet tea the old fashioned way to go with this mess.  and if it's hot outside, toss a handfull of crushed mint into the pitcher with the ice before you pour in the tea.

Quote from: cnath.rmSomething my mom came up with that the family loved. It's great fresh, it's great the next day as leftovers (hot or cold) and we never really had the chance to see past the 2nd day as it never lasted that long.

Stir Lasagna

Bag of egg noodles (I can't remember if it's 1 or 2 pounds, depends on how much you want)
Spagetti Sauce, whatever kind(s) you want, I normally use Prego 1-2 jars depending on size.
Ricotta Cheese, med sized tub.
Shredded Mozzerella cheese, lots. (I get the big bag thats a couple pounds)
Canned Mushrooms, optional, but I think they compliment the mushrooms in the sauch myself.

Cook noodles and put into baking dish. Stir in sauce.  Stir in about 2/3 of the ricotta, all of it if you want.  Stir in 2/3 of the shredded cheese and anything else you like if it isn't already a part of the sauce. Top with the other third of the shredded cheese.

Nothing that you have put in actually needs to be cooked, so you just toss it into the oven under the broiler until the cheese on top has melted.

The recipe has the advantage that you can tailor it to whoever you are feeding, easy to add meat/mushrooms if you want more then is in your sauce already, easy to leave it out if you are feeding vegetarians/people who don't like mushrooms.  Easy to make, doesn't take long, you get much of the goodness of lasagna without having to spend all afternoon layering noodles. (and if you are cooking with kids, there are lots of things for them to stir into the dish which some of them enjoy.)

This sounds excellent!

Re: next-day leftovers  -  its been my experience that lasagne is MUCH better  after it has "aged" overnight for some reason. Most everyone I know agrees too, but I have no idea why. I wonder if Alton Brown would know...

I once had a player bring tomatoes and bell peppers to a game. As a gaming snack. We openly gawked at him in disbelief.