Gladys and the Ladies

This past weekend, I was pretty exhausted and stressed out, to say the least. I kept thinking, "If only I could go across the hall to Gladys's apartment and share a cocktail with her and the ladies." Let me explain. When I first moved to DC, I was in an apartment in Alexandria, VA, and my 70 year old neighbor Gladys befriended me. Her door was across the hall from mine, and it always felt like I was visiting my grandmother.

Gladys and Me

I may look a little weird, but I love Gladys's look in the photo because she is such a hoot. You never know what insulting comment or pearl of wisdom is going to come out of her mouth next. Every Friday night, she invited her two closest friends, Lou and Dottie, over to have drinks. Or... "to get schnockered" as she would say. And they would. EVERY Friday. And I would join them. And occasionally, so would some of my friends because these ladies were far more enjoyable and fun than most people I knew.

Their drink of choice was vodka (Aristocrat to be exact) and tap water (to save calories). Now, I could NOT stomach vodka taps, so I used Sprite as my mixer. :) She served Goldfish, Helluva Good French Onion dip, Ruffles potato chips, and ordered a Domino's pizza with pepperoni. Every Friday. And they would dance to Bertie Higgin's hit, "Key Largo." Do you have an image in your mind? I hope it's half as good as the reality.

Here's a group breakdown:

Lou



Lou worked for a law firm in downtown DC and dresses to the nines. She has had a boyfriend for about 2 or 3 years whom she met at Civil War events, because that is her passion. She is demure and sweet, but has great insight. She is also a really fantastic cook.

Gladys

Gladys is off the wall and hilarious. She would give you the shirt off her back, and can make anyone laugh no matter what they are going through that day. Her husband Ronnie died when he was 49 and is buried in Arlington Cemetery, and Gladys has never looked at another man since then. She generally greets me with, "Gomer says hey!" and if she disagrees, will yell, "Oh turn blue!" She also strongly dislikes Dottie, but invites her anyways (which means she actually likes her...).

Dottie

 Dottie tells us she is in her 70s, but really she is in her 80s. We have no idea why she lies. She also likes to show her cleavage....we also don't know why. She can barely hear, and has a strange, "HUH?!" that she says after someone says something....because she really cannot hear anything. And she has NO idea that Gladys can't stand her.

The evening starts off well until Gladys begins to get irritated with Dottie because she can't hear. The following happens at least 10 times every Friday night:

Gladys: Tells some story and offers some insight
Dottie: Offers the same insight
Gladys: "I already said that, Dottie."
Dottie: "HUH?!?!"
Gladys: "I said, I already said that five times, Dottie!"

Gladys looks at me and rolls her eyes. "She's drives me crazy...she's deaf as a post!"
Dottie: "Huh?!"
Lou: Giggles but says nothing
Me: Dying laughing, but trying to help Dottie understand the situation.

Take a drink, and repeat 9 times throughout the evening.

The evening ends at 8 PM on the dot. It is a good time had by all.

I share this with you to say that you never know who you will meet and who will touch your life. I will NEVER forget these ladies or the love and laughs they shared with me. My grandparents were never involved in my life, and Gladys is the closest thing I have to a grandmother. Despite their idiosyncracies, or Dottie's deafness, they still show each other grace by showing up at the most important times in each others' lives. It may seem like they are mean to each other, and really, at times they are, but the love is felt when you are there.

Before Gladys, I didn't know how to relate to the elderly, and now, I realize the potential in a frienship with them. They are wise, they are funny, they are supportive, and they have experiences that will bring tears, laughter and depth to any situation. So if you have them, love on them. If you don't have them, find them!

In honor of Gladys, I'd like to end this post by saying,

TURN BLUE!

~Lindsay

Orange Almond Biscotti...with a side of good company

A year ago, my little Italian wonder (Ariel Alberti) introduced me to the wonderful recipe of Biscotti. We had travelled to Philly for a long weekend with her Aunt Michelle to continue a long tradition of holing up for the weekend, baking a ton, and drinking wine. It was the four of us, but this tradition started long ago when Michelle and her best friend, Anne, were in grad school.

Since funds were limited at that time, they decided to bake desserts for everyone in lieu of presents. Despite both of their incredible successes since then, the desserts have kept coming year after year. So when the snow started and we were stuck with each other all weekend, I was introduced to a wonderful tradition that I hope to keep with a group of gals for years to come.

This is a wonderful recipe for a group of people to try together as it is a little more complicated, but a lot of fun to make. Crack open a bottle of wine, put on some great music, and have a fantastic time. I also have gotten raves from everyone who has tried this particular recipe, and it is super delicious! Good luck!!!

Introducing my favorite....Orange Almond BISCOTTI.

 

 

 Ingredients

1 cup sugar                                             

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 T orange zest (the zest of 2 medium oranges)

2 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted and chopped

 DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cover cookie sheet with aluminum foil, then spread almonds on sheet. Bake for 8 minutes or until fragrant. 

 
3. On medium speed, beat sugar, butter, orange peel and eggs in large electric mixer bowl, or with a hand mixer.    

4. Slowly mix in flour, baking powder and salt. Then add the almonds last.

 5. Put the dough into a ball and place it on a new cookie sheet (ungreased). Divide dough in half, and shape each half into rectangle, as you see below.

 

 6. Now bake for 20 minutes (make sure toothpick comes out clean). Cool the biscotti for 15 minutes, then cut into 1/2-3/4 inch pieces, as you see below:

7. You will need 2 cookie sheets to bake the sliced biscotti. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn each piece over, and bake for an additional 5 minutes to get ideal golden color.

Removed from cookie sheet and let cool on a wire rack. Now, grab a cup of coffee and some friends and have a great day!!