Wilton, Conn. ? As an over-scheduled working mother with two over-scheduled children (ages 10 and 13), I admit I’ve been tempted to stop at a fast-food place to grab dinner on the run.

However, whenever I’ve succumbed to this urge for a quick fix, besides feeling guilty about not cooking, I’ve hardly found the experience wholesome. The service is often so slow it would have been quicker to cook; the order is messed up, and the food is, well, fast food and all that implies.

Marion Cunningham has figured out exactly what is missing from these meals — and provides some great alternatives for harried cooks in her book, “Lost Recipes: Meals To Share With Friends and Family” (Knopf, 2003, $22).

Cunningham is a venerated figure in the food world and a seasoned professional. She revised “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook,” has written and contributed to numerous other cookbooks, and in 2003 received a lifetime achievement award from the James Beard Foundation.

She says surveys show fewer people are eating at home because they don’t know how to cook or they don’t want to be bothered.

“I think that this is a greater loss than we realize,” she writes in the book’s introduction. “Home cooking is a catalyst that brings people together. We are losing the daily ritual of sitting down around the table (without the intrusion of television), of having the opportunity to interact, to share our experiences and concerns and to listen to others. Strangers are preparing much of our food … bringing ready-cooked meals home is not the same as cooking something in your own kitchen, where you are in control of the ingredients you use, where you fill the house with good cooking smells, and where you all share in a single dish, taking a helping and passing the platter on to your neighbor. Nothing can replace that.”

I spoke by phone with the lively 82-year-old Cunningham, who lives in Walnut Creek, Calif., and asked her what was the “Aha!” moment that inspired her to write this book with her editor of 50 years, Judith Jones.

“It was an idea that I had been thinking about,” she said. “Home cooking has been disappearing, not completely, of course, but because of the obvious — more people are working.

“I swim, and there’s a group of young people that swim at my pool and they are living on tight budgets. Cooking at home can save money as well. From talking with them and others, I realized that there is some confusion between home cooking and restaurant cooking. Unlike a restaurant, at home you are trying to relay the ingredients you have on hand into a meal.

“Food is a topic of conversation,” she continued. “It can be an imprint that you pass onto someone else. It can be a shared experience. Sitting down and eating together is a binding quality for a family. Eating on the run doesn’t cover all the bases it should.”

“Lost Recipes,” her charming book designed by Carol Devine Carson, brings back favorite, flavor-packed recipes that also are simple and don’t call for a lot of ingredients.

In the front cover of the book, there’s a pocket where you can add your own clips. It’s a book to keep in your car so that between soccer practices or dance lessons, you can stop at the grocery store and hand-pick ingredients for a delicious dinner.

Cunningham reminds us that in the race to keep up with endless errands and instant messages we need time at the dinner table to regroup and to share what’s going on in our lives.

Here are some recipes from her cookbook:

Country Captain

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One 2- to 3-pound frying chicken

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4 tablespoons ( 1/2 stick) butter

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/3 cup finely diced onion

1/3 cup finely diced green bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried thyme

16-ounce can stewed tomatoes, with liquid

3 tablespoons dried currants

Blanched toasted almonds

Have the chicken cut (or cut it yourself) into 8 pieces. Wash the chicken pieces and pat them dry; coat with a mixture of the flour, salt, and pepper. Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet; brown the chicken on all sides. Remove the chicken and add the onion, green pepper, garlic, curry powder and thyme to the skillet. Stir over low heat to loosen the browned particles. Add the stewed tomatoes.

Return the chicken to the skillet, skin side up. Cover and cook slowly until tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir the currants into the sauce. Serve accompanied by almonds.

Note: After the chicken is browned and the sauce is made, the dish can be baked, covered, in a 325-degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until tender. Any leftover sauce would be delicious served over pasta.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Beef Stroganoff

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2 pounds filet or tri-tip (triangle tip) of beef, cut into 2 by 1/2-inch strips

Salt and black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large onions, chopped

3/4 pound fresh mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced

2 cups beef broth

1 1/2 cups sour cream

6 slices white bread, toasted

Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy-bottomed saute pan, add the meat, and cook for just 1 minute over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring often, over low heat from 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, then the beef broth, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer, stirring often, for 15 to 20 minutes, until the meat is tender. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Stir the sour cream briskly, then add to the beef mixture. Mix well, and allow the stroganoff to thoroughly heat through. Serve at once over the toast.

Makes 6 servings.

Green Goddess Dressing

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2-ounce tin anchovies

3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

3 tablespoons tarragon vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 cup sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

Black pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Refrigerate for up to 1 week.

Makes 2 cups.