Though I did not attend TED^x San Francisco this year, I am still on their mailing list from attending last year. I got an email from TED^x with a PROMO code for one free dinner from Munchery. Munchery started in 2010 to help working moms and dads have an easy answer to the "What's for dinner?" question. Their website lets you order dinner and have it delivered to your door the same day (if you order before 2:00 pm).

My wife, Sheryl, is a Kindergarten teacher. She worked late last night — starting to get the report cards ready for the end of the first trimester. Since I was on my own, and the coupon was for one dinner instead of two, I decided to give the service a try.

1. I visited the website and set up an account which included entering my zip code.

2. Based on where I live, I was able to select from about 12 entrés with pictures and textual descriptions.

3. I selected Lasagna Bolognese with Pesto.

   

4. I selected 6-7 pm as my delivery time. I checked the "OK to leave at doorstep" option in case I did not make it home from work by then.

5. My selection was $10.95. Since this was my very first order, I got a $2 credit that reduced it to $8.95. I used my PROMO code to cover that, so I only had to pay the $2.95 delivery charge. I was able to pay with my credit card. This will be remembered by the system for next time.

6. At 6:02 pm, I got a text that my food was on its way.

   

   I gave my delivery person, Yvette, the code to enter our gated community. Unlike every SuperShuttle driver for the last 7 years, she was able to open the gate. She was at my doorstep in less than 5 minutes. I have no idea why the ability to press # followed by 4 digits is beyond the abilities of SuperShuttle drivers even though I provide them with the code in the same way I gave it to Yvette.

7. The food arrived in a nice little bag.

   

8. It was packed in a container with a recyclable top and compostable bottom.

   

9. The preparation instructions were easy to follow.

   

   So I preheated the oven to 350 degrees. I opted to use the oven instead of the microwave, because earlier in the day, on the website, it suggested using the oven to get the edges crunchy.

10. This is what it looked like in the container.

    

11. The compostable bottom is microwave-safe, but not oven-safe, so I placed the lasagna in a metal pan.

    

    I baked for 10 minutes instead of the minimum 8, because I really wanted the edges to be crunchy.

12. This is what it looked like when it came out of the oven.

    

    The pan was so hot, I had to use an oven mitt to remove it from the oven.

13. I added the dressing to the salad.

    

14. When I took my first bite, it was not very hot. So you know what I mean, I did not have to blow on it before putting it in my mouth. That seemed odd since the pan was so hot. The lasagna was not cold. It just wasn't burning hot. My edges were certainly not crunchy.

15. I have no other way to describe the taste other than delicious. My lasagna did not have much meat. In fact, for first ten bites or so, I had no meat. It didn't matter. Just the noodle with the cheese topped with pesto was fantastic. It was only on my last three bites that I encountered the bolognese which made it even better. I really liked it. Maybe I had a corner piece, and the cook had not spread the meat all the way to the edges during preparation? Although the salad was very simple, the dressing was a hit. I liked it — and I'm talking about salad.

16. Here is what it looked like when I was done.

    

I look forward to doing this again so Sheryl can try it.

Munching is alive in the lab.