[birds chirping]
["What You Gave Me" by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell playing]
♪ Like a breath of spring you came ♪
We've a lot of blackberries.
They come in fast,
so it's a little bit of a daily job this time of year to harvest berries.
[chuckling] It's a lot of fruit.
♪ Into my life you came Like a breath of spring ♪
These vines were here actually when we moved in.
This is sort of what inspired my, uh, jam and preserve making.
[Michael] What is your favorite preserve?
My grandmother used to make apple butter,
so I like that because it's connected to something sentimental.
But I think my kids will now connect this to coming home from school.
and smelling sweetness that wafts through the house
when you are slow-cooking fruit.
"There she is."
"Oh, Mom's making some preserves again."
♪ Givin' me a song to sing ♪
- ♪ Oh yeah ♪ - ♪ Oh yeah ♪
[Meghan] My friend Mindy is gonna come by. We both have kids.
And one of the things I love to do
is get creative when I'm prepping fun activities for them,
like a garden tea party.
So I thought today we'd put one together for just the two of us.
I'm gonna share some little tips and tricks with her.
♪ 'Cause what you gave me Is more than enough to last ♪
You should try them. Honestly, guys, they're very good.
♪ And what you gave me ♪
[Meghan] It's so yummy.
♪ Is more than enough to last ♪
[Meghan] The sweetness of this fruit is a real thing.
["What You Gave Me" continues playing]
[soothing soul music playing]
[Meghan] I need to make some coffee.
Are you gonna have some coffee too?
- [Michael] I'll have coffee. - Okay.
[Meghan] I woke up early, guys,
because I realized Mindy will be here, and I have… nothing to feed her.
So we're gonna make a quick frittata.
[chuckles] Last minute.
[jazz pop music playing]
To fill a large pan, I'm going to use eight to 12 eggs.
Oh, that's a great yolk.
Some creamer milk. About a half cup is fine.
Just give it a little whisk.
But first, coffee.
[mimicking hissing steam]
[Michael] I like that you're not only preparing stuff for Mindy. I'm involved…
Hostessing doesn't stop at one person. It's the spirit of it.
Cheers.
Okay, you could just whisk this by hand, but we're against the clock.
So, let's just hope this is deep enough that it doesn't splash.
[whirring]
Dangerous. Dangerous!
Chop up whatever veggies you have.
I'll make some bacon too.
I find when I'm cooking bacon,
my kitchen very immediately becomes full of husband and three dogs.
It's not my perfume that's bringing them all in.
My bacon brings all the boys to the yard.
We have onions, peppers, and zucchini.
Let's just bring all of our veggies to our pan here.
Because we're doing a quick one, we're gonna toss all of this in here.
We're gonna let it slowly simmer down.
The house is going to smell great as your guest is arriving.
Once it softens a little bit, we're gonna put our egg and cream mixture in.
And it's getting popped into the oven, so you don't have to think about it.
Since we have the oven on we may as well slow-roast some tomatoes on the vine.
I'm a fan of that.
A little bit of salt.
[veggies sizzling]
[Meghan] The sweetness of the tomato that comes out in that,
it's one of the easiest things that you can do to elevate most meals.
[jazz pop music playing]
Let's get those peppers in there.
These are marinated red peppers, so you get great color but no heat.
This is going to be a riskier one. I could just bring the board.
[Michael] Living on the edge.
[laughing]
She's had coffee. She's good.
We're taking risks today, gang.
I like everything bagel seasoning.
And then,
some coarsely chopped up arugula, or hand torn is fine.
I want this to keep a little bit of its freshness and not overcook.
This is obviously thin and delicate. So, this goes in at the end.
Let me grab our cheese.
Let's put some chèvre on there. And that's really it.
See? This is what we're going for.
Just want to let it set just a tiny bit.
We want most of the cooking to happen in the oven.
[jazz pop music heightens]
Cook at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
Then, while it's cooking, we can make some bacon.
I wake up every morning,
and I really take a lot of pride in making breakfast for my family.
Um…
- Mornings are fast. - [snaps fingers]
Gotta get the kids to school.
