It was one of those times when I was having complete and total FOMO.

11 of my friends were getting together for a cookbook party, with everyone bringing a dish from the newly released Dinner Done 2, but the night that worked best for everyone else turned out to be one where I was out of town. I tried to ignore the chat as it buzzed madly for a full week before the party, sighing wistfully as visions of the “Mezonos” Pesto Sticks, Crock Pot Flanken and Rice, and Peanut Crunch Ice Cream Cake that were being prepared dancing tantalizingly in my head. The conversation got even more drool-worthy after the actual get-together, with everyone raving about the delicious dishes, how easy they were to prepare and, most of all, just how much they loved Dinner Done 2.

Truthfully, it’s hard not to love Dinner Done 2 and its practical approach to preparing suppers that fit into the hectic nature of our day to day lives.  Authors Leah Schapira, Victoria Dwek, Renee Muller, Esti Waldman and Shaindy Menzer, the talented personalities behind the Between Carpools lifestyle site, understand that while there may be moments when we want to invest the time and effort into preparing dishes that will have everyone’s jaws dropping in admiration, the typical nightly dinner just isn’t one of them.  

Dinner Done 2 isn’t about being creative, explains Victoria, it’s about giving readers recipes that fit into their jam-packed schedules.  

“Sometimes you come home from work and you haven’t done anything in advance, so you need to get dinner together in 20 minutes,” says Victoria.  “Sometimes you think ahead, and prepare something the night before and set the crockpot in the morning, and you come home to a ready-made dinner.  And sometimes you want to be able to do most of the prep in advance, and then come home and have everything ready to go.”  

Herby Mustardy Salmon and Potatoes recipe here. 

Understanding those real-life scenarios, the Dinner Done team developed recipes that fit into those vastly different time frames, with each member of the group bringing her own skills to the proverbial table.  While Leah, Victoria and Renee are in charge of recipe development, Esti takes the lead on photography, and Shaindy is the team’s graphics guru. Still, there was plenty of group discussion as the process evolved, and being able to bounce ideas back and forth, and incorporate multiple perspectives was an invaluable part of the process of creating Dinner Done 2.

“At this stage of life, people know what they are good at and who is better at what things,” notes Victoria.  “Leah cooks chicken more often, and if she has an opinion on a chicken recipe, I’m going to defer to her.  I’m making more dairy and more fish, so I know which parts I needed to take control of.  We all know our strengths and are very happy to defer to someone else.”

Given the success of the original Dinner Done, the Between Carpools team felt that they owed it to their readers to come out with a sequel, and they began accumulating recipes for their next book. The vast majority of the recipes in Dinner Done 2 are new for the book, with approximately 30 previously featured on Between Carpools.

Tastes-Like-Fried Corn Flake Schnitzel recipe here.

And what a collection of recipes it turned out to be!  Over the past few weeks, it seems as if everyone has been using Dinner Done 2 on repeat. Within a week of its release, one of my daughters made the Sourdough Pizza, Pastrami & Pecan Ramen Crunch Salad, Restaurant Mac and Cheese, Double Popcorn Chicken, Mike’s Chicken, Summer Corn and Feta Salad, No-Boil Stuffed Shells, and the Soft Chocolate Chip Cookie Sticks, all of which turned out to be hits with her kids, even the picky eaters.  That same Shabbos I went to a friend’s house for lunch, where I got to sample the Flavor Bomb Chicken Caesar Salad and Peanut Crunch Ice Cream Cake, both of which were delicious. Meanwhile, my cookbook buddies were busy making the Barbecue Rub Potatoes, Shana’s Sweet Potato Soup (with just five!! ingredients, and onion and garlic are not among them), the Weekday Chicken Soup and the White Bean Zucchini Soup, all of which went over well with their families. Not to be outdone, my nieces said that their pint-sized foodies went nuts for the Barbecue Chicken & Potatoes, Sweet and Tangy Cutlets, Tastes-Like-Fried Corn Flake Schnitzel, Lemony Green Beans and One-Pot Shawarma Chicken and Rice.  

Better-Than-The-Back-Of-The-Box Chocolate Cake recipe here.

That combination of taste and convenience that made Dinner Done a household name appears once again in Dinner Done 2.  If you’re not familiar with Dinner Done’s 9 x 13 recipes, you should be, because the concept of taking out a foil pan, throwing in all your ingredients, mixing them up and baking them is a winner. I experimented with the 9x13 One-Pan Poppers and they literally came together in five minutes, with no messy bowls, dipping, frying or obsessively trying to avoid oil splatters all over my freshly cleaned cooktop.  Best of all, while they were super-easy to make, they tasted like I had worked a lot harder on them than I actually did. Oh and the leftovers were just as good when we had them two nights later.

But there’s another element to Dinner Done 2 that is worth mentioning – knowledge.  There’s a page that explains the differences in how the same recipe will cook in glass, metal, ceramic and disposable 9 x 13 pans, and another discussing why you want to use regular sheet pans instead of disposable ones. (And no worries, if you’re lazy like me, you can always line your sheet pans to avoid the extra cleanup.)  Another spread has pictures showing how the same chocolate chip cookie bakes up under different circumstances, including using defrosted dough versus frozen dough, baking on disposable cookie sheets versus hard pans, and convection baking versus regular baking.  But my personal favorite were the pages on salt, clearly explaining how table salt, sea salt, flaky salt and kosher salt differ and when you might want to use each one. There are even instructions here on how to use different kosher salts, because some are actually saltier than others, which can make a huge difference in your finished product, a lesson that I’ve learned the hard way.  

Given how quickly people have been snapping up Dinner Done 2 and the fabulous buzz this book has been getting making and tasting its recipes, there was one pressing question I had to ask Victoria before I let her get back to her regularly scheduled day.

Is there a Dinner Done 3 in our future?

“Enjoy Dinner Done 2,” says Victoria, and I can hear her smiling, even through the phone. “It’s like they say – don’t talk to a mother about having her next child when she’s still holding a newborn.”

Pausing for a moment, Victoria adds, “We don’t know.  We’re not making any predictions right now.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely rooting for a Dinner Done 3!

You can purchase Dinner Done 2 Here!