On Friday morning, Sarah Hipple was spooning black bean and sweet potato enchilada filling into a vacuum-seal plastic bag. The filling was leftover from the tray of enchiladas that she had just wrapped and packed into the freezer.

Then, she turned to peeling potatoes for a vegetable curry.

Hipple was working in the small Meredith kitchen of a pair of clients, an elderly couple with ailments that make it difficult for them to stand and cook for themselves.

Their children were visiting for a week and they wanted home-cooked dinners on hand. That's where Hipple came in. The former glass blower and Appalachian Mountain Club cook works as a personal chef, whipping up clients' favorite dishes from fresh ingredients in their own kitchens. She spends a day chopping, cooking and dishwashing, then packages single serving dinners in the freezer

"A lot of people are so busy, but they want to eat healthy, well-balanced meals," Hipple said, describing the appeal of her business. "You come home and you eat exactly what you want to be eating."

Unlike a private chef, who works full-time for a family, or a caterer, who swoops in with an event's worth of food cooked and ready to go, Hipple works for families a day at a time in their own kitchens with their own ingredients. Depending on the size of the family and their preferences, she visits their house one, two or four days a month.

A single cook day yields 15 dinners for two and generally runs about $250, plus the cost of groceries.

As the youngest of eight children, Hipple grew up in a family where the table was large and dinner was a serious affair. She said she grew up around "serious quantities of food," an experience that served her well as a cook in the White Mountain huts frequented by hikers. Without electricity--no Cuisinarts, no microwaves, no dishwashers--she learned to cook nourishing meals for groups of 40 or more. In the years since, she worked full-time as a glass blower, a trade she trained for in art school, and cooked a few times a year for large corporate retreats. After filing her taxes two years ago, she realized that her infrequent cooking spurts were yielding a disproportionate share of her income so she decided to cook full-time.

Personal chefs aren't bound by many of the regulatory restrictions placed on caterers, a factor that has kept Hipple's overhead low and allowed her to ease into her business as word-of-mouth attracts new customers. Statewide, there are 15 personal chefs, Hipple said. She is one of two in Tuftonboro alone.

Hipple described some of her cus-

tomers as wealthy, but said that she has also worked for middle class, two-income families and several older couples, like the Meredith family, who have trouble making their own food. She will also come in for short stints to provide respite care for recent mothers or people recovering from illness or surgery. A lot of people assume that her services are out of reach, she said.

"But if you're eating out a couple times a week, it gets expensive," she said. "It really adds up."

Hipple said she generally sits down for an initial consultation with a new client, learning any dietary restrictions and food preferences. She can accommodate low sodium, low fat, vegetarian, wheat-free, Weight Watchers and food allergies with some advance planning. She will buy your groceries from the supermarket, from an organic food co-op or work with a local community sustainable agriculture share. She has a hefty binder of favorite recipes, most stolen from her own mother, but she said she is always happy to research new ideas or experiment to meet the needs of a customer.

Customer favorites generally tend toward comfort food; Hipple said her homemade macaroni and cheese is an oft-requested staple. Other common dishes include enchiladas, lasagna, sea scallops, curries and chicken pies.

Hipple brings a box of utensils, a box of spices and a large Rubbermaid tote filled with vinegars and cooking wines. Customers are responsible for a clean kitchen, food storage containers and the cost of their own groceries, which Hipple buys.

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