Where or where did my Girlfriend go?

I have been a faithful attendee of My Girlfriends Kitchen for over 3 years. I would go once a month and prepare my meals with my mom or sister. I loved it. I loved the smell of all the fresh ingredients and chatting with my girlfriends. I loved getting to sample new items and sip lemonade while I assembled my meals. I loved leaving with a laundry basket full of meals in less than two hours. It was great to have a healthy variety of meals and to never have to think about what's for dinner.

So I went online to book my appointment in April. The website said they were having some technical difficulties and to call the store to book your appointment. I called the store. Their voice mailbox was full and no one answered. Guyfriend Dave, the owner, always answers. I started to panic. I drove by. It was locked up tight. No signs or anything and the place was cleaned out. Now I really started to panic. I drove Kevin crazy with my worrying. "You used to cook before Girlfriends", he calmly stated. "You will be alright."

My answer was a panicked "I had a lot less kids back then. And what about all our favorite recipes?"

I started to call other locations and do some detective work and I found out that MGFK was bought out by some company in California and that a few of the local owners were so upset that they had closed their doors. This included the Parleys Way and Fort Union locations so now the closest stores were American Fork, Layton and West Jordan. I then found out by pumping the owner of the West Jordan store for info that they were changing their name to Dinner A'Fare and increasing their prices a lot. More panic. The owner of the West Jordan store took a road trip to California to check out the Dinner A'Fare chain and said that it was not for him. His store was going independent and would keep the same menu items although they would have to change the recipe names and alter a few ingredients. Whew.

They are keeping their prices almost the same and it is close to my work. They are not quite as good as my beloved Parley's Way store, but they are a very close second. There is one bad thing though. I can't go and assemble my meals myself anymore. They assemble them for me. You would think this would be a good thing as it is less work. I really enjoyed the little break with time to myself though and I could always say that I made the dinners myself so I sounded less lazy. Oh well. At least we won't be starving.

If any of you would like me to pick up meals for you once a month just let me know. The West Jordan store is now The Dinner Market. I highly recomment the Steller Chicken (formally All Star Chicken) and the Texas BBQ meatballs this month!