Here are my 5 favourite ‘behind the scenes’ moments from the set:

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1. Victoria Pratt plays a Disney Princess!

It was the first day of working with the soon-to-be one of my favourite people ever, Ms. Pratt, and it was chilly outside. We were shooting at the ranch and headed inside to warm up. The lovely people of the wardrobe department offered us “cool shots” to put in our shoes and pockets. No sooner had they offered, I heard “Yeah baby, here we go!”

I turned around to find Victoria Pratt, face first in the full stance of a Disney Princess, laughing right into the blasting heat. In that moment, I knew we were destined to cause so much trouble together! #sisterfromanothermister

2. Cowboy Dempsey Bryk takes mom out on the range!

The best part about playing a mom on-screen is getting to know some really great kids. Jen’s step son “Wyatt” – played by Dempsey Bryk – is a fabulous 19 year-old young man in real life and we hit it off instantly. So naturally, I agreed when he suggested we head out on our day off to take riding lessons together. After an amazing afternoon at Cowley’s Rafter Six Ranch with our instructor Kateri Cowley, I was very proud of my faux family! It was clear. Wyatt is a pretty darn good cowboy!

3. New Show with an old friend: Andrea meets Peter?

For the past two years, I have loved working on the Murder She Baked movie series for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries with Alison Sweeney, Cameron Mathison and Barbara Niven. But one of my favourite characters on the show has always been Norman, played by the dashing Gabriel Hogan. As the sensible “other man”, my character “Andrea Todd” spent most of her time vehemently opposed to anything he said or did. She’s clearly #TeamMike all the way. Therefore, I was so excited to learn that Jen would be introduced to Peter this season on Heartland! Gabe is one of the funniest people I have every worked with, so it was great to finally get to do a scene together where we could get along. Our first scene was a page and half of me talking, non-stop, with the stage directions ending it off with:

Peter sits thinking to himself, “Now that was chatty woman!”

Gabe’s response to me after reading it? Laughter along with saying, “I read that and thought… yup, that definitely sounds like Durupt.”

4. 6 degrees from Kevin “Bacon” McGarry!

In this case, it was only 1 degree. Back in the day, I played one of the ‘silly girls’ in the musical Beauty and the Beast at Rainbow Stage in Winnipeg and became friends with a beautiful dancer named Alex. I was thrilled to learn she is now the real-life leading lady in the life of Kevin McGarry, the man that Heartland fans know as “Mitch”. Sorry ladies, she is a total gem and wonderful friend. I could not be happier for them.

5. Keeping it in the family with “Tim”!

The best part of working on such a great family show is getting to know the cast and seeing how they take care of each other. That was very clear when Chris Potter (“Tim” on the show) stepped behind the camera to direct episode 7. As a performer, he is very passionate about his work so I knew we were in good hands with him as a director.

He was so great about really wanting to establish who “Jen” was in the Heartland world with the first kitchen scene between Peter, Jen and a whole lot of groceries. My favorite Chris Potter moment was when he walked up to me on-set to give me direction. As he was talking – very seriously of course – all I could see was his misbuttoned shirt. Naturally, I listened politely and then kindly blurted out, “What the hell is happening with your clothing today?”

He lightened right up, laughed and adjusted it. Needless to say, I wasn’t fired so I think it is safe to say we are officially family.

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I have had a total blast working on this show and I hope you enjoy the rest of the season!

From her inspired beginnings on the printed pages of Joanne Fluke’s original book series (thank you, Joanne!) to her subsequent adventures with an amazing TV family, it’s safe to say that Andrea has learned a lot from her time in Eden Lake. So how would Andrea sum up these experiences?

Well, just ahead of the premiere of Murder She Baked: Just Desserts – tune in March 26^th on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries – I’m delighted to share what I feel are… drum roll, please…

Andrea Todd’s 5 Most Important Lessons from Eden Lake!

Here we go!

1. Baking is THE ultimate remedy!

The best part of being in such a small town – where everyone knows your name – is that the number one solution to any problem, illness or ailment is baking. Not just any baking, but Hannah Swensen’s baking! Cookies, crumbles, tarts and pies, soufflés, turnovers, and cakes – OH MY! Regardless of who is sick or over-worked or worried about something, they come to Hannah for a sweet solution. Baking makes everything better.

2. Eden Lake Residents are dedicated fitness fanatics!

For the amount of treats that everyone eats in Eden Lake, I firmly believe that the Eden Lake folks work out a lot to keep those sugar and insulin levels in check. Right? Or maybe there’s something in the water. On that note…

3. Eden Lake Police officers are ridiculously good looking!

Let’s be honest. It takes a very specific set of skills to become an officer of the law, and for that we applaud every single one of them. But can you honestly say you’ve seen such a good looking group of people in one department? After all the fatalities in one small town, it’s easy to see why no one moves.

Eden Lake Dating 101: The average single person has a good chance of meeting a cute police officer, sooner rather than later. The question is whether they will be alive when they do. Here’s hoping!

4. Murders stay close to home!

The coolest – or perhaps the creepiest – part about Eden Lake is that all victims can rest assured that they will never be killed by an outsider! How comforting.

That’s right, folks. All murderers are friends, family members, and acquaintances of the victim within the town. In a time when everyone is so disconnected on their devices, it is sort of nice to see such a sense of community …even with those that end up in jail for murder.

