Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for ordering?

You can order at any time.  We typically cook on Mondays, chill or freeze items on Tuesdays, and ship on Wednesdays (this schedule might change occasionally due to holidays or inclement weather).  Generally, orders received by Sunday evening can be filled and shipped that week.  In fact, we always try to make a few extra servings of each item so that we can fill orders received as late as Tuesday evening (in time for Wednesday's shipping).  In the event that we receive a larger number of orders than usual, we will ship your order the following week.

When we receive your order, we'll send an email confirmation to you to let you know when you can expect your order.  On the day that your order ships, you should receive an email from FedEx that contains your tracking number in case you would like to track your package.  Spam filters might prevent these emails from coming through to you.

If you have any questions regarding when you will receive your order, please feel free to contact us.  

When can I expect my meals?

You should receive your box between Thursday (for overnight orders) and Friday (for 2-day orders).  A few customers have received boxes a day late due to inclement weather or delivery error.  Feel free to contact us if your package arrives late so that we can request a delivery charge refund from FedEx.

What are the portion sizes?

Because our pre-set menu changes and we use new recipes weekly, portion sizes often vary from dish to dish.  When a recipe says it "serves 4" but doesn't state how large the servings are, we use our best guess about how much to buy to prepare each item.  We use 8-oz and 16-oz containers for the various dishes.  Some folks have told us that they like to eat larger portions and that their boxes provide them with enough food for six or seven lunches or dinners.  Others have reported that their food lasts an entire week of lunches and dinners. 

How should I store my food?

Refrigerate or freeze your food upon arrival.  Feel free to freeze your food if you don't think that you'll eat it right away although beware that some items, such as pasta or rice, can become mushy if they go through the freeze-thaw cycle. 

How should I heat my food?

You can heat items in the oven or toaster oven (place food in a casserole dish and heat at 350 degrees or so) OR place the food on a plate before heating in your microwave oven.   Although the #5 plastic containers that we use are microwaveable, we are uncertain of any possible long-term health effects that heating food in plastic might cause.

How can I moisten dry breads or cakes?

If you find that your bread or cake has become a bit dry during transit or since its arrival, you can do one of two things:  1) Cut a slit in the pouch and heat your item for about 10 seconds in a microwave OR 2) remove your item from the pouch, mist it slightly, wrap it in foil, and heat it in a toaster oven or oven .

How can I ensure that my food is safe to eat?

Food safety is very important to us, so please let us know if your food is not cold when your box arrives.As the summer temperatures increase, we want to ensure that your food arrives safely.  Please take a look at your food items when you receive them.  Foods with a lot of liquid (soups, stews) should not contain many small bubbles at the top.  If an item has a sour smell and flavor (like vinegar) and is not supposed to be covered with a vinaigrette sauce or lemon, please dispose of it, and let me know so that I can refund you.  

Can you deliver to my hotel?

We are happy to arrange delivery to your hotel, office, or other accomodation when you are traveling. 

Where can I find nutritional information?

Several people have asked if we can include nutritional information with our weekly menus. 

A la carte items:  We are in the process of determining the nutritional information for our a la carte items and will post this on the web site as soon as we do.

Pre-set menu: We tried using two different software programs to do this but found that they didn't include several of the healthy ingredients (e.g., agave) that we use.  Additionally, because we use different recipes each week and our chef tweaks dishes as he cooks them, this would be difficult to do at best for our pre-set menu items. 

Can you accomodate my special diet?

We have had several inquiries regarding whether we can accomodate special diets - generally as it relates to food allergies.  While we cannot offer extensive accomodation at present, we currently are developing some gluten-free and no-oil-added items for our a la carte menu.

What if I need to cancel my order?

If something comes up and you need to cancel your order, just let us know prior to cooking (Mondays).  We will be happy to take care of it for you.  Once we have cooked and/or shipped your meals, we cannot offer a refund.