“Dream Dinners” with Mary
Posted on 2 February 2007 under Cookbooks, Food Destinations
This past weekend Mary and I did some shopping, picking up handmade gourmet doggie treats for that little (”he’s not spoiled!”) Pomeranian that we both love so much. (Yes, I spoil him, too …) I also picked up the Dream Dinners cookbook … which Mary promptly fell in love with. Even before we got home, while browsing through the book, she had ideas about which dishes she wanted to make.
Dream Dinners isn’t just a cookbook. There just happens to be a location in Lambertville, which is why I picked up the cookbook in the first place. I’d first heard about Dream Dinners on Food Network. After booking a session with them, you go to the location and prepare a number of meals for your family. Dream Dinners provides all the ingredients, kitchen space, etc., and what you end up taking home is frozen and ready-to-cook. Their menu for February 2007 includes such dishes as Herb-Crusted Flank Steak, Tilapia with Lemon & Dill Sauce, and Moroccan Chicken.
You have to know a couple other things.
The first one is that my current and almost intense love of cooking is a very recent thing, only a few years old at this point (even though I’d cooked in professional kitchens in an earlier life). Mary and I haven’t even known each other three years yet! The other thing is that I’ve also discovered cooking is a kind of “therapy” for me after a long day up at the U. With these two things, it turns out I do the majority of the cooking around the house, and frankly, I do it very happily.
So it was a pleasant surprise last night to come home and find out Mary had headed to Kroger to pick up some things for dinner. Even better was when she got home … and I discovered she’d taken the Dream Dinners cookbook with her. As I wrote earlier, she had mentioned that she’d like to try a few things from the 100 recipes in the cookbook. She’s also talking about booking a session with the location in Lambertville for their Introductory Offer to see how different those dishes would be from the cookbook.
With all the ingredients fresh from the store, Mary put the Chicken Cordon Bleu together beautifully, so nicely that I just had to take a picture:
Chicken can look excellent sometimes, even before it’s cooked. This was definitely one of those times.
While the chicken was cooking, Caleb put together some real mashed potatoes and steamed some California Blend vegetables. The completed dish is the picture at the beginning of this entry.
I have to say the Chicken Cordon Bleu from the Dream Dinners cookbook is one of the more flavorful versions of this dish I’ve ever tasted. Moist and tender, the ham was well-balanced with the chicken and cheese sauce, while fresh mushrooms and scallions rounded out the flavors quite well.
We’re looking forward to trying other dishes out of this cookbook, and are now even more interested in checking things out at Dream Dinners in Lambertville.
Of course, we’ll keep you posted. Who knows … Mary might even let me try to make some of the dishes myself. But then again, probably not. 
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2 February 2007 @ 10:28 am Posted by Griff Crammond
One of great things about cooking is how you can quickly involve the entire ‘clan’ in the activity. It sounds like this meal was one of those great ‘family time’ activities that can erupt from meal time preparation. Subtle teaching of common goals and purpose can happen.
Another great thing about meal time is enjoying each others company at the same table. Passing food around to each other leads to eye contact, leading to conversation, leading to more eye contact. How bad can that be?
Peace,
Griff Crammond
2 February 2007 @ 10:41 am Posted by LunaPierCook
Griff, one thing I’ve not mentioned here is the fact that, not only is our home one of the teen gathering spots in Luna Pier, a couple of those teens could technically be considered “homeless”. As with many of our meals, they shared in this one and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Table?? Nah … we had seven people on the couch!
2 February 2007 @ 11:42 am Posted by Mary
This meal was easy to prepare and easy to clean up after. The book gives you directions so you can triple the recipe. One to cook now and 2 to freeze for another day. It is just as easy to make a batch of 3 as 1. There are several pages to reproduce in the book with recipe name and cooking instructions so when you pull it back out of the freezer you know what it is and how to warm it up. I just love the idea of cooking ahead for those days you REALLY do not want to cook. I am hoping instead of spending the money going out to eat the freezer meal will save the day. Also when a friend needs a meal I can impress them by delivering the meal to them, like I just spent the whole day cooking.
I am looking forward to going to Dream Dinners and then making the same recipe for myself at home and comparing cost, taste and conveince for all of you.
3 February 2007 @ 7:20 pm Posted by Kendall
Hiya!
I too partook in the frenzy of “Dream Dinners.” I first bought the cookbook and then soon after booked a session. My advice to you is to stick to the book. The food that you make in their store is ABSOLUTELY nothing like the recipes in the book! Upon my disappointment, i started looking into other “make and take” places. I figured there has to be a good one somewhere! After trying many companies, I have settled with a delightful company called “Let’s Dish!” Everything has been fabulous! Just my two cents to save you some money and disappointment.
9 February 2007 @ 7:06 pm Posted by carlos alvarez
we have tried Dream Dinners and found that the food was not very good at all. Although the experiance was fun, the lousy tasting food turned us off. A new outfit called Entree Vous just opened nearby so we tried it. It was a blast, and the food is incredible! So we’ll be regulars at Entree Vous. Its’ fun, economical, and great tasting.