Dawn Burgess

May 2009: Thanks for stopping by the 5:01 Dinner Club!  I am Dawn Burgess and I am a 37 year old wife and mother of two who was working full time, when earlier this year, I was notified that I would be among the thousands of Americans who would lose their jobs this year because of a massive corporate restructuring.  Soooo-not one to sit idle-I decided to learn something new as I conduct my job search:  How to BLOG!  I already had a group on Facebook called the 5:01 Dinner Club with about 200 members so it seemed like what I was posting-recipe and tip wise- was useful information.  A blog just seemed like the next logical step.

I am a lifelong cook and lover of food.  I remember pretending that I had my own cooking show when I was 9-ish and throwing together all kinds of crazy ingredients together as I explained how to make “cookies”.  And as an adult, I have grown to respect food so much more as, largely because of my career, I have had an opportunity to experience some outrageously wonderful food at some really good restaurants.  I am not a formally trained cook/chef by any stretch of the imagination so my interest in creating recipes has always been centered around making amazing but simple food and time has always been an issue.  Even now that I am not working a corporate job-I have 2 small children how make it nearly impossible to move slowly in the dinner making process. 

This is how the 5:01 Dinner Club was born-out of a desire to offer up suggestions for people who are not even thinking about dinner until after 5pm and by the time they think about dinner it’s late and they get take out…  So quality meal suggestions that someone can mentally map out on the way home from work (or while on a on a brief break from the kids) are my goal.  And now, because I have a personal need (as do so many people), another key objective of mine is saving people money of food.  Because generally speaking, I think you will almost always save money by eating at home but with a little extra thought into meal planning (buying what’s on sale at the grocery store-see blogroll) I believe you and your family can have amazing food at home with little effort and for little money!  AND the added bonus of good health (because you’re controlling the ingredients) and, most of all-if you have a family, you are at the dinner table with your family!  DINNER CAN BE A WIN-WIN!