`DINNER DOCTOR' NO COOK'S CURE.(LIFE-FOOD)

Byline: KRISTIN EDDY Chicago Tribune

Cookbook author Anne Byrn hit on a great idea a few years back when she published ``The Cake Mix Doctor,'' which suggested a variety of ways to doll up packaged cake mixes with good-quality extras. The book went on to become a bestseller, along with her follow-up, ``Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor.''

In her latest release, ``The Dinner Doctor'' (Workman, $14.95), Byrn acknowledges the time-consuming burden so many people feel making dinner has come to be, but she goes out of its way to dumb-down fresh ingredients.

To begin with, Byrn has included a number of recipes that seemed novel, oh, 50 years ago, but now …