Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I'm having my partner's mum's family over on Saturday, and his dad's family over on Sunday for dinner. It'll be 7 and 10-11 people respectively. Anyway, I don't cook for crowds often - only twice so far, actually! And I have a four-year-old and a seven-month-old to take care of during the day (ie, directly before everyone arrives), so I'm hoping to make some things ahead of time and/or super easy dinners. What are your favourites?

(Last two times I made minestrone, ciabatta bread, and a fresh salad; and then butternut alfredo, homemade garlic ciabatta bread, and broccoli. Simple is good!)

along the same lines as what you've already done: chili and cornbead or tortilla chips and lots of different toppings. You could even have veggie dogs and rolls if people wanted chili dogs.

Chili is super easy. You just throw everything into a pot and cook until it's done.
Casseroles (Lasagna, VCON pumpkin baked ziti, VWAV chickpea broccoli casserole, etc) are really good to make ahead too

yeah, chili is great! people really seem to love it too, even though it's a total no brainer. you can also easily triple or quadruple the butternut alfredo recipe. you can make a really simple salad on the side and some baguettes and you're done!

chili is also good on top of baked potatoes, which you could just pop in the oven before they were going to arrive. also good with salad.