It has been my dream for a very long time to have a cooking show. And an even greater dream to cook on tv with my mom, Frankie! Well, I may not have my own show yet, but we were both still so happy to be.a part of something special together on Tuesday May 9th. My mom has always loved Twin Cities Live. She knows all of the crew and thinks they are all so, "down to earth," as she says. Although we truly had a very fun time together, Twin Cities Live certainly missed out on a unique opportunity to give Minnesotans more of mom for Mother's Day.
Welcome to tableforsue! Thank you for joining me! Today is all about my mom, Frankie. I know everyone says their moms are special. And I am certain they are right about that. We women are pretty extraordinary creatures! But my mom is pretty shockingly hilarious and it is my belief she has the capacity to love the entire world.
It was so funny to park - my mom said, oooo, we're big shots. lol
We were so excited! After months of corresponding, the day was here. I had just spent 4 days in California, cooked for my date's sister's birthday party, flew home to Houston for 10 hours, got back on a plane and headed home to the Twin Cities. A storm in Houston caused a 3 hour delay so I didn't get to Minneapolis until 2:00am Tuesday. I made all of the pierogi around 10 am that morning and packed up everything needed. The producers were impeccable with their directions, instructions and wow, the crew was mostly so welcoming and efficient!
I mean honestly, this is it! This is my dream. To go to work each day at a studio where the love, food, and life stories infect viewers with joy, laughter, and kitchen creativity. Mom would be the favorite STAR guest or she'd just watch the episode with a cup of decaf.
Elizabeth and some other crew were on their way to Ireland for a TCL thing, but mom and I got to hang with Kelli and Ben and they were both very warm & welcoming. Mom told everyone how Ben hugged her twice and gave her well wishes for tomorrow's knee surgery. What a genuine, lovely man he is!
There wasn't any prep. They told us to put Kelli & Ben to work and not worry about time. I quickly shared how to put a pierogi together and I think they asked mom like one question. I absolutely knew it would be a short segment, but that short?! I just wish there had been some time to honor "Mother's Day" by having even 3 or so more minutes to ask a few 'mom' questions. I wanted to share a fave story about my mom - there are many - but these two are very brief and always my favorites:
1 - When my parents were in their 20's my dad brought my mom to her first Twins game. My dad's friend got up from his seat mid way through the game and said, "I gotta go see a man about a horse..." My mom then says, "Ohhhh, can I come?! I just love!! horses!!!!" (Wayyyyy more funny when I impersonate her. Even wayyyyyy more funny when she laughs while I tell it. And if you think she was kidding you are dead wrong. She absolutely loves horses. Lol)
2 - Not long ago I noticed on the table that my mom bought some Powerball tickets. She never buys Powerball tickets. I picked it up and looked and said, "Mom!!! You have TWO rows of the SAME set of numbers??" She responds: "I figured I'd double my chances...."
ZOINKS!!! LOLLOLOLOLOL
We love you Twin Cities Live! Thank you for having us! The friendly, coming from a place of love feedback from family, friends, strangers and me and mumma is more time for special guests and less time on airport travel habits.... 🫢
Um, I left like nearly a dozen of these in the pan and asked one of the crew if she promises they will be enjoyed and not thrown. She assured me they would be eaten! I really hope so because if they threw them I will kick some ass. I wish I could make these for all of you!!! I know Tona would be proud. Pierogi!!! We love you! For those wondering, pierogi is a polish recipe traditionally. We called them "pillows" growing up. My Godmother Tona stuffed dough with potato and cheese so it is like a big ravioli. We boil them and then bake them with butter and onion and serve with sauerkraut. It is not the traditional preparation, but this is how I grew up eating them and they were always a favorite of both me and mom. Ben was surprised how much he liked the sauerkraut on them. I told him that the rich carb on carb needs something acidic to cut the fat. So delish!!! My favorite vegetarian dish of all time!
You can catch mom and me here after that airport stuff 😌
That's a pierogi! Not a pierogi hotdish. lol
I just wish you could taste these!! Pierogi on the right and then using the same ingredients, I created a pierogi hotdish which is on the left. Mmmmmm.....
As mom shared on TV, she had knee replacement the day after our 6 second debut so I am home with my mom and dad helping out for a few weeks. Mom, dad, Jimmer, Julie & Chris got to try the pierogi. This comfort dish usually only appears around the winter holidays.
Don't you love my mom's cute kitchen?
Since I am large and in charge around here for a while, I made these teeny meatballs for an Italian Wedding soup. My mom LOVES soup! And my dad LOVES meatballs. So, win, win.
Leeks, celery, carrots, spinach and vegetable stalk. I found these cute lil star pasta too! I NEVER put pasta in my soup. Put the cooked pasta in the soup bowl, then ladle on the soup when serving.
I also made some stuffed rigatoni. In between icing mumma's knee, getting their meds, visiting, and just being together, it has been so nice to cook for my parents. They are loving getting waited on and I love doing it! (A few rigs didn't get stuffed - lol - but most of them are stuffed with a cheese/spinach filling.) My dad's mom, my Nana, taught my mom how to make sauce when she married my dad. I think I was like 15 before I found out that my mom wasn't Italian and I was, in fact, both Italian and Yugoslavian! I make sauce like my mom to this day. When us kids were little, she adjusted how she made sauce from how Nana taught her because she wanted my brothers and I to eat more vegetables. I always watched her blend fresh carrots, onion, celery and whatever veggies she could find along with freshly canned tomatoes from our fruit room downstairs. When I make my sauce, I make it like my mom!
After our fun on Twin Cities Live, we got up early the next morning to check into her knee replacement surgery. I think all of us who know and love my mom so much were feeling a bit nervous for her because in almost 80 years on earth, Frankie has never had surgery of any kind. Like she says, "I have only been in the hospital when I had all of my babies." Thankfully, she had a very smooth experience at Summit Ortho! We stayed one night and got home the following morning. My dad was so happy to have her home and she was so happy to be home. My mom has a way higher tolerance for pain than me, that's for sure!! Yes, I come from a line of very strong women!
I couldn't share a Mother's Day blog about my exceptional mom without including her mom, my grandma, Lillian Shebly. Although very, very different personalities, my mom and grandma had such a deep bond! "Grandma's are the GRAND in Mother. In all of the world, I would have no other. You are the most special part of me. The foundation of our family." My poem for grandma many years ago. My strong, independent, grandma raised my mom and uncle on her own during a time when being a single parent was not usual. She worked hard as a nurse and dedicated her life to loving her family. I will always be grateful for the relationship that my mom and grandma had. Being the granddaughter and daughter of these women gave me the balance of both strength and open-heartedness.
Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms! Mine has been in my corner all of my life. The youngest of four and the only girl, I'm told she did not take me out of the house until I was 3-4 months old. She was my protector always. Once she did take me out though, we were on the go steady. My mom has a love for people and she gave me the tools to love others as well. She came to every, single thing you can think of throughout my education and often let me fly even though it must have been scary for her because I am always trying to fly. My mom has lived her life for her family - always putting my dad, and all of us kids/grandkids first. I don't know how I got to be a naughty gypsy because my mom is steady and wholesome and believes that buying two rows of the same set of Powerball numbers will double your chances to win. I can't wait to give her the air time on TABLE FOR SUE the show soon! She could make even the meanest person smile.
How blessed we are to be her babies! Happy Mother's Day mom! Thank you for loving us with your whole heart.
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