Do you remember the ’50s, when we sat in front of our black and white TVs and mom brought us our TV dinners in a sectioned aluminum tray?

Do you remember how tasteless those meatloaf, mashed potatoes and peas were?

We progressed over the years to packaged frozen dinners such as chicken, mac and cheese and Salisbury steak.

Prepared meals were something we ate when both parents were working, the budget was tight, and we wanted something fast and cheap.

Today we are blessed with meals that are prepared by gourmet chefs with top-notch ingredients, often delivered right to our door or available in the finest stores.

In Warwick, we have two of the best purveyors of quality prepared foods with a wide variety to choose from.

Dave’s

Expanding over the years from a small mom-and-pop grocery store to one of the biggest and most popular supermarkets in Rhode Island, Dave’s Marketplace offers everything from potato salad to salmon at its huge prepared foods section.

One of the major advantages of shopping at Dave’s is being able to satisfy a family’s different food tastes on a given night.

Joyce loves chicken breast with the wide variety of sauces available, while I am hooked on salmon, which she does not care for. We do not have to satisfy our differences by dining out. A trip to Dave’s followed by a few minutes in the microwave (the chicken and salmon – not us) and we have a restaurant-quality dinner in our own dining room.

Salads galore greet you at Dave’s. You like German potato salad, but your spouse likes it with eggs and mayo? No problem.

Dave’s makes a great shepherd’s pie, but Joyce doesn’t care for it, so she gets mac and cheese, which I had enough of as a child. She reminds me that my childhood mac and cheese didn’t have lobster in it.

Dave’s has dishes that mother never made, like pumpkin tortellini alfredo, cranberry walnut chicken salad, and sweet potato and Brussels sprout hash.

I recently wrote an article on the lack of finding ham dinners on restaurant menus. You can buy ham off the bone at the counter and choose a variety of potatoes and veggies to go with it.

And I haven’t even mentioned the pizza, sushi, soup, sandwich and dessert sections. Dockside

A trip down Warwick Avenue to Dockside will land you in an ocean of fresh seafood, meats and salads that will satisfy your every desire.

Start at the far right with Dockside’s famous snail salad, a tasty treat that is better than anything you will find on Federal Hill.

My favorite is their ham salad, far better than any supermarket, with its minutely chopped fresh pieces of ham that is not overwhelmed with mayonnaise.

Cole slaw, potato salads and three bean salads are all fresh and tasty, helping you to create your own salad buffet.

Moving left to the meat section, savor their sliced cold cuts, ranging from bologna to the fancier Italian meats.

Next is the extensive seafood section that is second to none.

Baked stuffed shrimp, stuffed haddock and a variety of stuffies top my list. Just zap them in the microwave and enjoy. Fresh and pre-cooked delights from the sea are major attractions at Dockside

Treat yourself to crab claws and lobster “knuckles.” They are a bit more expensive, but they are so good.

There are prepared meals, such as meatloaf, spaghetti and meatballs, American chop suey, and chicken parm at a section to the far left. A stuffed lobster roll is only $9.99. My favorite is the crab salad roll.

Both Dave’s and Dockside follow all the COVID-19 rules and keep their establishments clean and safe.

So be prepared and enjoy the many delights they have to offer.