["Way Back" by Meaghan Smith playing]
♪ Cut through the woods Hop the fence… ♪
Quiche here…
Today's a fun day.
I'm having some friends and family over for a little celebration brunch.
People will be here, oh, soon.
Finishing touches.
[Michael] Are you afraid that everyone will show up early?
It shouldn't be nerve-wracking. If I felt I was pressed for time,
whoever shows up first is gonna help me. [chuckles] Like, "Hey!"
Beautiful. I love a brunch party.
There's just something really charming about it.
It's a great way to connect.
♪ You'll always be The one I knew way back… ♪
It's really important when you're entertaining for a group,
especially if you can do it outside, to make the process easy.
Let's get our fruit ready.
English muffins, fresh honey, and jam.
Mm, a little bit of hemp heart sprinkled on top of that for texture.
A little salt on our greens.
But of course, my husband will be here. My mom will be here.
My best friend since college. Just my community.
Having a brunch in the sunshine with the people that I love.
Celebrating this next chapter of my life.
♪ You got my back, I got yours too ♪
♪ Thick as thieves You're my wolf pack ♪
♪ We go way back ♪
[train whistle hooting]
[upbeat music playing]
Alice Waters is coming.
I can't wait.
Alice is here today to help me do the prep
for a fun brunch I'm having for family and friends for my business.
You know me. I have to give her a gift.
So I chose a couple of things I think that she would love.
It's a book and a necklace for her.
I used to teach a gift-wrapping class when I was an auditioning actor.
And there are a couple tricks that I think you never forget,
and it will make gift wrapping easier forevermore.
The most important being double-sided tape.
When you have really nice quality paper, you want to save as much of it as you can.
That's going to try to go to that edge.
And that's just going to come to about right here.
I'm gonna give myself a little marker so I remember.
And then about an inch on either side.
[pleasant music playing]
I use my fingers a lot, but at the store, we used to always use something like this.
You can buy them online.
Or you could use the back of a credit card.
You want nice and strong edges. Your double-sided tape will help you here.
I'm going to give it a little fold, and it's going to come to the edge.
I think she'll like these gifts.
So I hope she and I can become friends. I can't wait.
I'm like, "Do you want to come over to my house for Thanksgiving?"
[giggles] I mean, she's a trailblazer in the farm-to-table movement.
This woman loves nature, so let's bring some nature back into even the gift wrap.
And it just immediately elevates, and it will take you very little time.
Really nice.
Love is in the details.
If you take just a little bit of time, it'll be recognized and appreciated.
And now we're ready for Alice.
She's here.
I'm so happy you're here.
Thank you so much. Aww.
- Thank you for inviting me. - Oh, my gosh. I'm gonna cry.
I brought you a bouquet.
Oh, I was going to bring you a bouquet of carrots. That's so funny!
Thank you so much.
Okay, I'm gonna make you some tea. Got some pu'erh tea if you like.
- Ooh! - Yes?
You're here. I'm thrilled.
I can't begin to tell you how happy I am.
I'm a California girl,
so what you've done for the world, we know, but as a Californian, my gosh.
Well, you know,
I didn't know anything about cooking or taste or anything.
- My mother wasn't a very good cook. - [both chuckle]
- She… - What was the best thing that she made?
Oh God.
- [both laugh] - Maybe a banana milkshake.
[Meghan] Great!
- But she really cared about health. - Mm.
And so she was an inspiration to me.
And at Chez Panisse, when we began, 53 years ago.
- Fifty-three years?! - Fifty-three. [chuckles]
I said, "I want the food to be pure and right."
"I want it to be organically grown."
And people came
because we gave them a taste of food they hadn't had before.
Even with me growing up, it was so much fast food.
And yes, I get when you're on a budget, it's super affordable,
but it costs you so much in the long run.
But when you have a garden, of course…
I know.
…having a garden is like printing your own money.
I love that.
- Cheers. - Cheers to you.
To you being here. Oh my gosh.
Alice Waters.
- Ah. Delicious. - So good.
- I'm doing a brunch. - Of course.