So, I think that's why I'm comfortable with this pace.
Just gonna grab my bacon.
[humming]
That's cooking. Let's make a little parfait.
Greek yogurt, some raspberries.
It's time for a parfait par-tay.
This is an apricot preserve.
The same thing that you might have for breakfast,
but a little bit more dressed up for a friend.
A layer of yogurt.
Some fresh raspberries. Could load that up also with goji berries,
coconut flakes, whatever you want.
You have about 20 minutes to get something pretty put together.
You can do it.
I'm excited that Mindy is coming. We're sort of, um, email pen pals.
We first connected on my podcast Archetypes.
And I love having mom friends.
[exhaling] We need them.
So, we're going to do a little kid's party prep,
and show her some of my secrets and tips
to make it extra special for the little ones.
That's pretty good-looking bacon, I would say.
And we did it, guys. We've got something to feed Mindy.
Just in time for our gal.
I think Mindy will be happy.
♪ Oh, baby, won't you be mine? ♪
♪ Baby, oh my ♪
♪ Summer girl ♪
- [Mindy] Hi. - [Meghan] Hi!
So happy to be here. Thank you.
[Meghan] Come on in.
[Mindy] Okay, cool.
I got to set early to make you a frittata.
Are you kidding me? In one of these heavy-ass "Le Creu-set," "Le Creu-say"?
[Meghan] Le Creuset.
This is like-- I could do Romanian deadlifts with this Le Creuset.
[Meghan chuckles]
And… She just taught me it's "Le Creu-say" and not "Le Creu-set."
- Some of us have been to Europe. - I could be wrong.
[chuckling] Okay.
[music ends]
[Meghan] Here is our frittata.
Then while it was cooking, I made these.
- What? - A yogurt parfait.
It's the same thing that you would give your kids, right?
It just looks a bit more darling.
If I were not the recipient of this, I would be so mad about this.
- [Meghan laughs] - This is so nice.
This is gorgeous.
Wait, what's on the bottom? Is this the preserves?
- Yes! - The homemade preserves?
Yes, I have new flavors for you to try. Raspberry and peach.
I'll send you home with some.
When I received that in the mail, a box of your preserves…
Yes?
…it was probably one of the most glamorous moments of my life.
But then I looked at the label and it said there were like 50.
And then I, of course, as a very hierarchical person,
- was like, "Who are these other 50?" - Folks.
"Does having a lower number make me more special?"
- "Does having a higher number… - Oh my God…
I did not think about it.
So I wasn't ranked? There, there was… It was not a ranking. Just a random--
It was not-- It was not a ranking. It was just, "Let me share them."
And then people started to take it very personally.
People like me? I straight up went on Instagram.
I'm looking to see who the other people are,
and I'm zooming in to see what numbers they have.
- I did save one of 50 for my mom. - Of course.
Felt like the right thing to do. And then I just thought,
anyone who got one of those 50 jars
that I was making on my stove in my actual kitchen at my house,
I hope they all felt like, "No, I want to share this with you."
It was extremely good.
- And a lot of people asked to taste it. - Really?
And you know what I told them? "Get your own jar."
Oh my--
So let's dig in.
This is so good.
[Meghan] I'm glad. And then we have a frittata.
[Mindy] Thank you.
Sorry I'm plating for you as well because I can't help it.
- What are you sprinkling on it? - [Meghan] Flower sprinkles.
[Mindy] What?!
Are you Tinkerbell?
This is crazy.
Your kids will like this.
Yes, do they add flavor or is it decorative?
It's just an accessory. I know you love an accessory.
- [Mindy] I love it. - I'm gonna have some too.
- I'm just trying it. I'm sorry. - Yeah, let's see. Let's see if it's good.
Man.
So here's my thing with making egg dishes.
You can't taste it to tell if it's too salty until after it's cooked.
I never know how to season it, so it comes out too salty or not enough.
- Mm-hm! - And it's a big surprise.
How did you season this so perfectly?
Well, I have a family, a husband,
who no matter what meal is put in front of him,
before he tastes it, puts salt on.
