"Marcia kept showing up at playgroup with all this food," recalled Jennifer Jackenthal, co-owner of My Girlfriend's Kitchen. The Kitchen opened a location in Fort Union about four weeks ago. "She'd bring zucchini bread, appetizers, and it was all so good. One day, I asked her how I could have her cook for me and not have it be like a private chef. Because no one can afford a private chef. Not in the real world."

Jackenthal and Marcia Hales put their heads together and started hosting small cooking parties at Jackenthal's house. But soon, Jackenthal said, "every time we had a group it would be like 60 people. So we figured we hit on something."

There's a lot to the "something" Jackenthal discovered. What could bring people from all over the Wasatch Front to Park City?

"My theory is that we all want to feed our families healthy food," Jackenthal said. "But at the same time, there's a lot of pressure on us, still, to be superhuman. For women, there's pressure to be a mom, or not; be working; be successful; look fabulous; and have the immaculate house. All while serving these fabulous dinners."

So My Girlfriend's Kitchen was born, at first in Park City and now in a larger facility at 1875 Fort Union Blvd. Like Secret Dinners, customers may book a time to assemble 12 dinners, each feeding up to six people. The Kitchen does all the dicing, mixing and shopping. The 12 meals cost $189 (plus tax); pick them up already-assembled for $225, or delivered for $235.

"I have people tell me all the time that I save them money (on monthly food expenses)," Jackenthal said. "This keeps you from cruising the aisles at the grocery store."

The name is a description of the way the company was born, and its mission, Jackenthal said.

"Women are so busy, they don't have time to spend with their friends," she said. "This is nice 'girl time.' We get a lot of people coming in with three, four and five girlfriends.

"I think the bottom line is that everyone is looking to be healthy," Jackenthal said. "They're trying to do the right thing, to feed their family well. But there are so many more challenges on our time now. Now, it's all about productivity. This is a way to be healthy, increase your time, have some time with your friends and learn some new recipes."

In the short time Secret Dinners has been open, Baird said he's also had couples coming over, "kind of on dates, and husbands, because their wives want them to be more active in the kitchen."

Though the emergence of companies like My Girlfriend's Kitchen and Secret Dinners may offer new options for time-starved Utahns, the underlying concept is not entirely new.

Papa Murphy's pizza — which popularized the term "take and bake" — has been in the Salt Lake market for eight years, said company spokesman Robert Elliott. Papa Murphy's is the fastest growing pizza chain in the country, according to Elliott, growing by about 10 percent a year. The company's 800th location is slated to open in 2004.

"Our customers love the take-and-bake concept, because it's convenient and affordable, and you don't need to spend hours in the restaurant, grocery store or kitchen," Elliott said. "In addition to saving time, our take-and-bake pizzas are fun and easy to bake and allow a pizzeria dining experience in the comfort of home."

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E-mail: jnii@desnews.com