Please help me plan a sit-down dinner party for (aaaaargh) sixteen people.

[PrettyCandles]

Right. I'm hosting the Passover meal for our family this year, which means that in mid-April I will have 16 people - including 6 children aged from 2 to 11 - to seat. And most of them will be staying the night.

The meal has to be dairy-free, and I have to cater for wheat-free and fish-eating vegetarians as well. I don't want to make a meat meal with a veggy substitute for the two or three veggies, but to have lots of dishes available for everyone to choose from.

I have one smallish hob and oven, a largeish combi microwave and two fridge-freezers (one's in the garage).

I'll have help dishing, but probably not with the cooking.

How do I organise this? What sort of main course dishes and accompaniments can I prepare? If the food can be defrosted and reheated, rather than prepared from scratch on the day, how do I get it all to the table at the right temperature at the same time, given my equipment?

Any tips? (Other than "don't do it!" )

Now this is my kind of challenge!

So, how formal are you thinking?

Can you do baked potatoes with lots of fillings? Or can you borrow rice cookers (you'll only need 2, in fact with so many kids one would almost do it). Or is that too ordinary?

You could do 3 hob-based casserole type dishes - these can be made in advance and frozen then heated on the hob. You could do anything you fancy - Mexican chilli chicken stew with chorizo went down well recently. You could do a veggie stew. Then if you have a steamer steam a load of chopped up hunks of sweetcorn to accompany. You can make the casseroles/stews etc look more exciting by topping with dumplings, or dollops of soured cream swirled with worcestershire sauce, or springs of herbs...

In the microwave and then oven to finish you could do jacket potatoes to go with the above.

For puds you could do various cheesecakes etc which can be frozen and then to fridge, not requiring any heating up. Just add garnish after defrosting.

Oh my goodness! Erm -

How about a big tin of garlic roasted potatoes to cook on the day? Ratatouille on the stove top: can be cooked in advance and will do as a main for the veggies and a side for the others. Or a big dish of stuffed peppers. A couple of different salads: maybe a green one and a tomato one? Some nice bread. Can't help re: meat.

Soup to start perhaps?

Would normally say trifle for pud, as it's so easy to make in advance - but that's no good to you. How about fresh fruit and a sorbet?

Sorry if these ideas are way off the mark!

weegle, i was thinking similar!

PC, I had 10 adults and 10 kids recently and borrowed 2 rice cookers (but only ended up using one) and I had a chilli thing (one ring) and a chicken bake thing (not dairy free though) and crusty bread, possibly salads but maybe not. Then dessert options. Easy to do in advance. Seriously, you'll be fine. My thing is to keep it simple, with this number it's the way to go!

A slowcooker would be useful too.

I'd avoid starters unless you need to in which case I'd have platters of smoked salmon on bread and mixed melon balls pre-dished or something equally simple. Soup could work if you have a ring spare and you can make ahead and freeze.

Starters of nibbly finger foods help everyone get talking - crudites and dips are simplest.

I actually find it really satisfying catering for such numbers. If you choose some of your favourite one pot family dishes then make 2-3 x the quantity for dinner for several nights you can then eat some and then freeze the rest for your party... and do it gradually over a few weeks. The last meal I did for big numbers was for 20 and I did 4 curries: chicken korma, prawn curry, veggie curry and sag aloo, massive amount of pilau rice, then naans, samosas, bhajis and poppadoms. Ice cream bombes with orange sauce and mango sorbet for pud. Everyone very impressed but actually with the advance cooking, and puds being in freezer, it was less stressful for me on the day than a more intricate menu for 6! It's all in the planning!

There are certain dishes that we have every year and can be made a day or more ahead (all the starters: hard boiled eggs, chopped liver - can I freeze chopped liver? - clear soup with matza dumplings), and the desserts, too, will be cold gateau-type dishes that can be made a few days ahead. It's the mains that I'm struggling with. I don't know how to organise the defrosting and reheating.

OOh, Id love to go to a Passover meal.
Always love reading about stuff like matzoh balls and chopped liver and gefilte fish.

Ace!

So, mains...what are you thinking?

We usually have a joint of lamb, but it would be a hassle to carve for so many, so I thought about getting a boned joint, and rolling it up with a herby stuffing. That's something I can prepare in advnace and freeze, then defrost and roast on the day. And if it sits for ages before we get to the eating part of the meal (there's a lot of talking, singing and prayers to get trhough before we eat) it won't come to any harm.

I wonder whether I can do something similar with a piece of fish?

I quite fancy a nut roast - again, can be prepared and frozen, and then roasted in the oven with the lamb. But I've never made one, and won't use a packet if I can avoid it, so need to find a recipe.

Possibly jacket potatoes, small ones, that can go in the bottom of the oven - though I'm not sure that it will all fit together. That's where I need planning help!

Then I need also something salady and some cooked veg.

Would you serve hot and cold mains at the same table? It would probably help if I could have some cold main dishes.

Oooh, Moondog, gefilte fish - of course, how could I forget?!

A simple but really tasty fish dish is something like baked hake.

My MIL does this fairly often for Sunday lunch. One hake minus heat is enough to feed 12 adults. You can do the preparation the day before and just bung it in the oven on the day.

The prep involves softening very finely chopped leek, garlic and carrot in plenty of olive oil for about 20 minutes. Then you add some sliced tomatoes, and adjust seasoning. Sweat for about 10 minutes more. Then you arrange this on a baking tray, place the fish on top and bake in a moderate oven for about half an hour. You give it a sprinkle of white wine or sherry half way through the cooking.

That sounds lovely, Cies. I might just make it for ourselves this weekend! I like fish baked in or on veg. I did somethign similar with chicken yesterday.

But it takes too much attention. I won't be able to do anything for a couple of hours before the meal itself. So I need something that can either wait around, cooked, for a couple of hours, or be cooked on timer and left in the oven, or needs no more cooking than the time it takes to serve and eat several starters.