"Sugar Magnolia blossoms blooming Head's all empty and I…read moredon't care Saw my baby down by the river Knew she'd have to come up soon for air" (Grateful Dead) We bumped into the Sugar Magnolia Bakery's booth at the Winter Market in Enfield. It's a craft kitchen small business that sells muffins, cupcakes, cookies, cakes, and other assorted bakery treats. Some of their more interesting offerings are Vanilla Bean Chai Cupcakes, Cadbury Egg Chocolate Cupcakes, PB Marshmallow Banana Cupcakes, and Italian Rainbow Cookie Cake. We picked up a Morning Glory Mini Loaf chock full of cinnamon, bananas, cranberries, oats, coconut, and pecans. It was dense, moist and delicious. Sugar Magnolia's website or Instagram page are probably the best ways to check out their goods and get a preview of their upcoming appearance schedule. That is unless you're fortunate enough to find them in person at random like we did!

Cupcakes: Over priced, under-sized, bland. I was taken aback…read moreby the price of the cupcakes looking at the size. But then I figured, they are home made. The taste will make up for it. Frosting was pasty. Cake itself had no real flavor. Sorry, just very disappointing.

Just in time for your home delivery needs come the good folks at the Hartbeat Kitchen. On a weekly…read morebasis they will deliver fresh and fully prepped meals right to your doorstep in the metropolitan Hartford area and the city of New Haven. Check their website to see if your town makes the cut. Orders must be submitted by Saturday night to receive Monday delivery. These are healthy low-calorie and low carb meals. We ordered four entrees, and nothing exceeded 425 calories. In fact, two were in the 300's and one was below 300. Combine the convenience factor, the variety of options, the reasonable cost, and the health factor, you get a lot of pretty good reasons to order some meals from Hartbeat. So how does it work? Well their menu changes weekly, but entrees run $10 or $12 and these are some typical choices: Chicken Tenders, Cauliflower Mash, Braised Spinach Chicken, Bacon, Sweet Potato Hash Deconstructed Fish Tacos Pesto Chicken Pasta Pesto Shrimp Paleo Shepherd's Pie Shrimp and Broccoli Simple Salmon Simple Steak Sweet Chili Glazed Salmon Turkey Burger and Sweet Potato Wedges over Greens They also sell "components" for $3-$5 you can either add to a meal or use as a base for a meal you prepare - think side orders of Garlic Green Beans, Herbed Chicken Breast, Roasted Broccoli, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Salmon, and Smashed Potatoes. This week I saw a soup on the menu (Red Curry Glass Noodle Soup) for $6 that must be a new addition because I didn't see it last week. For our inaugural order, we selected four entrees - Chicken Tenders with Cauliflower Mash & Braised Spinach, a Chicken, Bacon and Sweet Potato Hash, Deconstructed Fish Tacos, and Sweet Chili Glazed Salmon. I had the tacos and the salmon, and I thought they were excellent. I was a little skeptical about reheating fish in the microwave, but the instructions were spot on (I went on the low side of the time range) and they came out great. The sides and sauces were all very good too. My entrees came with a variety of string beans, riced cauliflower, black beans, and cole slaw. The sweet chili glaze for the salmon fillet was outstanding! You'll have to buy a nice insulated red bag for $10 with your first order. It comes with 2 freezer packs and will become your delivery point for future orders. Well done Hartbeat !! Welcome to our rotation.

Hartbeat Kitchen is an absolute life/marriage saver for working individuals, couples, and…read morefamilies--particularly those that have weird dietary needs. Owner Nancy Boone's food ranges from gluten-free to dairy-free to fully paleo, and each week the menu rotates enough to both access your favorites and keep things interesting. She sources from local farmers, so if you're in CT she provides a much more sustainable service than out-of-state food meal delivery services. Nancy continuously collects feedback about the meals and you can actually see the meals change slightly in response to that feedback--it's always getting a little better! Nancy designed the service to help working families--twice now I haven't gotten my order in on time, and she's accommodated me to the best of her ability so that I could still get a delivery. While I DON'T recommend forgetting to place your order on time (that makes her life a little harder), I've been so appreciative of her flexibility during these crazy and stressful times.

Our family was at the ferry to put our name on a refrigerator that was coming. we had no idea how…read moreto get it home. We saw an Island Delivery Sea Pod van and we inquired about their service. They quickly agreed to bring the refrigerator to the house, up the stairs, and take the old refrigerator away. Their professionalism and timeliness was amazing. Super fast and made our lives so much easier. highly recommend!

We had our doubts about Sea Pod and it's operations but however the CEO Bob Welch took it upon…read morehimself to choose not just some run of the mill restaurant but a place that made the freshest seafood on the island. He and his staff were able to provide the meals as if we were dining at the establishment. It was delivered in a timely manner served right off the press. I give Sea Pod a five start review and we will definitely use Sea Pod again. Thanks again Bob Welch.

