I’m writing this on Tuesday morning, having watched absolutely nothing of With Love, Meghan’s Season 2. I will get to it! I will start it later today. Right now, I’m just reading and analyzing the coverage of WLM. In particular, I’m enjoying the wistfulness of the British coverage. One of the British press’s storylines today is “Meghan misses the UK!” This is because two of Meghan’s WLM guests were British – Tan France and Clare Smyth. Having lived in the UK for two years, Meghan’s memories are not entirely sour, and she notes at least one thing she enjoyed from her time there: a radio station.
She misses an oldies radio station: The Duchess of Sussex has admitted for the first time that there is at least one thing she misses about the UK since she quit royal duties to start a new life in California: Magic FM. Meghan said that she missed “the radio” in general in Britain and in particular Magic, the digital station known for playing nostalgic pop songs which also broadcasts on FM in London. When she tells France that she misses Magic FM, he tells her, “That’s such a grandma station,” to which Meghan replies: “I’ll be that grandma!”
Harry said ILY first: Although Harry does not appear in person, pictures of him are shown on screen and Meghan frequently refers to “my husband”. She tells her guest Tan France, a fashion consultant on the makeover programme Queer Eye, that while they were dating Harry was the first one to say “I love you” before she confirmed that she felt the same.
Clare Smyth made fried chicken for the Sussexes’ wedding afterparty: In the new series Meghan was reunited with Clare Smyth, the first woman from the UK to achieve three Michelin stars. Smyth catered the Sussexes’ wedding reception in 2018. While the menu at her restaurant Core, in Notting Hill, includes scallop tartare and herring roe, she said she was tasked by the couple to produce fried chicken for the wedding “after party”. Smyth said: “It’s not something that I typically do — we had to try and create a recipe for fried chicken — and we did and we kept it. We still do it — our only off-menu item.”
The importance of roast chicken: Meghan said that roast chicken had been a key ingredient in her romance with Harry, revealing she made the dish on the night he proposed to her. It featured in the wedding breakfast alongside maps showing guests where the food for the meal had been sourced. One of the tables was called “Cilantro”, the US term for coriander. Speaking about the night of the proposal she said: “I roasted a chicken the night my husband proposed to me.” She said that at the time she was “still having a lot of challenges with the conversion of Celsius and Fahrenheit” and, as a result, “made a horrible chicken that night. I mean, truly terrible”. Meghan says that she now makes roast chicken for her family “at least once a week”.
Marshmallows from scratch??! In the new series, Meghan is seen flower-arranging, candle-making and working a pottery wheel. She explains how to pack an overnight bag for a weekend away (a silk pillowcase is included as well as family photographs) and how to make marshmallows from scratch.
Harry doesn’t like cinnamon or lobster: Meghan shows viewers a baseball cap adorned with “PH 40” that she had specially made for her husband and his friends to mark his 40th birthday party in September 2024. Yet when she tells José Andrés, the chef and humanitarian, that Harry doesn’t like lobster, he jokes: “And you married him?” In another scene Meghan says Harry doesn’t like cinnamon, either.
Archie & Lili’s transatlantic accents: Speaking about their children Archie, six, and Lilibet, four, Meghan says that while they have adopted some British pronunciations such as zebra rather than the US “zeebra”, they follow her when it comes to the American names for food terms “because I guess Papa’s not cooking so much”.
Harry doesn’t like cinnamon?? The taste or the smell or both? How does he get through the holiday season in America, because cinnamon is everywhere? And we heard in the trailer that he doesn’t like lobster. Harry’s very meat-and-potatoes, isn’t he? No shade, I like simple meals most of the time too. As for Meghan’s love for what sounds like an oldies station playing yacht rock… I’m into it. And I cannot believe she’s making marshmallows from scratch! That, along with the dog biscuits in Season 1? She’s really coming for James Middleton’s wig!
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
Can’t she stream Magic FM?
Anyhoo, this should be a bonanza for the rats this week. So many articles on the couple who are no longer taxpayer funded 😏
She probably can and very well might. But it sounds like it was something fun for her to do in the uk…turn on the fm and jam. Meghan is a corny cheeseball…not in a bad way though, lol.
I loved her mentioning that radio station as being something she missed. We lived in England for almost 10 years and that’s exactly the kind of thing we miss. Simple stuff like pub lunches, walking down streets that look so different to us from ‘home’, TV shows and radio stations, browsing in stores. It makes her so relatable.
I remember watching GBBO and Graham Norton on tv when we were in Edinburgh. It really is that kind of background noise that makes the nights feel cozy.
Meghan also knows her music. She always finds the right tune for her Instagram posts.
I don’t bake without cinnamon. I double the amount called for. The house smells so awesome from coffee cake, sugar and cinnamon.
Totally agree. Cinnamon and lots of pecans are part of my world-famous (in my small world) chocolate chip cookies.
I make my chocolate chip cookies with cinnamon, and the amount is “stop when you can smell it with your eyes closed.” I put that in everything
Cinnamon can’t be measured with a spoon. It needs to be measured with the heart.