So I try to under-salt.
I love knowing that your husband likes it salty.
[cork pops]
[giggles]
[Meghan] Have a little beverage.
[pleasant music playing]
I like just a wink of fruit flavor in my bubbles.
- [Mindy] Okay, just a wink. - A wink or a whisper.
So, I squeezed some orange juice yesterday.
- I'll show you the other juices. - Okay.
I was on a juice-squeezing frenzy because there's so much citrus here.
- Okay. - Blood orange.
- [Mindy] Oh my gosh. - Lovely.
- Grapefruit. - Yes.
Or we can have peach nectar for a Bellini.
I feel like if something with nectar is being offered, I should just take that.
Then let's do that. [humming]
I think this is the earliest that I've had alcohol in a long time.
Oh, welcome to Montecito.
[both chuckling]
Am I going to get hammered?
- No, that's why I'm feeding you. - Okay.
- All right. - Cheers.
- Cheers. Glad you're here. It's fun. - Cheers. I'm so happy to be here.
- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. - Wow.
So, because we're doing a mock-up of what we would do for a kids' party…
Yes.
I don't know if you go all out for your kids' parties or not.
The woman I hire does.
Great, I'll tell you how to do it without her.
- Not that I want to take her out of a job. - Okay.
- You could do this on your own. - Perfect.
Cute sandwiches. I'm sure your kids would like these.
- Yes. - Because kids like anything, I find,
- kid-size and a sweet shape. - Yes.
So we'll make a fruit plate, but it looks like a rainbow.
- Love it. - And some fresh mint tea.
Yesterday, I started making a balloon arch for this party and little gift bags.
- You made the balloon arch? - Yes, you'll see it. It's great.
Okay, I love it.
[upbeat music playing]
[Meghan] So, this is a way to do a balloon arch.
Because we're just practicing what we would do for a kids' party,
and I've done a couple of them for my own children.
- [Harry] What's going on, my love? - [chuckles]
We are making this balloon arch for Archie's first birthday.
- It doesn't look like an arch. - It'll get there.
- Really? - I have to blow all these up.
[Meghan] The first time,
I had the fascinating adventure of doing this manually.
It can really start to get tiresome on your cheeks.
Um, so instead, there is a great little device that you can buy.
It's a balloon pump.
[pump wheezing loudly]
It will cut our time down on this.
And you can find one of these for about $20,
and you can get these balloon decorating strips online, too.
Cheap and cheerful. It's pretty simple.
These little holes are what are going to keep our balloon arch intact.
So I think because we're doing a colorful theme for kids,
we're going to stick with some version of a rainbow.
Now, there is a tree that comes through this archway.
So when I finish this, don't think, "She missed a spot!"
Mind the gap.
I can't guarantee it'll be perfect, but it will be joyful.
Cue the montage.
[upbeat music playing]
[pump wheezing loudly]
[laughs]
I typically do it like this. See those holes I was talking about?
That's going to secure that right there.
Different sizes, give them a little bit of space to breathe.
Already, see, that's…
That's the start of it. And it will go, "Prrt" up and around.
[upbeat music continues]
[pump whizzing]
We're getting our framework. There we go.
[whizzing]
If you have a little bit of time, you can do this.
You can feel as though you've gotten your hands into it.
I also just appreciate that you can say you did it for your kids.
[whizzing]
And if you're doing this for an adult event or party, great.
You can also use gold, silver balloons, things like that.
Look at how much we just did in a very short amount of time.
So just picture-- And I'm going to fill this all in,
but here's your template.
This around a doorway.
So sweet.
Yeah.
We have the beginnings of some fun.
And I will see you on the flip side.
By the way, Meghan, I want to ask about your look.
- My who? - Your look.
Your look, Meghan!
- Oh, my look. My-- - Your look.
- Did I not say it right? - I don't know. I'm… [giggles]
Mindy, you're way cooler than I am. I don't know what you were-- My look.
- Your look. - My look.
- She likes my "look." - Your look.
Oh, my gosh.
