Meals for the masses

To celebrate this New Year's Eve, some friends and I will be descending on my parents home in Devon to enjoy some country air and some good food.

My parents are going to be away, so I will be mistress of the house and responsible for a group of about 12 people for several days. On New Year's Eve there will be a few more of us, and I want to feed them a great meal before the celebrations get going.

I really need ideas for feeding a group this size. From the 12 people around the table in the run up to the New Year, to the 20 who will be there on the big night.

Anyone have any ideas for filling this many hungry mouths? All I have so far is sausage and mash (yawn) and a delicious chorizo, sausage and lentil stew which I cooked on Saturday and I think could definitely be done on mass.

I'd love to hear your go to dishes for feeding a hungry crowd...