Yesterday a friend called with a sob story. I wasn’t impressed. No, it just didn’t sound very sad. A family needs to locate a personal chef. Poor souls. They’re all diabetic so they can’t just eat any old thing. However, Mom is too busy, no time to cook. Boohoo.

I know what my friend wanted. She was hoping to hint me into offering to cook for these people.

After all, don’t I cook for every wino in Ghent and Park Place and Colonial Place…and I do it for free. I even buy most of the groceries. So, why would I not be eager to help that family of diabetics? Because they can afford to hire a chef.

Having said that, I located four options for them which I pass them along to you, in case you, also, would like to escape the kitchen.

1) A chef with a reputation and he charges accordingly. His sample menus sound fabulous. Brian Foley. 613-1267

2) A fellow less well-known but his clients love him. He’s not as expensive as Brian Foley, but he’s not as cheap as Dish’N Dash either. Larry Churchill. 689-0860

3) Dish’N Dash. Our nearest location is in Chesapeake. For about $3.50/serving, you can work through them to spend one afternoon/month creating your own meals with their recipes, ingredients, help, utensils, appliances. It all sounds tasty. For a bit more, they do the work and you pick up. For even more, they also deliver. 214-9209

4) Check the Nutra-System website [1], the diet people. For about $10/day a person can have three almost-ready-to-eat meals that won’t make him/her fat. It’s delivered right to your door. Yay!