I’m a Food Editor and I Would Never Do This One Thing I Saw on ‘With Love, Meghan’

People seem to want to hate With Love, Meghan. The internet is bursting with negative commentary about it. But I watched it, and I didn’t hate it. Actually I found myself oddly inspired by it—to the point that I baked a whole fish for the first time after Meghan made it look so easy! If you take it with a grain of salt, you may find that you like it too. I mean, who doesn’t want to fantasize about cooking and entertaining in a beautiful kitchen, hosting various friends and enjoying that gorgeous Montecito weather? (What I wouldn’t give for those stunning views!)

Of course, the show is not perfect, and if you’re looking for a serious cooking show, a la Julia Child, this is not it. But you can still glean some great tips from Meghan, such as adding sparkling water to eggs before scrambling them. She says this helps them rise and makes them fluffy. She also shows you how to be resourceful, for example, by using a zip-top bag for piping rather than a pastry bag. But I definitely cringed when I saw her cracking eggs on the rim of a glass bowl. (You’re less likely to end up with little bits of shell in your egg when you crack on a flat surface.) 

What was even worse, though, was that in not one but two episodes, Meghan used dry measuring cups to measure liquids. As she prepared the glaze for her Honey Lemon Layer Cake with Raspberry in the first episode, she measured honey, water and lemon juice in dry measuring cups. She also reached for her dry measuring cups to put together the brine for the fried chicken she made with Roy Choi in Episode 3. Granted, a little extra liquid isn’t really going to throw off a brine, but if you use the wrong cups when baking, you could run into a problem.

Liquid measuring cups are specially designed for liquids. If you want the most accurate measurements (and you absolutely do, especially when baking), you’ll want to use a liquid measuring cup for liquids and a dry measuring cup for dry ingredients (or even better, get out a kitchen scale). A liquid measuring cup looks like a small pitcher and has extra space at the top so you don’t accidentally spill or splash liquid out as you could with a dry measuring cup. It also has precise lines for measuring and a pour spout. When you use a dry measuring cup for liquid, you can actually overfill it because the liquid can sit above the top of the cup.

If we’re getting really picky, Meghan doesn’t even measure dry ingredients properly. When making focaccia in Episode 4, she simply pats the flour in the cup with her fingers, rather than using the tried-and-true spoon-and-level method, and says, “That’s close enough.” (The cup is clearly not filled to the top, and as a former professional baker, I was a little horrified.)

I can see why her lack of cooking expertise can turn someone off from watching the show, but I suggest you look past that: it’s really a lifestyle show. And it’s also easy to get behind the theme of the show, which is not worrying about making things too precious or too perfect. I’m the type of host who likes to have everything done and the whole kitchen cleaned up before my guests arrive (basically so it looks like I never lifted a finger to prepare for their arrival), but watching Meghan showed me that it can actually be fun to bring your friends into these moments. You can ask them to, say, rub a whole branzino with oil and bury it in a mound of wet salt or to craft ladybug crostini using basil, tomatoes, mozzarella, olives and some balsamic glaze for dots. 

Again, it’s not perfect, and there are some awkward moments (like when Meghan corrects Mindy Kaling for calling her Meghan Markle—she’s Sussex now) and some kitchen missteps, but overall I found With Love, Meghan light and entertaining. I can only dream of having a garden as expansive as hers, but that doesn’t mean I can’t take what I saw and apply it in my own life. I grow chives, basil and nasturtiums too, and her tulip toasts are sure to make an appearance when I’m hosting friends this summer. 

And I’ll gladly share a bottle of Domaines Ott rosé, one of my favorite special-occasion rosés, and make pasta with Meghan anytime, as she does with her friend Delfina in Episode 4. Or maybe, channeling Meghan, I’ll have my own friends over to do just that. I don’t think there’s any need to tear down a show that helps us all appreciate things like spending time with friends, enjoying good food and being present in the moment. I’m ready for Season 2!