Your fashion is, like, one of my favorite things.
So silly.
Sometimes I will look like, "Where's that coat from?"
Go to MaxMara.com. It's already sold out.
- Can you tell me about your clothes? - Yes, I like high-low.
So… Zara.
- What? - [Meghan laughs]
- Loro Piana. - Nice.
- Jenni Kayne. - Really cute.
[Meghan] Okay. For our garden tea party, we're going to make cute sandwiches first.
We're going to start with the easy stuff, so I'm thinking,
let's stay in the land of what kids love.
Peanut butter and jelly…
Cream cheese and sliced cucumbers. Would your kids do that?
- Yeah. - Great.
- My son would, for sure. - We can do herb and chive cream cheese.
And then ham and cheese, but we're gonna put them in sweet shapes.
And then, if we have for our tea party a tiered tea tray,
then at least suddenly, we've created a world.
- You can start wherever you want to go. - [Mindy] Yes.
[Meghan] I will follow.
What is it about putting sandwiches in tiers that makes them so much tastier?
Because it actually is elevated.
It's elevated. And I love it.
[Meghan] Okay. So, let's do some thin slices of cucumber.
- So now… - Let's find a shape you like.
- [Mindy] I'll do… - Heart, circle.
- I'm gonna do a heart. - Great.
Did you use to do this with your mom, uh, growing up,
or is this something you kind of picked up on your own later?
I was a latchkey kid, so I grew up with, um, a lot of fast food
and also a lot of TV tray dinners.
It feels like such a different time, but that was so normal,
with the microwavable kids' meals that had compartmentalized, like…
Do you remember them?
The Hungry-Man meals. And there's a little compartment that has apple crumble in it.
Yes!
I thought they were delicious as a child.
I grew up with that, watching Jeopardy! and having a lot of fast food.
[Mindy] What was your favorite?
- Um, I used to eat a lot of Pollo Loco. - Always been a fan.
Taco Bell. Extra hot sauce on the Mexican pizza.
Yes, I would have the fire sauce.
Jack in the Box because my mom loved their tacos.
I don't think anyone in the world
knows that Meghan Markle has eaten Jack in the Box and loves it.
It's funny you keep saying Meghan Markle. You know I'm Sussex now.
You have kids, and you go, "No, I share my name with my children."
- Yes. - And that feels so…
I… I didn't know how meaningful it would be to me,
but it just means so much to go, "This is our family name."
- "Our little family name." - Now I know, and I love it.
- [Mindy] Look at how good this is. - Yes! That's great.
[Mindy] I'm really impressed.
So, we have that. So on this one, and we'll just do a couple.
We can layer some more. So we can do a ham and cheese.
- We can do PB&J. - [Mindy] Love it.
Let's get you some jam and some peanut butter.
- Homemade, I presume? - It is.
That's a raspberry preserve I made yesterday.
You know, technically, it can't be called jam
because jam has to be equal parts sugar and fruit.
I don't think you can taste the fruit that way, so I have…
- [clicks tongue] - It's delicious.
[playful jazz music playing]
[Mindy] I love the peanut butter that's natural.
I don't like every morning having to, like, stir peanut butter
and peanut oils flying everywhere because it's on the top.
I'm like, "I ain't got no time for this."
Hey, I'm pretty impressed by this sandwich.
You're doing great. Look our sweet little sandwich starters.
And I can't wait for you to see the cute gift bags that I made yesterday.
[upbeat music playing]
♪ Gimme some sunshine ♪
[Meghan] Let's make some gift bags for the kids.
I think a gift bag is important.
Guest experience starts young.
♪ It's going to be a perfect day ♪
♪ Gimme some sunshine ♪
It's nice to have something to take home, a little memento.
Kids get so excited, and it gives them something to do in the car ride home
before they go home and completely collapse with their naps.
So I think parents are normally grateful for the little distraction.
Unless you fill it with tons of sugar, in which case
they are calling you when they get home to say, "Hi. And why?"
[chuckles]
I always put some sort of little nesting or filler in.