Overall, it is nice having October Kitchen as an option for prepped meals. I docked them one star…read morebecause, even though all of the meals are edible, not all live up to the picture of the dish or the ingredients. As an example, the Chicken Piccata. It was Angel hair pasta, chicken and spinach. The sauce was beige in color but definitely not the tang of lemon and it didn't contain capers. If you have ever had this dish in a restaurant, you would not recognize this dish as the same.

"There was a girl in Portland Before the winter chill…read moreWe used to go a-courtin' Along October hill" (Johnny Cash) We stopped in a few days ago and were very impressed by October Kitchen's variety, price, value, service, and most importantly, the quality of their foods, When you walk in you'll see a big menu board with today's listings, a freezer case and a refrigerated case loaded up with the foods. This made it pretty easy for us to review the menu and zero in on what we wanted, which was four items. Our server Anca was very pleasant and professional, and enhanced our entire consumer experience. We went with a small container of freshly made egg salad, a small container of grilled shrimp ($5), Meatballs with rice and vegetables ($13), and a frozen eggplant lasagna ($9). The egg salad was very good. Just egg and Light Hellman's Mayo and nothing else. It was a pretty much perfect batch, and a good convenient value at $5. The shelled "tail-on" grilled shrimp were five large nicely seasoned pieces that were delicious. We split the Asian Meatballs dish for dinner tonight. It was a big 19-ounce container with three Asian meatballs, rice, broccoli florets, and julienned carrots, squash, zucchini and scallions. A half portion was plentiful, the meatballs were excellent, and the sweet chili sauce added a zippy finishing touch. If the eggplant lasagna is half as good as the meatball dish, I'd be very happy. Some of the other intriguing listings we saw on their menu were Balsamic Shredded Beef, Turkey Cutlets with Fontina, Garlic Parmesan Flounder, Spanish Rice with Chicken & Shrimp, soups, salads, and desserts. Definitely worth your while to stop in and check out their grab and go goods.

Here's a business that Rhinebeck has needed for a long time! Quality meals prepared and delivered…read moreto your home. The local restaurants are great, no question - but Fiddleheads Home Fare is great when you want to stay in- or in my case- surprise friends with a prepared meal. I love that the emphasis is on quality local and organic ingredients.

Love the local vibes! They have fresh food out in the coolers daily to choose from and $10 lunch…read moredeals. They were very friendly and patient with me looking around. The wrap was yummy! Perfect sized lunch.

I ordered Thanksgiving dinner here for the very first time. Was a little pricey, and the portions…read morewere small for what was being charged, but I loved the fact that it was delivered to my house. Service delivery was on time . The food was really quite tasty. I would definitely order from here again. The only downside is that they had my wrong phone number so I never knew about the delivery I had to reach out to them.

Their food is tasty and fresh, exactly as described on their website. It arrives very nicely…read morepackaged and you can opt for them to pick up and recycle your used containers to cut down on waste. Their customer service is also excellent; both times when I had a question I was able to quickly reach a real person and get the issue resolved quickly. It is a bit pricey but feels worth the peace of mind having healthy and fresh meals ready on particularly busy weeks.

How about a home cooked (freshly made and not frozen) meal for $6? Not only can you can get it, but…read moreyou can get it delivered to your house from Ab-Salute Kitchen. Yup, meals are $6 with a $10 delivery charge per order (not per meal). Deliveries are on Sunday and Monday, the idea is you can order for multiple meals all delivered at the same time. You can order at absalutekitchen@gmail.com Today I had 5 meals delivered: 1) Fajita Chicken, Yams, and veggies 2) Seasoned Chicken, Yams, and veggies 3) Green Curry Chicken, white rice and veggies 4) Chipotle Ground Chicken, brown rice and beans, and veggies 5) Seasoned Grilled Chicken, Roasted Red Potatoes, and veggies They offer 4 or 5 entrees a week with a choice of sides, you have to look at their social media platforms to see what's available. They don't have a website quite yet, buy can find them via their Facebook page or on Instagram @absalutekitchen So far I've tried their Green Curry Chicken and Chipotle Ground Chicken. They were packaged in a 6" X 9" plastic microwaveable tray. I really loved the Chipotle Ground Chicken and Rice and Beans- it had a lot of great flavor with some zip. The portions are pretty generous, the selection is vast, the value is excellent, the convenience factor is off the charts, and most importantly, the food tastes great. That makes Ab-Salute pretty hard to beat!

I love the meatloaf and salsa verde chicken! The meat was moist and carbs and veg were cooked…read moreperfectly. They were very accommodating with delivery - when I was late with my order they were still able to get me my meals in time for lunch. These clean and tasty meals will def help me reach my weight loss and fitness goals.