For those out there who want a hot, home-cooked meal but don't have the time or the skill to do it, June Bruckner comes to the rescue.

Mrs. Bruckner, a Sharon resident, has been operating her personal chef business, Personally Yours, since September.

A 1994 graduate of the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts, Mrs. Bruckner has been a personal chef for six years. She was also the founding and executive chef of the former Walnut's restaurant in Sharpsville.

After spending four years working as a personal chef for a family in Ohio, Mrs. Bruckner began looking into starting her own business.

"I started researching it two years ago because it was very popular on the west coast," she said. "I though what I could do for them (her former employers) I could do for other families."

Mrs. Bruckner now has about 20 clients and is looking to expand and add other chefs.

Most of her clients are in Sharon, Canfield, Poland, Niles and Warren, but she will go anywhere in the Youngstown area.

"Most of all, I put my clients on a pedestal," she said. "Whatever they want I will do it, with reservations."

Mrs. Bruckner's husband, Rick, who is also a chef, said the business is "like having a five-star chef in your home."

During a typical business day, Mrs. Bruckner goes into a client's home and, using her "portable kitchen" equipped with her own pans and spices,prepares five days worth of food for whatever number of people are living in the house. It usually takes her four to five hours to prepare 14 to 28 entrees.

"They come home and find a gourmet meal waiting for them," she said. "They don't have to go out into a bustling restaurant. They have a quality restaurant meal (at home)."

When she meets with her clients for the first time, Mrs. Bruckner gives them a packet, including a seven-page menu. The menu changes every month.

Mrs. Bruckner uses only organic ingredients when cooking.

"I like to be very health-conscious for my clients, because they are the ones who keep the business going," she said.

Mrs. Bruckner specializes in vegetarian cuisine and authentic Italian dishes.

Other specialties include homemade breads, soups and desserts; blue-cheese stuffed hamburgers with sweet potato wedges and jalapeno ketchup; Chef June's Famous Black Bean Burgers with all the fixings; sunshine cakes, made with zucchini, carrots and potatoes; crab and salmon cakes with horseradish mustard dipping sauce; spinach-crusted salmon with Dijon sauce; veal and tomato ragout with baby new potatoes; and Nori rolls with homemade falafel, a middle eastern garbanzo bean cake.

"Everything I make is from scratch, unless there are special requests," she said.

She also works with different types of diets, such as the Zone, Atkins and Weight Watchers.

"When I leave for the day, I give them a printed copy of what they have with calorie contents and nutritional break-down," she said. "Every recipe has been personally created by me."

After she cooks the meals, Mrs. Bruckner freezes them and leaves re-heating instructions for her clients.

Her services are not limited to cooking. Mrs. Bruckner will also run errands, such as picking up food at the grocery store.

As another part of the service, Mrs. Bruckner offers cooking classes in her clients' homes. She even offers cooking parties, in which a group of people learn to cook a meal in a client's home. At the end of the class, the students enjoy a dinner party.

Mrs. Bruckner also does private dinner parties with under 20 people for clients but does not do catering.

Typical clients include families with many children, working parents, single parents, busy professionals and new mothers.

Mrs. Bruckner prefers to discuss prices privately with her clients, but said that not everyone can afford the service. She did say her service is cheaper than going out to a restaurant five times a week. Gift certificates are available, she said.

"I give free consultations to people interested in my service," she said.

During her short time in business, Mrs. Bruckner has relied on word-of-mouth advertising to get her name out. The clients who started with her have remained with her.

"I give not only 150 percent of my services, I give 150 percent of my time," she said. "I don't skimp. I do follow-up calls to make sure they're happy."

For more information about Personally Yours personal chef service, call (724) 346-2214.