¡Ay canela! I season so much with it. I just keep tossing in more and more of whatever I’m cooking until my nanas whisper, “Ya, mija.”
Can’t make a decent mole sauce without it!
@Stellainnh just like garlic. 🥰
Marshmallows and dog biscuits how dare she try to compete with the lazies brother!! She probably does miss things in the UK but what she doesn’t miss is the right royal racist family and courtiers and gutter press!
Marshmallows are quite easy to make. It’s storing them that’s a pain.
That marigold dress 😍
I used to cook a lot of chicken dishes for me and my family and then I found out that I’m severely intolerant to chicken and a whole lot of other things. 😭I still cook with it for my family, I just can’t eat it. Making marshmallows is quite easy, it’s a bit daunting at first but once you get the hang of it it’s quite simple and it’s delicious and you can make different variations as well.
I always think about Harry’s life now- how he is well fed, full of delicious, properly seasoned food (even if he immediately salts everything). How he is surfing, and taking ducklings over to Oprah’s pond.
She really did rescue him.
So excited to go home after work and put on As Ever.
I think i’ll watch the circuit podcast during lunch.
And i have my alarm set for 11 (central) – because i am OUT OF RASPBERRY JAM! and i am hoping there’s a restock b/c says “coming soon” and it is so delicious.
Last thing, i want to note i do not cook, host, craft, or decorate. It’s just not part of my dna.
But holy crap do i love watching and re-watching With Love, Meghan.
It is soothing and joyful and so very pretty. And A++ on the Duchess’ music selections. She really does love her oldies.
My favorite season 1 episode is the Roy Choi episode. I wonder what my favorite of the next set will be.
Also, already looking forward to the holiday special!!!!
I can’t imagine making homemade Marshmallows. Why? Dog Biscuits I can see.
I’m with Harry…… I think that lobster is over priced and overrated.
My husband said the same thing when we first met and my cheeky response was “That’s because you haven’t had a good one.” A quality lobster properly prepared is one of the ways, to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, “that we know God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
Whether simply boiled in bouillon and plopped on a plate, to pick at with claw crackers and a lobster fork until your shirt resembles emergency room triage, bits of claw dangling in your hair, to steamed lobster tagliatelle in sauce beurre blanc (made with lobster jus and sprinkled with chives), to a real New England lobster bake with corn on the cob and potatoes, to brushed with oil and spices and broiled on a plancha… You just have to know what you’re doing. Give it another go!
Bliddy L it looks as if The Times were binge watching at the same time as me! I “think” the episode with Clare was my favourite. It was the little things which she took for granted that us lesser mortals wouldn’t even think about doing. I know I won’t be cooking the dish that they made but, it was interesting watching a three star Michelin chef being so chilled in the kitchen. It made me wonder if Olivia Portman’s character in The Bear was based around Clare.
They want her to miss them over there…. I find it very interesting that what she misses is not the leftovers or the Royal life but the music that was her mental escape from the reality she was trapped in while she lived there.
Roast chicken is both easy and tricky – i dont make it once a week but maybe once a month or so and I feel like it can be a very…..sensitive….dish, so to speak. Like if I open the oven to check on it one too many times it doesn’t quite turn out, etc. But its easy in that its pretty much a blank canvas – season it how you want, add some aromatics to the inside if you want, cook it with some veggies if you want, etc. There are so many ways to do it and for it to turn out delicious. Marcella Hazan has the easiest recipe- just basically chicken stuffed with lemons – its really good and a good starting recipe.
I do think Meghan misses things about England. It doesn’t mean she wants to go back, but she was in London a few times before meeting Harry and seemed to love it – she seems to love big vibrant cities like Toronto, NYC, London – so I can imagine feeling like she can’t really go back is hard.
just remember the #1 rule of roast bird, @Becks1…no matter the size or type of bird. First half cooking time do breast side down, then flip, then proceed with cooking. Ideally on a rack but not necessary, my mother did hers for more than 50 years with a bog-standard disposable aluminum pan from the grocery store.
Oven temperature low and slow (around 150C) for as long as recommended for your size or type of bird, and then for the last half hour, crank it up to 200C to crust the skin. EVOO (or butter), salt and pepper, whatever herbs or rubs you want. No need to baste unless you’re making a sauce for the dripping. If it’s stuffed like for a turkey, just use a thermometer to plunge into the middle of the stuffing to make sure it reaches a safe temperature. Easy peasy.
tldr breast side down, then flip around halfway through cooking, then reserve last 30 minutes to crust the skin. Voila. Perfect every time!
I start mine in a really hot oven (425) for about 10 minutes to sear the skin, then turn it down to about 325. Stuff with lemon slices, onion chunks and garlic, rub all over with olive oil, S&P, garlic powder and poultry seasoning, then turn it over half-way through. The meat just falls off the bone.
@Jaded 😍 I’m doing a roast chicken tomorrow in fact. One of the things I love about roast bird, or even roast anything is chucking it in the oven and forgetting about it except for that flip halfway through and the crusting (I do it at the end, you do at the beginning, same same it’s all deliciousness). I will put on the Netflix afterwards and check out WLM’s new season while relaxing over a last glass of wine, can’t wait!