5. When one Eden Lake zip code is that lethal… try a new one!

Time and time again, it has been a proven fact that the only way to guarantee your safety is to avoid Hannah Swensen like the plague! Or move. With such a small population and so many murders, one can assume that the only real safe haven would be to move. So why not try a familiar place no one else would think of? Eden Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada! Sounds good, eh?

That’s a wrap!

While you’re tuned in to Murder She Baked: Just Desserts on Sunday, join me, Alison Sweeney, Barbara Niven, Cameron Mathison, and the rest of the gang for some live Tweeting. Please use the hashtag #MurderSheBaked to participate!

Thanks for watching, my friends!

This was – according to a handful of 12-year-old girls – a very serious and very “adult type of show” that they were all racing home to watch. I had no clue what it was, but being the “chubby, funny and addicted-to-joining-any-and-all-clubs” kid that I was, I thought this might help in keeping up with the cool girls at lunch.

So I too decided that day to race home to watch it. I lived about a block from school, so needless to say I had about 30 minutes to kill, as I made myself comfortable for what was to be my very first soap opera viewing. Or so I thought.

The minute to opening credits started I realized I had watched this show many times in kindergarten with my great grandma. Not by choice, of course. She used to babysit me after school and the only way I would get her attention between 2 and 4 was to sit and watch “her shows” with her. This normally involved her yelling at them while I watched, completely in awe of her feistiness at age 85. So here I was 7 years later with my great grandma somewhere up there – no doubt beaming with pride that I had come to my senses and decided to keep our soap opera ritual alive. I was ready to fill my brain with things to gossip about tomorrow. Like sands through the hourglass, off we went!

To this day, my first memory was the introduction of a new character named Sami Brady. Along with her twin brother – none other than Jensen Ackles of Supernatural – they were ridiculously attractive twins whose dad was a cop while their mom was a doctor that was still in love with someone else and would later be possessed…pretty typical stuff. So maybe things could be a little far-fetched in this type of show, but I was on an important mission. I continued to watch and, sure enough, I was sitting pretty at the cool girls’ table at lunch with a knowing smile and the necessary Days of Our Lives street cred to back it up.

Fast forward 20 years later. I was sitting at my own lunch table when I got a phone call letting me know I had booked a role on Murder, She Baked, a series of mystery movies for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries that were based on the Hannah Swensen mystery novels by Joanne Fluke. Having read the first book, I was curious who had been cast as the leading lady Hannah Swensen. I did my own detective work through the Google agency and there she was… Sami Brady, better-known as Alison Sweeney! Not only was she going to be my sister for the next couple of years on screen, but she was also one of the producers. Suddenly I felt like I was 12 again, giggling with mischievous excitement. How cool would it have been to be able to tell the cool girls at the school lunch table that one day, I would be working with Sami Brady?

From the first day on set, Alison Sweeney was positively fierce. Fierce in the good way that only a true soap opera veteran can be. She has been in the entertainment industry since she was a toddler and it’s clear that she still loves every minute of it. She has not only survived but thrived in a competitive business that changes as quickly as the sands run through the hourglass.

To this day she holds the record for acting in the most scripted pages filmed in 1 day: Over 90! That is insane. Most films aim to shoot 6-10. 12 -14 pages is considered a near impossibility. But spend 5 minutes with Alison Sweeney and you will see why she makes it look easy. She can memorize a scene in no time flat. She can improvise in a pinch so as not to kill a shot. She is always willing to talk it out with her scene partner to find the best possible way to play it.

To sum it up: Alison Sweeney loves to play!

One day at lunch, Alison Sweeney said to me, “I would rather someone come to a scene with a choice completely different than mine, so that we can hash it out together, instead of showing up having not made a choice at all. I hate when people agree because they are worried about disagreeing with me.”

Naturally, I made sure to disagree with all of her choices that day – starting with her lunch order.

Murder She Baked: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery – the first movie of the series – aired in May to record-breaking numbers for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

The second movie, Murder She Baked: A Plum Pudding Mystery aired to record numbers for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries in November. It came in second only to the first movie!

Both movies will re-air on Sunday, January 10th, 2016 on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries in the USA along with the premiere of a brand new one, Murder She Baked: A Peach Cobbler Mystery! I can’t wait!

In Canada, CTV has recently begun airing the series as well. Check local listings!

In my mind, the success of the series is no doubt due to the hard work that Alison Sweeney has put into them. If I have learned anything from working with Alison Sweeney, it is that she is the real deal. She is professional, she stands behind her choices and she makes no apologies for who she is. I have to say that I respect and admire her drive. I look up to her as a female in this business and I am in awe of how she still manages to make her family her first priority.

With the good fortune of calling Alison Sweeney my friend today, I walk a little taller. Twenty years ago, she likely would have told me to ditch the cool crew and just be myself….but then again, I would have missed out on growing up with daytime’s most loveable villain, Sami Brady. There’s no one else I would want to solve Hallmark Movies & Mysteries with.

For my fans in the USA, the newest Murder, She Baked installment – Murder, She Baked: A Plum Pudding Mystery – airs tonight on at 9PM / 8PM CST on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

In this holiday-set mystery with a touch of romance. you will see me along with the rest of the Murder, She Baked regulars like Alison Sweeney, Cameron Mathison, and Barbara Niven. It’s been such a joy for all of us to bring Joanne Fluke’s characters and stories to life and being part of this production – and working with a first-rate cast and crew – was no exception.

Thanks for watching!

Lisa