Dream Dinners originated the concept of hosting small groups of customers in sessions where they may assemble meals in a "fun and interactive environment." New owners Terry Sweeney, 47, and Susie Mason, 42, have been stay-at-home moms with nine children between them, ranging from college age down to 11. They understand well the nagging, daily dilemma of what to have for dinner each night.

"We had to be cooks out of necessity, not desire," says Sweeney, whose husband, Joe, shares a University Avenue law office with Susie Mason's husband, Roger.

About four months ago, the women discovered Dream Dinners. It's a fast-growing franchise business that eases the headache of meal planning by providing an entree menu with all of the pre-shopped, pre-chopped ingredients to go with it.

It works like this: customers order entrees in advance by phone or online and make a reservation for assembly of the meals. A subsequent trip to the Dream Dinners store--in Los Gatos it is behind Aldo's Ristorante in the Vasona Station shopping center--can be as infrequent as ordered meals allow. Customers may order and assemble up to 12 family meals at a time from a menu that changes once a month.

At the store, all ingredients, right down to the seasonings, are provided and can be customized according to family taste. In a two-hour, staff-supported session, small groups of customers then assemble the uncooked meals with explicit cooking instructions and package them for take-home. Some may be consumed immediately and others frozen for future use. It's a solution for reluctant cooks and for those whose jobs leave them little time to cruise supermarket aisles for ingredients packaged in quantities that often are wasted. The time saved allows for a nutritious, sit-down dinner with the family.

"Studies show that kids who sit down and eat with their families do better in school," Sweeney says. "There is less drug use among them, too." She says the quality food and contact with family at dinner has a lot to do with it. "Another thing that impressed me is that my kids are eating things I never would have made, like chicken mirabella (chicken breasts in garlic, oregano, white wine, brown sugar and capers). We have a one-bite rule in the family--they have to take one bite just to try it--and they usually like it."

The concept is spreading fast. In less than three years, Dream Dinners founders Stephanie Allen and Tina Kuna of Snohomish, Wash., have sold more than 124 franchises at $35,000 each--21 of them in California. There are plans to open 150 more in the coming year. The closest location to Los Gatos is Pleasanton, where some locals have been travelling.

"The lady in Pleasanton is anxious for us to open to relieve her. Her customers have to wait about a month to get into a session," Sweeney says. Los Gatos is already taking reservations online, but the store won't open officially until Nov. 3.

Dream Dinners, 14107-T Winchester Blvd. in Los Gatos, is open for sessions after Nov. 3 on Thursdays, 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Fridays, 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Saturdays, 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Call 408.871.6858, email losgatosca@dreamdinners,com or visit dreamdinners.com.