My wife, who doesn't know how/like to cook, did this with a bunch of her friends a couple years ago. She had a fun time and it seemed like a good value but, we both thought the meals were pretty bland.

This concept has been taking off, there are several of these places in the Minneapolis area.

Reply

I've done it. It's ok. The meals were better than your typical frozen dish, but I can usually make it better. The best thing was being able to taylor meals to your family's taste. Can't exactly do that with Stoffers. I think it is a good idea, but not something I'm going to do every month. If anything - it's better than getting takeout!

Reply

You don't know until you try...the pictures of course look good, but the food didn't come out nearly as good as advertised.

It is nice because the entre is packaged and ready to go and it doesn't entirely taste like a frozen meal.

My wife did the Dream Dinners in Pasadena

Reply

These are popping up in Wisconsin, too. I think one aspect that makes it appealing to some people is the social facet - people go together as friends and make a "party" out of it. (Which, I could do with my friends in my OWN kitchen, plus there would be wine available.) Personally, I tend to see it as a cop out, and expensive --but if it gets people cooking, that's good. Reference the eariler posting about dumbing down cookbooks - many people don't have the skills or the confidence in the kitchen, and this could only help.

Reply

This is exactly how cooking the FoodNetwork way is, the cooking without the prep or shopping. So to say that this isn't cooking in entirely false since it's exactly the way that cooking is being presented to those in this target market.

Reply

To the extent that this is the "illusion" of cooking, yes. It's an illusion in the same way buying an SUV creates the illusion that you're a rugged, outdoorsy type who cleans fish and defecates in a hole, whereas in most cases, you're probably a harried soccer mom with a cellphone grafted to your ear. Both address "convenience" but in most cases the compromises outweigh the perceived benefits. Yes, this is better than frozen food, but you can make a lavash pizza literally in seconds using pregrated cheese and leftovers. It seems this is geared towards people who just don't want to think too hard about their meals, and more power to them.

Reply

These companies make money when you come back time and time again, so there is no incentive for them for you to learn HOW TO cook.

People who are afraid or dont know how to cook would be better served taking COOKING lessons and learn real skills that they can keep for a lifetime.

Now, if you dont like cooking or are too lazy (or dont have the time) then just accept it and dont pretend that you're cooking when you're not.

Reply

Now wait a second, I think some of the comments here are saying that you aren't cooking unless you complete all the labor of your task by yourself and that just isn't true. These ladies, and I can fairly well assume that the target market is women, are putting heat to food with their own hands. They are dumping, stirring, packaging and serving. This is cooking. So they don't prep, grate, wash or peel. Wouldn't this be what we foodies would do if we could have our own live-in prep cook and dishwasher? Or would you rather the ladies go back to shuffling the kids to burgerking and applebee's. I say bravo to this trend. One step closer to their own kitchen I say. Leave the cooking snobbery at your own home.

Reply

I vote we call them "semi-handmade tv dinners" and be done with it. It places them correctly as far as the work involved at both ends of the "cooking process" and seems to describe them qualitatively.

At the same time, we ought to remember that people have been doing this at home as long as we've had freezers. I have childhood memories of assembly lines in my kitchen, admittedly it was usually preparing a family-style serving of easily freezeable dishes like lasagna after a trip to the commissary...although there were a few ill-fated attempts as pre-making our school lunches.

I mostly find it sad that creating healthy, tasty food has been relegated to the back burner of life such that this sort of 'service' thrives. Not to mention the pre-made crap at the stores. Everytime I see pre-assembled frozen 'toast' (garlic, french, etc) at multiple dollars for several slices I want to scream. And didn't someone here at Slashfood recently give frozen precooked oatmeal a positive review? Apparently the targeted demographic lives.

Reply

I have been using Dream Dinners in MA for about 5 months now. I usually "prepare" 6-7 meals and I split them in half (I have a family of 3 and each meal serves about 6 people). So, for a bit over $100 I get 12 meals. I can absolutely cook, it's not about that for me. I have my own business, my husband works full time and does not cook, there are some nights that we don't get home until late and it is so nice to be able to cook one of these meals. Before, we would have picked up take - out on the way home. We have enjoyed most of the meals. It is great, because my family is trying food that I normally would not make on my own. I always go with a my friend and then we go out and have dinner and/or go shopping afterwards. It ends up being a nice "girls night out" to boot. Oh, and our Dream Dinners allows you to bring a bottle of wine in with you if you so desire to partake while preparing the meals. It works for us. To be able to prepare 12 meals in under two hours is fabulous.

Reply