With Love, Meghan Episode Nine: A Sweet and Savory Adventure

WITH LOVE, MEGHAN: A SWEET AND SAVORY ADVENTURE

Original Airdate: August 26, 2025

Special Guests: Daniel Martin, David Chang and Christina Tosi

Mentions of "Joy": 2

Mentions of Flower Sprinkles: 0.5

Passive-Aggressive Moments: 0

Gushing Praise for Markle: "You'd be a hell of a samurai".

It is another jolly jaunt with the Duchess Hostess with the Mostest as we start Season Two (or Season One: Part Two) of With Love, Meghan. It is still unclear whether A Sweet and Savory Adventure is the first episode of a second season or the ninth episode of the first season. I'm not splitting hairs on this issue. It is the ninth episode overall, so I am going with the latter. It may be A Sweet and Savory Adventure, but this With Love, Meghan episode is one of the dullest half hours that I have endured with Her Royal Highness Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. 

Meghan's BFF Daniel Martin is back for a second round of Montecito madness. Joining her Suits makeup artist are two figures both billed as "chef and entrepreneur". They are David Chang and Christina Tosi. Meghan has a host of fun, fun, fun activities planned out for our terrific trio. First, they will do some flower arrangements in an informal competition. Once that is done, our Fab Four will go into the rented kitchen where Christina will show us how to make crackers for special homemade s'mores. In the midst of all that, Meghan will show us My Guide to Water Marbling, which looked like a fancy way to tie-dye handkerchiefs and scarves for her illustrious guests. With all the fun activities done, our couples can enjoy making s'mores over an open fire, celebrating the joy of such a pleasant day.

With the second half of With Love, Meghan it remains clear that, to quote a song involving another Henry, "second verse same as the first". We have Mrs. Sussex feigning sugary sweetness to her guests. Said guests will participate in all the activities that our de facto summer camp counselor has planned out. We will hear the guests gush at how brilliant Mrs. Mountbatten-Windsor is. We, the audience, will be bored, endlessly bored with it all.

To be fair, there is one element in the second half (or second season) of With Love, Meghan that is different. Perhaps the Duchess heard that the audience never got actual instruction or guidance when it came to all those recipes featured last go-round. At the end of A Sweet and Savory Adventure, a QR Code popped up, directing those who dare scan it for "recipes and more". I opted not to scan the QR Code, terrified that it would send me to the As Ever site where I could get $65 edible flower candles. I simply shudder at what the "and more" could mean.

Apart from that, A Sweet and Savory Adventure was anything but. When the professional chefs started making food, I pretty much had tuned out. I do not think that I could be blamed. By the time we got Christina Tosi using a fork to make the holes for our peanut butter crackers, the audience had already endured quite a bit of hijinks.

We had gone through Meghan Saxe-Coburg and Gotha go on about water marbling. She seemed dazzled at the various colors that she blended. All of this marveling at water marbling was so that she could present her guests with gifts. I remain, not puzzled but perplexed as to Markle's pathological need to give her guests gifts. 

We also had gone through a very lengthy flower arrangement segment that was simultaneously boring and revelatory about Markle's worldview. We had been told by Markle that this would be the first joyful activity that Martin, Chang and Tosi would do. I genuinely do not know if any of them genuinely thought such a thing would be either fun or a worthwhile task. Nevertheless, she persisted. It became something of a competition. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex demurred at the concept of it being anything like that. When Chang said that the flower arranging could get competitive, Meghan said, "No, I'm not". 

Those viewers still awake would probably be howling with laughter. I think Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, might be a trifle competitive. I think such a thing is within the realm of possibility. As Martin, Chang and Tosi struggled with making their arrangements, we see the nearly effortless Markle manner in putting together all these flowers. "How special to be able to create something so unique", she philosophizes. All three of A Sweet and Savory Adventure's guests insist that this activity is a delight. 

That leads us to another of With Love, Meghan's signature elements: the ebullient praise for Rachel. "Can I just say this is maybe one of the most joyful days", Tosi remarks. Christina Tosi got married. Christina Tosi has given birth. I do not know if I can accept that struggling to find a vase that does not leak is "one of the most joyful days" that Tosi has lived. 

I recalled the lyrics to I'm Henry VIII I Am while watching A Sweet and Savory Adventure. I recalled another song at the end of the flower arrangement segment. "Well, I hear you went up to Saratoga, and your horse naturally won" literally played in my mind after we saw the end results of their individual efforts. Surveying the four arrangements, David Chang said, "I mean it's clear that Meghan won". This unconscious quoting of You're So Vain came right after we learned of ikebana.  

David informed us that samurai would do both flower arrangements and calligraphy for hand-eye coordination. Meghan seemed downright shaken by this information. How amazing is it, she opined, that she was a mistress of both flower arrangements and calligraphy. This led the group to the realization that Meghan might have made the ultimate Shogun. Why settle for being a mere Duchess when your acumen should lead you to be Empress?

Surprisingly, David Chang managed to outdo the Duchess in oddball delights. "I'm excited for this vinaigrette", he says in the equally lengthy cooking section. Those are words that I do not think I have ever heard from any person in my lifetime. At least until now.

I confess to losing all interest in the various cooking and food preparation that Markle, Martin, Chang and Tosi were engaged in. All the scurrying around the kitchen soon became background noise. I was technically watching A Sweet and Savory Adventure. I just was not invested in anything about it. It was like the time when I managed to literally sleep through Oliver Stone's Alexander while simultaneously being aware of what I was watching. I do not know how I managed to be totally unconscious with both eyes open. Somehow, I did manage this incredible feat. This ability, however, is no match to water marbling.

Who knew that I could be both awake and asleep while the regal Martha Stewart is leading us through the joys of s'mores? 

A Sweet and Savory Adventure, according to Christina Tosi, was maybe one of the most joyful days. She got the full summer camp treatment, down to making s'mores by a campfire at night. For those of us unimpressed with flower arrangements or water marbling, we would find other things to spark joy.

S'mores? More like snores. 

2/10