Don't skip this. Wrap the whole head of garlic in foil with a good drizzle of olive oil, seal it up, and roast at 325°F for an hour. You'll know it's ready when your kitchen smells like heaven. Cool it completely before you do anything else with it. Making the garlic butter the day before gives it more time to meld.

While the garlic roasts, set a stick of butter on the counter to soften. Room temperature soften — not microwave soften. Once the garlic is cool, squeeze the cloves out of their skins (they'll slip right out) and smoosh them into the butter with a fork. Really work it in. Roll tightly in parchment, twist the ends, and refrigerate until firm. That's it.

This is the step where you earn it. Finely chop the parsley. Strip the thyme leaves and chop until you have about 2 tbsp — it takes longer than you think, I'm warning you now. Put on some music. And zest the lemon before you juice it — always zest first, always.

Drain and rinse the beans. In a large bowl, add the beans, parsley, thyme, and oregano. Pour the lemon juice over everything — all of it. Add all the zest too. Yes, all of it. Drizzle generously with EVOO. Season with kosher salt and pepper — and I mean generously, don't be shy here. Toss well, cover, and refrigerate for 2–3 hours. The herbs need time to do their thing. This is not optional.

Halve or slice the avocados right before you serve — not before, or they'll go sad on you. At the table, drizzle a little of the bean salad dressing over the top. That lemon-olive oil situation is exactly what the avocado needs.

Set everything out and get out of the way. Slice the bread, put out the compound butter, pull the bean salad from the fridge, plate the avocados. Arrange the heirloom tomatoes on their own plate and season generously with salt and pepper right before serving — don't do this early or they'll weep. Crack open the tins of sardines or smoked salmon. Let people build their own. This is how you host without exhausting yourself — and honestly, it's better that way.