And I'm so thrilled that you can help me. [laughs]
I brought these things from my garden,
and I think part of the ideology that I have really adopted from your cooking
is what's fresh, what's growing, what do we see right in front of us?
Yes.
- I see you have beautiful squash blossoms. - I know. My kids picked them with me.
But things like this. These are Tokyo turnips.
You can just eat them raw.
You are going to change my life. You already have.
I mean, seriously.
- Actually… - This is sweet. Okay?
So often I've said, "Uh, I just don't really love turnips."
"How many times can you roast a turnip?" And now in this moment, trying it anew.
I love it. It is sweet and a little peppery.
It's like that when you eat the food that is just ripe at that moment in time.
It's endlessly variable.
And it's got a lot of magic in it.
I feel like you're watching me fall in love. It's very, very awkward.
I'm so sorry I'm blushing.
You are speaking my language, but it's a language I learned from you,
even though we haven't met before. And to that, you know,
with the bounty that we have in front of us, I think for a brunch,
I love a nice quiche. I have eggs from our chickens.
So maybe whatever seasonal vegetables we have here that sound good,
or a nice fresh salad with a beautiful vinaigrette.
Whatever you do, I want to learn from that
because I think that I'm doing it a certain way,
but I know your expertise will elevate whatever it is I'm thinking.
Well, this is a time of year when you can just take advantage of garlic.
- I use it every day… - Every day.
…when I'm making a vinaigrette. I'll show you that.
Oh, great. Yes, let's make a vinaigrette.
Teamwork.
[Alice] Teamwork.
- Oh, that's so darling. - It's so sweet.
Beautiful. And all this you would put in your compost?
Yes. All of it.
I have a little bucket.
- Fits right by the counter. - [Meghan] Isn't that beautiful… copper?
- It's my copper bucket. - Okay, I…
This is how much you've inspired me. I heard about that, and I was composting.
At first, I said, "It doesn't look so enticing when you have
an unattractive thing there."
And I said, "Well, if Alice Waters has a beautiful copper-lidded pot,
that's what I'm going to have." And I have one by our kitchen sink
- for all the scraps for the chickens. - Yep.
- [Meghan] And it looks beautiful. - [Alice] It does.
So what-- We don't need all of this garlic?
[laughter]
Do you have a mortar and pestle?
[Meghan] Absolutely.
- This is a beautiful mortars and pestles. - Yes.
Japanese, I love it.
But this is the size I use to make vinaigrette.
[Meghan] Fantastic.
I-- I'm going to use a whole clove and some salt.
[Meghan] Of course.
You can do it just really hard.
It's very good for getting out a little anxiety.
- Like kneading dough. - [laughs]
- You have some vinegar there? - Yes, of course.
Which type of vinegar would you like?
- Uh, let's try the sherry wine vinegar. - Mm-hm. Okay, absolutely.
- So all that was the garlic clove really… - Salt.
The salt on top of it…
And I let it just macerate until I'm ready.
- At room temperature? In the fridge? - At room temperature.
Let it sit and do its thing. Brilliant.
Shall we go to the garden and see what vegetables are here?
[pleasant music continues]
- There's our overgrown rosemary. - I… love it.
[laughs]
Instead of a tree hugger, a rosemary hugger. That's so great.
Beautiful lettuces. I just grab them. You like to use shears?
- I just grab. - Okay.
[Alice] I want some of every color.
[Meghan] Mm-hmm.
I've been very fortunate to have this garden.
People would go, "I don't have all this space at home."
That's the value of your idea of urban farming,
or even if you're in a little flat in London
or a small apartment in the city,
what people can do to feel they have a small piece of this.
That's the thing that's most important.
I think we have to plant wherever we can.
- Even just in your windowsill. - Exactly!
- Just planting something. - On the roof in your house.
Oh, yes, exactly.
[gentle music playing]
We have our beautiful lettuces we'll give a light rinse to.
I always can depend… If I have enough salad, I'm happy.
[chuckles]
- [Meghan] So, you lay them all out flat… - [Alice] Yes.
- I just let that sit here. - I've never seen anyone do that before.
