Silicon Valley Eats: Dream Dinners

Although I'm a devoted cook, even I have to admit I need some help on busy weekdays after a long day of work, school, and administrating a household. Although I had developed a detailed system of checklists and easy menu-planning tricks to ease the daily burden, there were some weeks where I simply could not make it to the grocery store, the pantry was bare, and everything in the fridge was either limp or rotten. (Those were also the days that company unexpectedly arrived for dinner, of course!)

Then, I made a life-changing discovery: Dream Dinners. Upon the recommendation of an equally-harried friend, I found out what it was and how it worked. I had seen the magazine ads, even surfed its website, but could never figure it out. Hearing it from a trusted source made all the difference. For those not-in-the-know, Dream Dinners is a meal-assembly service. You go to the website, pre-order meal selections and serving amounts, then make an appointment to go to the store-front, which is, essentially, a commercial kitchen.

As to how it operates, let me give you an example. Last month, I ordered 36 servings of 7 different meals/recipes, including 6 servings of Chicken Mirabella. When my appointment date came up (I ordered on a Tuesday, and had an appointment for Saturday morning), I went to my local Dream Dinners kitchen. On arrival, a cheery staff took my purse, gave me an apron, and ushered me in, inviting me to have a complimentary cop of Senseo pod coffee. Immediately, I felt relaxed; this was not a chore, this was a pleasure, and what a great way to start my weekend!

I headed for a commercial fridge, which had a designated shelf just for me, holding a complimentary bottle of water and sometimes a "gift" (usually a cool kitchen gadget) for being a regular customer. I receive a clipboard showing all my selections, and then look for the corresponding station, in this case, Chicken Mirabella. The clean, organized, stainless steel station has everything I need - herbs, spices, dates, stock, frozen chicken breasts. The recipe is printed clearly on a sign propped up at eye-level on one of the counters. If it says, "1/4 teaspoon of salt", I simply look for a container in front of me marked "salt", and lo-and-behold, there it is - with an exact 1/4 teaspoon scoop in the container. I just scoop and dump it into a ziploc bag. I continue to go ingredient-by-ingredient until I'm done. Mere minutes later, I have a ziploc bag containing a six servings of a lovely sauce/marinade, and another bag with my frozen meat and/or vegetables. I put it all together in another larger ziploc bag, place a cooking instruction label on it, and voila! Next Monday's night dinner is DONE!

By the end of my session, I have seven large ziploc bags containing six servings each of self-assembled meals, ready to be frozen at home, then thawed and cooked when needed. The food is essentially home-made, restaurant-quality delicious, and the process incredibly efficient. All it took was 45 minutes, and I had a month's-worth of dinners. Pinch me, am I dreaming???

Apparently not, as I have good evidence that this is most real. My grocery bill has been halved, and there's no more waste in our bin. I no longer have half-empty bottles of random sauces and dressings cluttering up my fridge, no more Costco-sized bags of lettuce wilting in the crisper, no more "Oh no! I forgot to buy [insert essential, non-substitutable ingredient here]". I almost never have leftovers, plates are polished clean, lips smacked, stomachs sated. Uh oh, no leftovers? What about tomorrow night?

No sweat, my hungry masses. I have another bag in the freezer!