evening meal for 8 adults and 2 toddlers

[supadupacreameggscupa]

hi there cooks

apologies for the lack of capitals, i am typing one handed....

i'm not a bad cook, but i am in need of some help!

usually i cook for between 2 and 4 adults and the thought of cooking a meal for 10 has me sweating glowing

we will all be away for a family holiday and i have been allocated one evening to cook for us all.

dh and i are easy, as are the pil and their dd and boyfriend. the other dd and dh are quite the culinary experts and i do NOT want to show myself up.

we will be self catering and i was thinking perhaps slow cooking something before we go and freezing it, but will this seem a bit like 'cheating' ?

i want something not too posh, but that will have everyone going 'oohh' and 'aahh' and hopefully feeling full and happy.

so what shall i do?

Do you have decent cooking facilities wherever you are going?

If so, how about a roast followed by a crumble? Straightforward and crowd-pleasing. I can't see what is cheating about doing something in the slow cooker beforehand, but it would depend on whether you could store it. You could follow it with Eton mess - cheap and easy, and everyone loves it.

If it was me, I'd probably not aim to wow and go for something easy like pizzas, garlic bread and a selection of salads, followed by ice cream. You're on holiday so you shouldn't stress about it!

Any of those grab you?

tbh the roast idea scares me, because i would have to have all the trimmings and i wouldn't enjoy cooking it for fear of ruining it.

crumble is a great idea, we all love custard!

i have checked and there is a freezer so defrosting something i made earlier is still an option. I thought i could then make couscous and salads and stuff and save some drinking time hassle on the day

eton mess is a GREAT idea so thanks for that one!

i had thought of pizza but last holiday we did that and needed so many they were a pain to cook in the smallish oven and some were cooked and cold before the last ones were ready

love the idea of lamb shank but i would need two casserole dishes and i doubt you can two in an oven together....hmmm.

it's the quantities i'm having a headache over and not enough oven space i think.

frozen berries is a fab idea! and ready made custard definitely.

I would do some baked camenbert with breads to scoop it out with along with some Italian meats and pickles.

Think you would need 3 camenberts for this

Then I would take a Bouef Bourginon which I had already prepared at home and frozen. Defrost and heat through on the hob. Served with rice or new potatoes and broccoli.

Crumble as already suggested or Eton Mess would be lovely.

Actually I could eat all that now.

what about a big lasagna and garlic bread and a side salad

I made the tagine that was on a thread on here recently, www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/moroccanlambtagine_6696
You could make it ahead and serve with cous cous which you barely need a pan for. It was REALLY delicious and easy and a bit unusual without being scary!