I don’t like cinnamon either. I’m with you Harry! I don’t mind the taste so much as the smell. I’m allergic (headaches) to a lot of scents. I hold my breath and scurry past the Cinnabon at the mall.
Aw so many details. You mean the chicken she made on the engagement night sucked? LOL. That was not mentioned in the engagement interview was it. And fried chicken at the after party? Yes, please. I bet it was so good. I’ve got WLM on in the background while I’m simultaneously working on my computer. It sounds weird but my brain works better this way, jumping around. Anyways, the first ep got me a little teary at the end bc David Chang and Christina Tosi spoke about their friendship and love for each other and it was really really lovely. And yes, Meghan is very grandma-like in her music choices and I ain’t mad at it.
She had a lot of UK born guests on her show this time Jay Shetty and his wife , Claire, & Tan France. Claire intrigued me the most as she doesnt come across as sterotypically English but i’ve just Checked and she is actually northern irish, I liked her.
Does anyone else hate homemade marshmallows? It’s so weird to me, because I’m a culinary maximalist and I will go out of my way to make everything from scratch when I possibly can, and I’m usually evangelical about “homemade is best!”, but I’ve never had a homemade marshmallow that wasn’t, at best, underwhelming. I’ll eat an entire bag of Jet Puffed minis in one sitting, though.
I love homemade marshmallows but I think you have to put them in a different category than Jet Puffed or the like. I think if you’re trying to compare the two, there’s going to be a big discrepancy. But if you think of them as two totally different things, you can like both.
This is also how I justify my weird love of Olive Garden and other chain Italian restaurants. I also love authentic Italian food from more, um, authentic, restaurants, and I love to make it at home. but I don’t put the two things in the same category. They’re very different things in my my mind, and sometimes, that Olive Garden just hits the spot.
OK, when you make the Olive Garden comparison, I totally get it, because their fettuccine alfredo is possibly my guiltiest pleasure, ever since I was a kid. Funnily enough, my family is Italian, and some of my visiting relatives who have wanted to try Italian-American food out of morbid curiosity actually ended up liking Olive Garden for what it was. A couple of my great aunts said that they’d take OG over any place in Little Italy, because at least OG wasn’t making claims of authenticity and coming up short.
Meghan spent a lot of free time in London prior to even meeting Harry. It’s probably one of the reasons she thought the transition to living there and marrying him would be doable. Good for her for taking some of it back.
I remember reading that Meghan said London was one of her favorite cities. I’m sure that’s why the royals and UK media get so much delight from the fake polls saying how much she is hated there. Very sad but I’m glad she’s found a happy home now.
Ive never been a fan of marshmallows, just don’t see the appeal in them. I do think they’re a very American thing, they weren’t commonplace for me growing up in Scotland other than as fillers in ‘sweetie bags’. Maybe other folk of my age have different memories of them.
I find chicken here to be tough in a way it wasn’t in the UK so I never buy a whole bird, just thighs and legs and most of the time it’s a simple roast with a smear of oil, salt & pepper, occasionally ras el hanout for a little spice or sweet smoked paprika for an added flavour to the s & p.
For her radio needs all Meghan requires is an iPhone, a British postcode, the Rayo app or website and she’s good to go. I checked and Magic FM is listed on it. I’m live in France now and miss Absolute 80s but I just use the postcode of where I used to live and I can listen to my favs day in day out if in the mood.
A toasted marshmallow over a fire is a bit of heaven.
Poor Harry! Doesn’t like cinnamon and he moved to the USA? This poor guy during Pumpkin Spice season! My family would get those cinnamon brooms to hang up.
I make homemade marshmallow at Christmas for gifts: vanilla flavor, a little dark chocolate spread on top, sprinkle with crushed candy canes. It’s very different from store bought. Everyone says they love them, and ask me when they’re getting them when the next year rolls around.
Ahhh I can’t watch until I get off work but every clip or article is just making me more excited.
The British press convinced themselves that Meghan hates the UK but in reality it was the way she was treated by the press and the Palace she hated not the country.
I’ve already finished binge watching season 2 and I found it funny, joyful, and I learned a thing or two and have a couple of dishes I want to cook. Meghan shares quite a bit about herself and the episodes just flew by. Her interactions with the crew and the director gives the show a warm and intimate feel. I’m thinking that Meghan really needs to work on developing Harry’s palate. Seems like he needs to get beyond meat and potatoes and bacon sandwiches. And I hope he stops automatically salting everything eventually!
Every time I’ve been in England I’m always impressed with the pub grub. Wonderful rich soups, perfect roasts, even had some exceptional Italian and Thai food in pubs. Now the fancier restaurants still leave something to be desired and are horrendously overpriced.
As if typing this I have watched the Claire Smyth episode and the girls’ trip one. Loving it so far!
I have to agree with Ms taste in music from her SM posts to WLM music catalog(s1), they’re my style of songs also. I’ll watch WLM s2 this weekend, no road trips for us this long weekend so will relax, watch and enjoy at home.