At a mother's support group I attended last week, the leader suggested quick chicken dishes including something made by mixing together jam, onion soup mix, and Catalina dressing before smearing it on chicken breasts and baking. I kind of gagged but my Utah-based sister later said, "Oh, apricot chicken! I love that." It is a kind of Mormon-sounding dish.

I did not point out that roasting a whole chicken was not that much harder but instead filed away her suggestion to use the crockpot. So last week we had short ribs cooked in the crockpot per an old Minimalist recipe- with soy sauce, scallions, ginger, star anise, cinnamon, peppercorns. It is a dish I have served at dinner parties but takes five minutes of prep.

The Minimalist may be our salvation from frozen meals- I have pulled out Cooks Dinner and Cooks At Home and am finding plenty there- old standbys like stirfry with nuts as well as tonight's meal, a shrimp and cucumber salad I always wanted to try. (And takes 20 minutes yet does so sans onion soup mix or bottled dressing.)