Have them ready for when you're gonna make a salad.
Brilliant.
We're gonna put those to the side. All right.
You have a classic tomato quiche recipe that I love.
- Yeah. - Beautiful.
So let's get started with the eggs and some cream.
- Our hens are producing quite a bit. - That's something else.
This is gorgeous.
- So beautiful. Pass them over. - [Meghan] Let's appreciate those eggs.
[Alice] It's amazing.
♪ I think I could fly ♪
♪ If I tried, I think I could fly away ♪
♪ With you on my mind I'm feeling inclined ♪
♪ I think I'll just fly… ♪
[Meghan giggles]
Hi, ladies.
Let's go.
Hi. Hi.
[hens clucking]
Oh, they're very happy because there's some grapes.
Look at… It's just… I know, I know. Hold on. Look, ready.
Ooh!
There you go.
So, what's nice with their [giggles] little fruit and veggie ice,
is use whatever scraps you have,
and then as the day goes on and it melts, they can pick at it.
- [hen squawks] - [Meghan] No. Leave her alone. Not nice.
There's a pecking order. You get to see it play out with the chickens.
That's called a chick-nic table. Don't judge. It's actually called that.
Most of these girls were rescues.
Most at the beginning came from factory farms.
It took a solid six months to rehabilitate them.
And then, over time, we've received some as gifts
including those silkies, which my kids named Phil and Jill.
They're very sweet. Say hi.
- Hi, sweet girl. - [Michael] Who's this?
Uh, it changes on the day. Either Phil or Jill.
Depends how the kids are feeling.
We're gonna eat their eggs. What are they eating?
I'm giving them a lot of greens.
That'll make the yolk more yellow and brighter.
That will give you more… It's all connected.
Let's get some of those eggs.
Oh!
Oh, I'm so sorry. She keeps trying to lay. I'm so sorry.
They always lay in the same area.
You can see the different chickens we have.
They're so warm.
Freshly laid.
[upbeat music playing]
The girls lay about six eggs a day between them.
You see this one's much smaller. That's from the silkies.
We end up with a lot of eggs to share with friends.
I think what's really cool is, with whatever's going on in life,
to be able to do something like this,
it's just fun. It's fun for kids and for adults.
But, if a morning starts like this…
[snaps fingers]
…you think about your day differently.
[music fades]
Oh, look at the color on that yolk. Isn't that spectacular?
- Oh, my god. - I know.
I have never seen one that color. Never.
I guess it must be very specific to this place.
It's a gorgeous yolk on that.
Okay, so this is five eggs.
Would you like a glass of rosé while we're cooking?
Huh. Don't you tempt me.
[Meghan] We've gear shifted. The tea is to the side.
- To a life well lived. And to you. - And to you.
Mm-mm.
Might be the best sip of wine I've ever had.
- It's dangerous to drink when you cook. - It's about the company.
I'd just like to say.
Don't you think that helps, with it being so intuitive?
[both laugh]
[Meghan] All right. Back to the quiche.
Half a cup of heavy cream, half a cup of milk. That's our milk.
Some salt.
[jazz music playing]
[Meghan] We have our crust already done.
We're gonna put the egg and cream mixture and the tomatoes go on top?
I think so.
[Meghan] Ooh! Look at that golden girl.
Wow, look at the color on that heirloom tomato. Lovely.
Amazing. Thank you.
Gotta to make sure all the guests get some of this.
- Everyone needs a bite of tomato. - Yes.
Especially these heirlooms. Great.
All right, into the oven she goes. Middle rack, I think.
[Alice] Yeah.
[Meghan] We're at 375 and it'll be in there for about 40 minutes.
That enchanting quiche will come out.
We have our vinaigrette sitting and macerating.
- We can add some very good olive oil. - Good.
I sort of do two times the amount of olive oil to vinegar.
And sometimes it needs more salt.
I'll be your sous-chef any day.
I always do a little lemon.
Okay.
- The juice or the zest? - Juice.
[Meghan] Okay.
Yes… that's great.
So, we have that. We'll put our greens in a… in a bowl.
