Latrobe woman’s ‘Baking With Lucy’ show plans Mother’s Day tribute
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From one generation to the next, daughters have learned to cook at their mothers’ sides.
That time-honored tradition struck a chord with thousands of Facebook users when Mary Ellen Raneri started streaming “Baking With Lucy” in March 2020, featuring favorite recipes demonstrated by her mother, Lucy Pollock.
On the first episode, Pollock shared her recipe for Easter buns.
The cooking lessons, with Raneri’s husband, Phil Raneri, behind the cellphone camera, started as a way for the Latrobe residents to stay connected with friends during the early days of the pandemic shutdown. They quickly became an internet sensation.
Pollock died Nov. 22 at 98 of a covid-related lung infection, but the Raneris continued to bake as a way to deal with the grief and to honor her memory.
They’ll pay tribute to mothers everywhere with a special Mother’s Day class at 1 p.m. Saturday, featuring another family with a long-standing tradition of cooking together.
Joining them will be Philomina Susa, 87, of Calumet and her daughter and granddaughter, Jeanie Lucas and Natalie Lucas, both of New Stanton.
Susa, who is of Lebanese descent, will make stuffed grape leaves, tabouli and hummus. Raneri will add a lentil salad.
Keeping tradition alive
Mary Ellen Raneri and Jeanie Lucas met about 10 years ago in a long-term care facility where Raneri’s father resided prior to his death. Lucas was a long-term-care ombudsman for Westmoreland County.
“We had such a similar ethnic background, even though she’s Lebanese and I’m Italian-German-Slovak,” Raneri said. “Both our families supported traditions and tried to keep them alive.”
Food was a big part of that for both families.
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Coincidentally, Lucas’ brother, Vince Susa, lives across the street from the Raneris. When family members came over with their Lebanese specialties, the Raneris were invited over for samples.
Philomina Susa learned her recipes from her own mother, who immigrated from Lebanon with her husband. She cooked for 22 years for the retired priests and state police trainees at the St. Joseph Center in Unity, now called the Christ Our Shepherd Center.
“I’d eaten a lot of Philomina’s food. She was always willing to share a recipe,” Raneri said. “I thought it would be so cool to have her come on and cook with her daughter.”
“She asked me, ‘Will you come on with your mom and daughter, since my mother’s not here?’” Lucas said. “I know it’s a difficult time for her, missing her mother on Mother’s Day, but she wanted to honor family matriarchs and their recipes.”
“In our heads, our moms were all great cooks, even if it was just peanut butter and jelly,” Raneri said. “That’s the thread that runs through all of this, the tradition and the overwhelming, stunning love we have for our moms.”
Laughing all the way
Lucas said the invitation to go on the show was a little daunting at first.
“We have none of these recipes written down and, anyway, the recipe is just a guide,” she said. “You know how it is with mothers, it’s all about how it looks and how it feels.
“But we’re going to laugh all the way through it, because that’s what we do.”
Raneri said her husband was a little skeptical about the stuffed grape leaves.
“He said, ‘I’m not gonna eat that,’ and I said, ‘Oh yes, you are, and you’ll love it,’” she said. “This Saturday, he’ll have his first stuffed grape leaf epiphany.”
Even in Pollock’s absence, the show continues to be popular, Raneri said. The “Baking With Lucy” Facebook page currently has more than 50,000 followers.
A cookbook of Pollock’s recipes also continues to sell well, she said, especially around the holidays. Information on “Baking With Lucy in Her Cozy Kitchen” is available at bakingwithlucy.com.
“We’re hearing every day from people all over the place,” she said.
Raneri also is working on a book called “Growing Up With Lucy and Mike,” a series of reminiscences that she said “are all wrapped around the recipes.”