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Mo Rocca's back in the kitchen cooking with America's grandparents in 'My Grandmother's Ravioli'

by jmaloni

Press release

Wed, Aug 28th 2013 01:25 pm

Mo Rocca discovers treasured family recipes and a whole lot more from grandparents across the country in an all-new, 13-episode season of "My Grandmother's Ravioli," premiering Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 8 p.m. on Cooking Channel.

As a child, Mo enjoyed Sunday family dinners at his grandmother's house, highlighted by "Momma's" signature ravioli. Although he still cherishes the memory of those special meals, he never learned her recipes. So on each episode of "My Grandmother's Ravioli," Mo does the next best thing: he gets a cooking lesson from someone else's grandparent. As they welcome him into their kitchens and teach him the secrets of their favorite dishes, they also serve up inspiring, personal and often funny family tales.

"Mo Rocca is a gifted storyteller with a unique talent for bringing both humor and poignancy to his subjects," said Michael Smith, general manager and senior vice president at Cooking Channel. " 'My Grandmother's Ravioli' began as a tribute to his grandmother and has grown to become an endearing tribute to grandparents, great food and family traditions everywhere."

"The wisdom of this season's grandparents reaches far beyond cooking," Rocca said. "Sonny showed me how to tap a tree. Mioko taught me jujitsu. And 96-year-old Punjabi grandpa, Riaz, taught me how to play golf, then smoked me. Honestly, I can't wait to get old!"

In the premiere episode, Mo visits with feisty Philadelphia native Clara Corrado, a 94-year-old with triplet great-grandsons in the Air Force. Each is stationed far from home, so Clara enlists Mo to help make some of her signature dishes to ship off to the three young military men. Under Clara's guidance, they create care packages filled with special treats such as Italian wedding soup, lemon-flavored pizzelle and lots of love.

Throughout the season, Mo visits with grandparents across the U.S. who introduce him to mouth-watering home cooking from a variety of cuisines, including Portuguese, Japanese, Greek and Syrian. Among them are the always amiable Sonny Young, 71, of Rutland, Vt., who whips up a big pancake breakfast with homemade maple syrup; Millie Martin, 70, of Rock Hill, S.C., who teaches Mo how to make down-home southern cooking with a side trip to sing in the church choir; and Vincent Esposito, 57, from Palm City, Fla., who teaches Mo his father's secret technique for making homemade mozzarella cheese, followed by a lesson in pumping iron.

For more on Mo's adventures in cooking with grandparents, and to find the treasured family recipes, visit cookingchanneltv.com/ravioli

Mo Rocca is a correspondent for "CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood," a panelist on NPR's hit weekly quiz show "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!" and the host of "Food(ography)" on Cooking Channel.

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