When it's wider, you can see the beauty of the different colors of the lettuces.
[pleasant music playing]
Has anyone in the world been so tickled by the sight of lettuces?
[Alice laughs]
I pour a little on and see how it works.
I always mix salad and eat it with my hands. [laughs]
So, you'll have to excuse me.
[Meghan] Nothing's overpowering anything else.
You can appreciate the flavor of the lettuces. Gorgeous.
Love it. Thank you. I could make salad with you the rest of my life.
All right, let's check on our quiche.
Oh, I love that tomato on top.
Okay.
Lovely.
- Would you put the basil on after each…? - Let's just… a few leaves around.
[Meghan] Beautiful. That one. Mm-hmm.
- Okay. - Gorgeous.
Now, let's see how we did.
I always get a little scared.
[giggling]
- Is it set? The first piece. - For the first piece.
- I know. - Is it done?
[Alice] Oh, is that perfect?
[laughing]
- Put some greens on the side. - Yes. I put a few greens.
[Meghan] Brilliant. Mm!
I love it's still a bit runny in the middle.
Yes, I do too.
[upbeat music playing]
[Meghan] Mm!
It's very good.
Very good. [giggles]
[Meghan] You can taste each ingredient
and the heirloom tomato bursts and brightens it.
[Alice] You made it first try. [laughs]
No one else needs to come. I mean, we're good.
I want to sit here and eat quiche and salad with you.
No. It just tastes like home.
I've missed California. All of the beautiful…
- We have to make this at Chez. We do. - Yes.
We've forgotten about this.
This has been one of the most delightful days I've had in a long time.
Thank you so much.
I just feel like our love of cooking…
- Yes. - It's a great thing.
Well, thank you. I respect and appreciate you so much.
The feeling is so mutual.
- [Meghan] This has been a complete treat. - Hey.
Cheers to that. I love it.
[upbeat music playing]
♪ Baby, oh, baby ♪
♪ Baby, I need you ♪
[Meghan] Alright. Let's get going on our brunch party planning.
So, first, putting a menu together,
is a really important consideration. You want to be sure
there's something sweet, something savory, something for the vegetarians,
different brightness and flavor, depth and flavor,
so you're doing that choreography.
From that, writing out the menu… You could print this out. That's fine.
But anything with handwriting adds a personal touch.
And then, um, I often find if you have a large group,
you don't want to constantly be asked, "What's that? What are we eating?"
Have two menus on a long table. People will look.
Then, little tent cards in front of each item.
Then, that way, you set your guests up to have an amazing experience,
and everyone can just relax and enjoy.
Let's write a menu, folks.
[upbeat music playing]
[Meghan] When you have unlined paper,
you can use a template that can keep your lines straight.
No matter how straight you write, it's helpful to have a template.
Use a soft, um, pencil
because you're going to erase those lines, obviously,
after you've written everything.
Having spent such a lovely time with Alice,
you realize that sometimes the simplest, best ingredients,
that balance of flavor, you don't need more than that.
That gives me a clear direction for our brunch menu. Just keep it simple.
First things first. Heirloom tomato quiche with fresh basil.
I always do those little swirls. I don't know why.
In school, I got an A minus in penmanship class.
I was like, "I'll take the minus for a bit of character."
"Alice Waters' Garden Greens."
It doesn't sound as impactful as it is.
I should say, "Alice Waters' Magical, Inspiring Garden Greens."
But, uh, we don't have space for that on the page. Okay.
[playful jazz music]
[Meghan] For the rest of the menu, I'm going to continue to focus
on these fresh California ingredients.
Burrata, pesto, avocado salad with herbs. Let's do all the savory together.
Smoked salmon with accoutrements.
All these are user-friendly. Nothing's too fussy.
English muffins with estate honey are also quite nice. Okay.
I'll roast some carrots and use the tops
to make a really yummy pesto so that nothing goes to waste.
The mimosas, bellinis, coffee, and tea assortment
will be its own card at that world.
I'll set those up at the front of the table
so guests can grab them right as they arrive. Easy.