I use this as well for, um, the bottom of harvest baskets,
just to bulk it up a little bit
and not have your goodies sinking to the bottom.
If there's a garden theme, then let's really go with it
and try to inspire them to want to get their hands in the dirt
and grow something, watch it grow.
Little mini gardening tools.
Our kids have real sets.
They take their gardening seriously.
There we go.
And then I think it's nice to give kids some seeds that they can plant.
Things that they can watch grow easily and pick from.
So, sugar snap peas.
And some sweet basil.
A little marker of what they have is sweet.
So let's just mark those up for them.
Adorable.
We're gonna assume they'll be able to find their own soil.
Parents can help them with that.
We have these little compostable pots.
It's great. Stick it right into the ground with your soil and your seeds inside,
they can water it.
Let's put that in there.
[rattling]
Sugar snap peas.
Those little stakes so they know what they're planting.
[pleasant music playing]
Sweet basil.
What are we missing?
Something sweet.
Manuka honey stick. Great.
I always have these in my house.
Let's just sit it in there so it can actually be featured a bit more.
It will entice them to open the bag, too. [chuckles]
Okay.
When I think of honey, I think of bees.
So we also have a very cute little bee attachment that can go there.
You don't have to go to some fancy kid's store.
You can find creative things like this that you can just add
to accessorize and beautify something really simple.
You can have a bag with a gift in it, or you can add one small detail
that just feels a little bit more thoughtful.
And it's a sweet end to the day.
[upbeat music playing]
[Meghan] I have some ideas for how we continue with our party.
I just want adults, even at a kid's party,
to have something like a great drink
or something that still feels charming to them
that isn't just a big star-shaped sandwich.
[Mindy] I love it.
[Meghan] So let's make a couple of these. Crostini.
I always cut it on a little bit of an angle.
It's how you cut asparagus if you're classy.
[chuckling] If you're classy.
[upbeat music playing]
[Mindy] This is bias-cut bread that we're now putting into a toaster.
- [Meghan] Let's get our ingredients. - Okay, yes.
There's a way to make a beautiful little art scene on your crostini.
Here's our goat cheese spread.
You could just have some cheese on toast.
Mm-hm.
Or, in the interest of our garden party,
we're going to make these floral and create little botanical worlds here.
These are nasturtiums, edible flowers.
I learned about them when I went to Hollywood Schoolhouse,
and I had a science class.
We spent a lot of time in the garden.
And I learned from Mr. Ben about--
- Mr. Ben, the…? - Mr. Ben was my teacher.
The science teacher?
Yeah, I just learned recently that he passed away.
I thought, "Oh, I wish I had told Mr. Ben how much it meant to me
and how much I learned and how much I retained from that."
Because he taught me how to compost and he taught me about the garden.
You grow up and you say, "Wow, those things you learn when you're young."
Mm-hm. You remembered them.
- [Meghan] Look at how sweet that is. - Beautiful.
Alright. Now I'm gonna try to do one.
[Meghan] What kind of things did you like to do as a kid?
Growing up, I loved restaurants and food.
And so I would find little recipes and then cook for my mom and dad at home.
- Like, I would… - What'd you cook? That's so sweet.
Yeah, I think because, you know, we're Indian and there wasn't, you know,
a lot of French food or things like that,
I would find these traditionally fancy types of things and be like,
"Mom and Dad, I'm going to make this special flourless chocolate cake,"
and sort of treat them as…
You know when kids, you sort of are obsessed with, like,
"I'm going to be the waiter and bring you the food."
- Of course. - Have a little restaurant at the house.
I love the idea of you playing restaurant with your parents.
I think this is gonna blow your mind.
A little crostini butterfly.
That's so good!
I love that so much.
Let's make a ladybug caprese on the crostini.
What is the ladybug on? Let's say it's on a little leaf of basil.
Let's start there. So, a leaf of basil on each one.
Beautiful mozzarella.
A little olive oil. A little salt.
We'll put the basil on top.
When I was describing it to my husband,
I said, "How sweet to make a little ladybug crostini."
