Online restaurant order scheme

I'd like to implement a restaurant online ordering project as simply as possible. My thought is to have each item on the menu call a jQuery function designed just for that item.  The function will plug the correct name of the item into a new cookie and put up a mini-form that will let the user select dressing, etc.This information will be added to the cookie for this item, along with a text field where the user can enter special instructions. After all the items have been ordered and the user clicks submit, all the cookies are dumped into a large text field of the form and sent to the server.

The server will email the text form data, as is, to a fax service, which will fax it to the restaurant.

The part that I'm concerned with (there may be other parts that I should be concerned about  but don't know it yet)  is the mini-form that each items jQuery function  puts up to get specific information about the item. Can I put up something with check boxes, drop-down menus,  and a text field that the jQuery code can read directly and add to the item's cookie, without going through a whole submit thing to the server?

Thanks for any ideas