[humming]
And crêpes with fresh preserves.
We're gonna make little cookies as well, with pressed, dried flowers in them.
Okay. That's our menu.
And we got to get moving because we've got a lot to do.
[upbeat music playing]
[Meghan] Today's the day!
We are going to get ready for our brunch.
You don't have to make everything yourself to save some prep time.
It takes a lot of the pressure off,
which allows you to do what you want, which is to have fun.
But after a beautiful day with Alice,
I'm trying to figure out how we can embrace
every piece of the harvest and the season.
So, we grow a lot of carrots at my house.
What do you do with the tops outside of share them with the chickens?
You can make them into a great pesto.
So, let's do carrots two ways.
We'll roast them, and then, make a carrot top pesto.
On these, you could have them whole. I'm going to slice them just in half.
First, get these carrots in the oven to just quickly roast them.
I like keeping a bit of the green tops on to have that visually on the plate.
And keeping the ends on as well.
My mom's coming today. My lovely husband's popping by.
Great friends that are such a huge part of my life.
So, it should be fun, and also definitely no pressure.
Just a good time.
I'm grabbing a second tray. You don't want to overcrowd the pan.
On this, we want them to cook evenly, have a bit of breathing space.
[sighing] We all need a bit of breathing space.
So, just going to get some olive oil, just a little bit of salt.
They're only going to be in the oven for like 20 minutes, about 375.
Okay.
Let's talk about making pesto. So basil.
Sort of the holy grail when you're talking about a pesto.
We're gonna bolster that with greens from the carrot tops.
First, some of the garlic I got from Alice.
Let's get some carrot tops. I don't take the thickest part of the stem.
[upbeat music playing]
Some pine nuts.
Actually, this lemon's a bit hard.
Some put it in the microwave. I don't think we need to.
Whoa.
And salt.
Tiny bit of Parmesan cheese.
Olive oil, of course.
[whirring]
Let's get those carrots out.
Voilà. See that nice color.
You want them to have a little bite in there. Great.
Mm.
Great.
It's good.
I'll put it in the sink.
Now, I've got a dessert plan.
[upbeat music playing]
[Meghan] We're going to make some really yummy crêpes filled with jam.
But first, how about we make some lovely floral cookies
because I like beautiful flowers on things.
So, whether it's dried or edible flowers,
you're pressing into a basic shortbread cookie recipe.
I made this, but if you wanted to buy one of those [clears throat] mixes, do it.
Make your life easy.
Once you have that dough rolled out into a log shape,
as long as that dough is chilled,
it'll be easier to slice into to make these great rings.
Maybe a quarter inch there.
[jazz music playing]
So the hope is people can enjoy these while having their tea or coffee,
but also we can put them in little baggies.
It's a sweet to-go gift.
This is just good old, granulated sugar. "Oh, sugar. Oh, honey."
And some of those edible flower blossoms.
A little egg wash on them as well. That is your adhesive.
These bachelor buttons are very sweet.
These are chamomile flowers.
Nothing needs to be precise here, right?
We have dried and fresh flowers here.
Just keep in mind
they're going to darken or brown, so we don't need a lot of time on them.
Seven to ten minutes in the oven. That's at 350.
Okay, in the interest of things sweet, should we make crêpes?
[lively music playing]
If you were gonna do Sunday breakfast at the house,
yes, you can make pancakes for your family and the kids,
but you can also make crêpes.
Why does a crêpe feel more special than a pancake? I don't know, but it does.
We've just got some flour, sugar, salt,
milk, a cup and a half…
butter melted down. About four tablespoons.
Three beautiful yolks. Thank you, chickens.
And then three whole eggs.
We have our wet and dry ingredients.
We can blend them. You can whisk. An immersion blender will make it easier.
I'm going to put on an apron, just in case.
[rock 'n' roll music playing]
We're gonna get a nice, thin consistency here.
Okay,
Let's check on our cookies.
Can you see? They're a bit soft to the touch.
We can take these out, and let them keep cooking on the pan.
[rock 'n' roll music continues]
Fantastic. Let's make some crêpes.
