TV THAT COOKS!

BY LORI CASO

Special to Sunday Lifestyles

It’s been 25 years since I started taping my TV show, “Lori and Friends,” which airs on Lockport Community Television.

Seriously, who thought this show was going to last 25 years - not me!

In 1994, I asked my friend Lou Paonessa, who worked for Adelphia, to pitch an idea to the local cable channel for a show that promoted community events and kept the viewers watching by guests sharing their favorite recipes. It helped that I had the ideal kitchen to stage just such a show – no set necessary!

My first guest was Tommy Hanna sharing the secret BBQ Sauce from his Tommy Ryan’s Restaurant. I settled my 5-monthold son, Cameron in his swing, gave it a push and stepped into the frame, “Welcome to Lori & Friends!”

The next twenty-five years has been a series of some great recipes – some horrible recipes; only one thing has remained the same – all the “friends” have wanted to come back on!

A great example is mainstay, Chuck Marazzo. The former Latina’s owner was forced into appearing by Sandy Hays-Mies and begrudgingly came on to make his linguini with clam sauce. Once he aired and everyone on Pine Avenue had seen him, he informed me that he must come back by popular demand. Since then he’s returned every year as part of the Christmas Posse: Chuck, Jimmy Cancemi and Bobby DiFrancesco.

When I first started, my dear friend Geri Mondi would be my side-kick, just as she had been when I had the WJJL Radio Show “Let’s Do Lunch”. After she passed away, I was happy that I could air one of our old shows and watch Geri with her cooking tips. That’s the beautiful things about recipes, they live beyond us.

Another favorite who has passed on was Kay DiMino. After Mrs. DiMino came on to make her famous Hungarian Cookies, she complained that my stand mixer was “far too slow” and the next day I found a brand new Kitchen Aid Mixer on my front porch! The DiMino Family Tops has been with me as my food sponsor right from the beginning and I truly feel like I’m a part of their family. I owe them a world of thanks for supporting me for all these years.

Speaking of sponsors, Anne Daggett and Chris Connelly, after being on, decided that the kitchen needed an updated look and luckily they own The Granite Shop. The result was outstanding. It was like an HGTV episode … they installed it one night just before I taped the show. I actually went to bed and told Chris to lock up. When I woke in the morning it was to a clean, shiny, brand new kitchen!

The show also allows me one very important perk – a personal hair stylist! At the very beginning it was Pauline Ghougasian, Christopher McKean, then Lisa Wills and finally Amanda Van-Uden. Amanda of Shine Studio takes doing the hair “of a celebrity” very seriously. It’s not uncommon for people to stop me and say, is that a new color? I answer, “Yes, it’s the color for this month!” The actual color would be gray, if not for this wonderful benefit. My camera man Mark Traina (who’s responsible for just about everything about the show) was once part of my Adelphia crew and has since formed his own business Milestone Video Productions. He’s the level headed one at all of the tapings, his only perk is getting to taste the final products, a small bonus when you have to equal it out with all the craziness that the shows bring.

I’ve had some fabulous guests. When people ask me who was my favorite? It’s an easy answer - Mama D’Avolio She came on to make gnocchi with Ann and Gary Macri and was very frank about what she thought about some people and when she was admonished by her daughter and grandson she just shrugged, looked in the camera and said of the people “who cares – they’re dead!” I wanna be like this when I grow up!

I was a new mom when I started the show and viewers saw me through two more pregnancies. Keep in mind, that my kids have never known a time when I didn’t have a show! They think it’s perfectly normal to have a bald eagle in the back yard, and monkeys in the kitchen (thank you Carmen Presti.) They’ve also been exposed to the many wonderful people in our kitchen talking about all the positive things that exist in our community. If the show has proved anything, it’s a testimony to why it’s so easy to love this area! After all , where else could someone who doesn’t really cook host her own cooking show? Thank you! Thank you for watching! (Maybe for Christmas I’ll offer a boxed set of all 25 seasons … just kidding.)

You can catch a special showing of the very first “Lori & Friends” during the week of Dec. 9. Go to loricaso.com for details.

Left, Michael Licata and Dave Burke “The Energy Guys” are “frequent flyers” on “Lori and Friends.” This appearance was circa 2010. Center photo, Sister Nora Sweeney joined Lori Caso to make apple pie on a 2015 episode of “Lori and Friends.” Far right, Lori Caso and her “Kidz n Kites” guests show off their work in 2013.

Niagara County Sheriff Jim Voutour and Undersheriff Mike Filicetti made “meal soup for busy guys” on a 2017 episode of “Lori and Friends.”

Guests gather for a group shot following the “Lori and Friends” Christmas show in 2016.

Lori Caso is celebrating 25 years of community television as the host of “Lori and Friends” on LCTV.