Cookin’ with Mom

Come supper time, memories weren’t enough for Racquel “Rockie” Sapp. The Snellville mother of three wanted to be able to cook like her mom.

“My kids are getting older,” Sapp said. “I have to learn how to fix them real food.”

Starting today, Sapp and nine other adult metro Atlanta daughters will be on Lifetime TV learning the recipes their mothers perfected.

“Mom’s Cooking,” airing at 11 and 11:30 a.m. weekdays over the next two weeks, will show an assortment of mothers going into their grown daughters’ kitchens in Atlanta and New York City to teach recipe favorites the daughters loved growing up.

The show has given these daughters another chance to learn from their mothers.

“She would come into the kitchen with me when she was little,” said Sapp’s mother, Antoinette Valiante. “But now her family depends on her.”

Taylor Vickers of Lawrenceville joked that she missed her mother Mary Keown’s “cooking gene.”

“I would like to be a better cook, and would like to learn” from Mom,” Vickers said.

So in Keown’s Dunwoody kitchen earlier this fall —- in front of Lifetime cameras —- a grateful Vickers learned to make her mother’s beef tenderloin and carrot cake.

From buying ingredients to sitting down to enjoy the final product with loved ones, the film crew followed the mother-daughter duos through two days of preparation in September and early October.

Jessica Samet, Lifetime vice president of reality programming, said “Mom’s Cooking” is about connections.

“It’s really about the story of these recipes and the bonds between mother and daughter,” Samet said. “I don’t know if there are that many shows on Food Network where you cry.”

A solemn JaQuitta Williams, former WSB-TV news anchor, said she cherished having a moment under the tutelage of her single mom, Linda Williams, to learn “what made her such a strong woman.”

The mom and daughter made the most of the time they spent together at JaQuitta’s southwest Atlanta home taping the show.

“I enjoyed bonding,” the older Williams said, noting the anxiety she’d had when her daughter was battling breast cancer. “This wasn’t always promised to us.”

And the pleasure of their relationship was evident. The pair sang together, threw food at the cameras and joked around as they cooked.

Vickers sad it was nice to focus on cooking for once. Because she is raising her autistic son, Jordan, 15, making big meals is not always a priority.

“I had so much to learn about autism that I didn’t have a lot of time for other things like cooking,” Vickers said.

The producers initially chose New York City mother-daughter pairings, but sought out Atlanta because of the diversity of food and people, Samet said.

“In Atlanta, there’s a wide range of recipes and cultures,” she said. “There’s also something interesting about Southern cooking to the rest of the country.”

Samet said she appreciated seeing mothers eager to help daughters like Rockie Sapp.

“The fact that she almost burned down her kitchen and gave up [cooking] … and her mom was like ‘It’s time,’ ” Samet said. “That’s what this is about.”

Sapp is just thankful for the help. “Otherwise,” she said, “my family’s going to be in trouble.”

“Taylor Vickers”

Airing at 11 a.m. Dec. 8. Daughter: Taylor Vickers. Mom: Mary Keown.

Feta Cheese and Pear Salad

Vegetable oil cooking spray

white of 1 large egg

10 oz. walnut halves and pieces

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 heads romaine lettuce, washed, cut into bite-size pieces

16 oz. mixed baby greens

2 ripe Bosc pears, peeled, cored and diced

1 red bell pepper, julienned

2 cups crumbled feta or Maytag blue cheese

1 cup Champagne Vinaigrette

1 cup olive oil

8 tbsp. Dijon mustard

8 tsp. honey

3 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. fresh-ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 325

Spray bottom of rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray or line with foil. In a bowl, whisk egg white until it’s foamy and no liquid remains. Fold in walnuts and brown sugar. Toss gently to coat, arrange on baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes. Loosen nuts from pan with spatula; set aside on a plate to cool.

In a large salad bowl toss lettuce, pears, bell peppers, feta cheese and toasted walnuts. To make vinaigrette, whisk in a bowl Champagne Vinaigrette, olive oil, Dijon mustard, honey, kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper. Pour over the salad, toss and serve.

“JaQuitta Williams”

Airing at 11:30 a.m. Thursday. Daughter: JaQuitta Williams. Mom: Linda Williams

Pecan Brownies

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup flour

4 eggs

1 cup toasted pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking pan with foil.

First, in a microwaveable dish, melt the 1/2 cup of butter (make sure the butter is completely melted; otherwise it will not mix in with the other ingredients, and you will have to start over). Then stir this into the 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa. Add to the butter and cocoa, mixing in thoroughly, the sugar, vanilla extract, salt, flour and eggs. Pour half the batter into the baking pan, then sprinkle toasted pecans on it. Pour the remaining batter on top. Place in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool and cut into squares.

“Rockie Sapp”

Airing Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 11:30 a.m. Mom: Antoinette Valiante. Daughter: Rockie Sapp

Sloppy Joe Turnovers

1/3 diced green pepper

1/3 diced white onion

2 celery stalks, trimmed

Ground beef

1 can Manwich sloppy Joe sauce

Flour

1 can pre-made biscuit dough

Munster cheese (you can use your favorite type)

Dice the pepper, onion and celery.

Add a dollop of oil to a large skillet. Add meat and stir in vegetables; cook until meat is brown.

Place cooked meat and vegetables in a new pan. Add Manwich sloppy joe sauce and simmer for 3-5 minutes.

Dust wax paper with flour and roll the dough out, thin and round.

Add 2 spoonfuls of sloppy Joe mixture into middle of dough. Fold dough over and press sides of pocket with fork.

Place turnovers on a pan and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

Garnish with cheese and top with sloppy Joe mixture.

COMING UP ON ‘MOM’S COOKING’

Here are other locals who will be featured and when their segments will air:

11:30 a.m. today

Carol Bitner teaches daughter Ursula Wiedmann to make barbecued ribs, tomato and mozzarella salad, and rhubarb brown betty.

11 a.m. Tuesday

Sherry Tatum teaches daughter Mistee Gruber to make fried okra, baked ham and blackberry cobbler.

11 a.m. Wednesday

Lori Beth Edgeman enlists her mother, Caren, to teach her to make tea cakes, sausage, biscuits and gravy.

11 a.m. Thursday

Jerri Heard teaches daughter Jamila Lisbon to make salmon croquets, cheese eggs and fruit tarts.

11:30 a.m. Friday

Tina Lee enlists her mother, Cookie, to teach her to make a traditional Korean meal including bulgogi and kimche.

11:30 a.m. Dec. 10

Crystal Daniels gets her mother, Kim, to teach her to make pot roast, macaroni with cheese, and peach cobbler.

11:30 a.m. Dec. 11

Alexis Johnson’s mother, Janet, teaches her to make fresh grilled tuna steak with citrus sauce, mandarin cranberry salad and brandied apples with cinnamon crisp and ice cream.

11:30 a.m. Dec. 12

Jae Franklin enlists her mother, Judy, to teach her to make meatloaf, pea salad and angel food cake.