And he said, "Oh, with the ladybird." And I said, "No, ladybug."
In the UK, they don't call them ladybugs. Ladybugs are called ladybirds.
Birds, yes. I've always found that confusing.
[Meghan] Yes.
And no offense, this is a situation where I think we're correct state-side.
- It's not a bird. "It a bug, Harry." - [chuckles softly]
I'll tell it to his face. "Say it right, you know?"
Right?
- [Meghan] I know. - Yes.
[Meghan] So these are going to be our ladybugs.
- Let's give this ladybug a little head. - Perfect.
[Meghan] So we'll take an olive.
- Let's cut them in quarters. - [Mindy] In quarters.
[Meghan] And that way we're getting a shape that feels a little like its head.
[Mindy] So the olive is the head of the ladybird.
[Meghan chuckles] Let's see how we do with our balsamic glaze.
- You have a toothpick there. - Yes. Okay.
We're just going to try to put some dots on our ladybug.
[jazz pop music playing]
I'm proud.
Mindy, you did great!
- [Mindy] Should this be my new job? - This is it.
That's what I'm saying.
I don't want to take your party planner's job away, but you can do this.
I'm showing it to camera.
I'm breaking the-- I'm breaking the fourth wall?
Everyone, did you see that?
[Meghan] That's very, very good.
Look what we did here.
You guys.
Look at how sweet that is. It's so easy.
And it's fun if you're doing it with a friend and a drink.
- [Mindy] Cheers. - Thank you.
I'm feeling loose now. Anything goes here.
[Meghan] All right. Just a couple more things to do for our garden tea party.
So yesterday, I made the start of a fruit salad.
When we make fruit salad, what do we do?
Chop up the fruit, put it in a bowl, call it a day.
I don't make fruit salad, but keep continuing.
If you were to make a fruit salad, that's what one would normally do.
- Okay. - But I thought, for kids.
Because it's garden party themed,
you could also make a fruit platter that looks like a rainbow.
[Mindy] Amazing.
♪ I know that I have been wrong before ♪
♪ But I think this time I'm gonna stick around for more ♪
[Meghan] When I'm putting together a kid's party,
I always think about all the senses.
Bread.
What is the taste?
What is the smell? What is the visual that you see?
What's the music that's playing? What are the sounds you're hearing?
Is that just as inspiring?
Oh, oh, oh!
I just don't have three dogs around here
who would devour any of those things that fell on the floor.
So we're going to start with reds.
Let's do some strawberries.
You want to cut them in a way that's bite-size
and easy to pick up and actually enjoy.
We want to make this easy for kids.
You could do different directions.
I think this feels happy, but you do whatever feels right for you.
All the same fruit you might put on a fruit plate.
We're just thinking of a more creative way to present it.
Okay.
Raspberries.
I think some apricots would be really nice.
And if we're going to keep the skin on, let's just half them and see.
[birds chirping]
[Michael] Birds are really out there singing in your garden.
[chuckles softly]
I love birdsong.
Hmm.
Sweet.
We have our apricots, which are giving us that radiant red to orange.
Let's continue with that spirit
with some of these lovely little clementines or mandarin oranges.
I'm always thinking about the parent experience.
So I will also have a coffee station for the parents.
And even with that, I will use the same theme
and label the coffee bar with, you know,
if it's our garden theme, it'll have a beautiful garden motif
on the to-go cups they can take home with them.
I want them to feel comfortable, and I want their kids to be entertained
so they can also relax.
Face painters are great for that.
At the moment, so is Elsa.
[chuckles]
Okay.
Red, orange, a few golden berries.
We grow golden berries at home. My son loves them.
Pineapple.
What comes next? Let's do some kiwi.
They're perfect bite-sized sweet goodies.
What's left in our rainbow? Just a little bit of blue.
[chuckling] But these--
Come on, blueberries.
But then the bird said, "It's all good."
You see where our rainbow is coming together here?
And you don't have to do a big platter of this.
You could do this with one small row for your kids for breakfast, genuinely,
and it makes the morning a lot more fun.
But can I just show you? We just made one.
