Martha & Marley Spoon

Great For People Who

Trying Out Martha & Marley Spoon

Once winter started winding down, I thought cold and flu season was finally on its way out the door, too. I was wrong. Toward the end of March, I was down for the count with a truly terrible cold despite my best efforts to preemptively kick it with a slightly irresponsible amount of cold medicine.

My cold was bad enough that I fully acknowledged I needed to stay home and catch up on sleep. Usually, this means I end up ordering takeout two times a day but luckily, I’d planned a week ahead with Marley Spoon and had low-lift meals at the ready. And, reader, let me tell you, I selected the comfort meal my poor, cold-battered body needed: orecchiette and sausage with squash, rosemary, and ricotta.

Before I dive into my actual cooking experience, let’s go over the pros and cons of the actual ordering and delivery.

Pro: Marley Spoon has a ton of recipes to choose from. I had a hard time selecting just three for my first box.

Con: My delivery was a day late because there was some sort of ice distribution mishap that I didn’t fully understand, but got an email alert about anyway.

Pro: The packing is beautiful (if not super easy to squeeze into my fridge).

Con: My delivery just...didn’t show up the day it was supposed to? It arrived the day after, no explanations. I was too tired to try and contact a customer rep, so I’m pleased to report my box just showed up at my apartment without me having to reverse engineer its arrival to my home.

Okay, now that that’s squared away...let’s get down to the cooking portion of this article!

Step 1: Unwrap

Every time I prepare a meal in my kitchen, I am mentally auditioning for an episode of Chopped. I take the organization of the ingredients and the preparation of aforementioned ingredients as seriously as I would if there was Food Network camera filming me.

Step 2: Pour Wine

Listen, I might have had a cold but I am incapable of cooking any pasta dish without a red wine assist.

Step 3: Cook Things!

I’ve tried many a subscription meal box in my day (you can feed yourself for free for a month with those free trial signups and I am always looking for ways to not spend my money on basic life necessities like nourishment), but Marley Spoon was by and far the easiest both in terms of prep and actual cooking time. Granted, this low-key meal didn’t demand a ton of legwork aside from browning the sausage and boiling water, but since I was operating with a limited amount of energy to begin with, it was a welcome departure from a meal that would have required a lot of moving parts.

Step 4: Eat

The end result was magnificent. I can’t stress enough how restorative this simple but delicious blend of pasta, cheese, meat, and squash was. It brought me back to life over the course of the 24 span in which I ate nothing else (perks of being single: meals that are technically portioned for two means I always have leftovers at the end of the day).

Final Thoughts

Overall, Marley Spoon was a successful (and tasty) cooking endeavor for me, someone who is loathe to devote a ton of time in the kitchen. Despite those initial delivery hiccups, the actual process of cooking and enjoying my meal was a breeze. I’m pleased to report that even when I’m not shuffling around my apartment scrounging for food when ill, I would order again in a heartbeat.