FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — You know what makes a family gathering even more special? When someone brings that special dish passed down generation to generation.
Two ladies were kind enough to share one of those with me. Their names are Mary Immordino and Beatrice Blondo. When I got to their apartment at Brookdale Senior Living in Franklin, I thought the story would be about their family recipe for donuts. Turns out, that was only part of the story.
Mary is 92. Beatrice is 82. They come from an Italian family of 12 children. These two were born and raised in Brooklyn.
"That's all family," they said when pointing up to a collection of photos above their couch.
"That's my mom and dad and all the siblings. And the little one on my mother's lap is B."
In the midst of all that, Mary was excited to tell the world why we were in her living room.
"I want to make an announcement," she said.
"What are you gonna say?" Beatrice asked.
"That we'll be on TV!" Mary responded.
The whole room started laughing. But after this, I remembered someone mentioned something about a snack?
"It's one cup of Presto flour and it's cake flour," Beatrice said. "I can show you the box because I got five pounds."
"It's a family, old recipe, she said."
The recipe is for their donuts. They're more like donut holes.
"They just go down so gently," Mary said.
I'll be honest here — I could keep writing this story. You know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? Watch the video above to see these two for yourself.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