[Michael] Please, yes.
Just a little morning plate.
[pop music playing]
There's a real delight in being able to be a present parent,
and it's a luxury sometimes because we all have to work.
We all have a lot of stuff to do, but when you can, take a minute to just…
- [Michael] Saturday morning. - Yeah.
Finding the fun in those moments
makes for a really sweet start to the weekend.
We could do a little dollop of yogurt as our clouds.
Flower sprinkles, if we must.
It doesn't need to be big for a party.
It's how you incorporate these practices in every day.
Okay, so two versions of our fruit plate for kids.
And we'll finish the banana clouds with Mindy so they don't brown overnight.
♪ I feel so good Gotta knock on wood ♪
[Meghan] Don't let me distract you from your goodness with this greatness.
- Are you kidding me? - [chuckles softly]
- [Meghan] How sweet is that? - It's so sweet.
- [Meghan] You'll help me finish it off. - [Mindy] Cool.
I'll do one side, and you can do the other
while we enjoy the beautiful blood orange mimosa you just made for us.
[Mindy] Love it.
One thing that you and I have in common is we were on TV shows for a long time.
Yes. Seven years for The Office?
- Eight years? - Eight years.
I was on The Office, and you were in Suits for…
- Seven years. - Seven.
So you were like, "I wanna be an actress. I can't believe this."
It's how I felt when I got in The Office. "Oh my gosh, I'm on a series."
"I'm on a series. This is all I want."
- Health insurance, steady paycheck… - Yes, consistency.
And they tell you, "You have to move to another country to shoot this show."
I'm assuming at that point you didn't have a lot of friends in Toronto.
Was that something that seemed scary to you?
Well, you find out it gets picked up. It's in Toronto. Okay, what's that mean?
Okay, one season in Toronto.
Amazing. Two seasons.
Okay, is my life gonna be now in this other place now?
- Yes. - Thankfully, I love Canada.
And I always tried to invite the cast over or people you'd meet at the dog park.
I was literally going to say, I'm such an introvert
that the idea of moving to another country and, like, what I do on the weekends.
You were taking your dog and meeting people.
- [Meghan] Yes, neighbors. - Nice.
- [Meghan] I love making friends. - [Mindy] That's so sweet.
Okay, I'll show you and then the other side's for you.
You want these to be bite-sized. Everyone's going to actually eat this.
- Not just decorative, so… - Okay.
What is the size you'd be happy with your kids doing a little grab-and-go?
I was intimidated by this, but now I am less so.
Right? Because that's the thing.
It's just fruit. It's just presented in a different way.
You love fashion and style. You have a great style,
so you know you can have the base of something
or you can style it in a certain way.
- So I'm gonna now do the other part. - You do the other side.
[pop music playing]
- This is gorgeous. - Isn't that so sweet?
I think because we're going to have tea at this party, let's get some fresh mint.
- Yes. - Let's do it. We'll go to the garden.
["Tears" by Brandon Combs playing]
[Meghan] We have this beautiful garden, and I think for tea,
it's really nice to just be able to pick something that you have fresh.
- Do you like fresh mint tea? - [Mindy] Of course.
[Meghan] Fresh mint for fresh mint tea.
And I love mint when I'm cooking, like Indian and Thai food.
- It's so good. - It brightens the flavor of things.
It really does.
[Meghan] While tea is brewing, we'll get changed for our party.
[Mindy] Awesome.
♪ Oh my baby ♪
♪ She left me all alone ♪
♪ Oh my baby ♪
♪ I thought I was strong ♪
[music ends]
[buzzing]
Okay.
- Oh, my goodness. - Welcome to our little garden party.
[pop music playing]
- This is so cute. - [giggles]
- [Meghan] Like Alice in Wonderland. - I've been transported.
- Magical, so… - This is incredible.
- Here are all of the things that we made. - [gasps]
- [Mindy] Wait. Wait, I made that! - [Meghan] Yes.
- [Mindy] This looks perfect. - [Meghan] So sweet!
- My daughter would love this. - Well, you're taking--
- My son would love it, too. - That's the thing.