[stove ignites]
On crêpes, you want a medium level heat.
[cheerful music playing]
If you don't have a crêpe pan, use a really shallow pan.
You don't want something that has a big lip around it,
and trying to scoop within it.
And this kind of size, because what we're going for
is one thin pancake that will fold in half or fold into a nice triangle shape.
Give it a little butter.
[sizzling]
Mm!
[jazzy music playing]
They're thin, they'll cook quickly. About a minute each side.
So, I'm gonna turn that.
Woo!
Even just crêpes with butter and a little bit of powdered sugar on top…
Fantastic.
But if you have fresh preserves or jam, next level.
We can take this one off.
Mm!
Mm-mm-mm-mm!
I love my guests. I need to be sure everyone's fine.
It's great.
Let's make some more.
We're not in the pursuit of perfection. We're in the pursuit of joy.
♪ Now baby, I gotta say ♪
♪ I don't want to lie to you ♪
Oof!
♪ So when I tell ya the way I feel ♪
[train whistle hooting]
The train's here. Everyone's coming for crêpes.
♪ I got somethin'… ♪
A sifter is great because it'll help that snow come out just a little bit.
♪ …long long time ♪
♪ You got me thinkin' ♪
♪ If you gave your love to me ♪
♪ You got me thinkin' ♪
♪ How wonderful life could be ♪
Decorating it, to remind people what they're having.
So, we have a little dollop there, some fresh berries.
Prettier. No fuss, just thought.
I'll make more before guests arrive, but this is a great start.
♪ This could only be love ♪
Okay, so we did a different assortment of our flower cookies.
Now they've cooled, let's tie them up with a bow.
We'll use some of the ones with the lighter florals,
the bachelor buttons there.
Something else really soft and lovely.
Others can have different tones.
Yeah, that's sweet. And by the way, if you had a nice sprig of thyme
or rosemary or a quick sprig of lavender from outside…
Wait, you don't have to follow me.
Okay.
Any little thing that you have to just give it an extra sweet touch.
We've done it. We've done so much. Party time.
["Come and Get Your Love" by Redbone playing]
- ♪ Hey ♪ - ♪ Hey ♪
♪ What's… ♪
[Meghan] I was just about to open bubbles,
which I thought you might not be opposed to.
[giggling]
♪ Hey ♪
This looks lovely.
- So sweet. - Thank you.
♪ Bear with it, baby, 'cause you're fine And you're mine ♪
[woman] Oh, there he is.
Hi.
♪ Come and get your love ♪
[Meghan] Oh, Mommy's here.
♪ Come and get your love ♪
- Are the greens from the garden? - [Meghan] Yes, from the garden.
Alright, enjoy. Would you like some bubbles?
- Yes, why not? - Have a mimosa.
You know who was helping me prepare for this brunch was Alice Waters?
- [woman] Amazing. Wow. - [Doria] Wow.
[Meghan] There's a lot of food.
♪ Don't you feel right, baby? ♪
- It's lovely. - Thanks.
[Doria] Nice job.
♪ Get it from the main vine ♪
Nibble, graze, make a plate. There's more of everything.
- Good, right? Thank you - Well done. You did a great job.
I love it.
♪ Love it if you like it, yeah ♪
I just want to raise a glass to you.
Guys, this feels like a new chapter that I'm so excited that I get to share,
when I've been able to learn from all of you.
So, thank you for the love and support. And here we go, it's a business.
That's part of that creativity that I've missed so much.
So, thank you for loving me so much and celebrating with me.
- Cheers! - Cheers, guys.
To you!
♪ Come and get your love ♪
[Meghan] Just being home and connecting with friends, making new friends…
- We did it. - Oh! Thank you.
I'm just so grateful for that.
♪ Come and get your love now ♪
But also reconnecting with myself.
And just learning, right? I've always been curious.
Sharing all those discoveries and everything I love
with the people that I love, it brings me so much joy.
- [Meghan] To love! - [Daniel] To love.
[Meghan] Can't end on a better note than that.
♪ Come and get your love ♪
[music fades]