[Meghan] Honestly, anything with whimsy is great for all kids.
- You know what? We did it. - We did it!
Picture if you had the kids, you maybe wouldn't use cups and saucers like this.
You could get little kids' versions of them.
I never get fussy with place settings.
For me, I think a beautiful flower on top of each one
or a sprig of rosemary or mint.
And all of this is not pricey. You can do this on a budget.
These tiny little pots, you're picking flowers from the grocery store.
Repurposing something that you might find on Etsy.
- Little candelabra… - You could get these at the flea market.
At the flea market. You stick some flowers in, and suddenly--
- You're not gonna have candles with kids. - Flea market, Trader Joe's. You're set.
- Exactly. - And you made this balloon arch.
You can see I made room for that tree in the archway
and how the balloons are tied right there.
[Mindy] Yeah, and it looks incredible.
- [Meghan] I'm going to pour you a drink. - Thank you.
Back to peach nectar. I'm sending you home with some of this as promised.
Thank you. And when I post on it, I'll see what other people have also gotten it.
- Or is peach nectar just me? - [Meghan] At the moment, just you.
Okay, only I have the peach nectar.
[Meghan] And then, yesterday in my prep for you…
- What? Love a gift. What is in this? - [Meghan giggles]
[Meghan] Grown-ups and kids both love a gift bag.
So, for the garden theme, little gardening tools.
Inside are little seed packets and compostable pots.
So, I really hope your kids enjoy these.
Yes. It is my children's favorite thing to do, is dig in the dirt.
- I know. - Um, this will be great.
Let's try our mint tea. So this is our fresh mint we had from the garden.
We just let that steep. That was just fresh mint, and it brewed.
- And it's good. - Would you like to try any of these?
Sometimes they feel they're too pretty to eat, but the goal is to enjoy them.
Not with me. Can I have one of them ladybugs?
- Yes. We'll try our caprese ladies. - Thank you.
- [Meghan] Mm-hm. - That glaze is so good.
Darling and delicious.
And inspiring for kids.
My kids would love this experience.
They would try everything, and your kids would sit and enjoy this,
but you could invite girlfriends over and do the grown-up version.
The kids are enjoying it, and then as the kids go run off and play…
Mm-hm.
…at least the adults still feel as though they've had an experience too.
Yes, which is what these are for.
[Meghan] Toast to a very positive party planning experience.
- Thank you for helping me today. - Oh my gosh, what fun.
- You've been great. I love your dress. - Thank you.
I wanted to bring Montecito Mindy to Meghan.
Mo-- [chuckles]
- The alliteration there is so good. - Yes!
Montecito Mindy is a real thing.
- I learned so much today. - I'm so glad.
Next time you have to come to my kitchen.
I can show you how I microwave burritos.
[chuckles]
I bet you microwave it better than anyone.
[both laughing]
♪ Can you feel the good times? ♪
♪ Good times Good times are here again ♪
♪ Good times, can't wait… ♪
[Meghan] We'll grab some daisies here to make daisy chains.
[Mindy] I've never made these before.
[Meghan] You use your nail.
The closer you have it, the closer the next daisy is gonna come through.
You thread it through the last one you threaded…
How have you done this many? Meg, I don't know. I don't know.
This part of the visit has been a low point for me.
[Meghan laughs]
- [Mindy] How? - [Meghan] I, um…
Hmm.
Can I just watch you do yours?
- I love it. - Great for a kid's party.
That someone else makes for me. I can't wait to wear it.
♪ Cos' the good times are coming ♪
♪ Good times Good times are here again ♪
♪ Good times Can't wait 'til I see you there ♪
♪ Good times Good times are here again ♪
♪ Good times Wish that they would never end ♪
- ♪ Good times ♪ - ♪ Gimme good, good, good times ♪
♪ Good times Can’t wait 'til I see you there ♪
- ♪ Good times ♪ - ♪ Gimme good, good, good times ♪
♪ Good times Wish that they would never end ♪
♪ Good times Good times are here again ♪
[music ends]