Wilmette resident Trudy Tonelli took time away from a game of canasta with friends at the Mallinckrodt Community Center, 1041 Ridge Road, to talk with Pioneer Press about cute animals, delicious cakes and more on Oct. 9.
Do you have a pet?
Now I do, a dog. His name is Baxter.
Is there a particular tourist destination you’d like to visit some day?
Yes, I’d like to go the national park out west, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. I’d like to see all the animals there.
Do you have a cause or charity that you’re involved in, or that you’d like people to know about?
I knit mittens for Catholic Charities. So far, I’ve knit 1,338 pairs over the last few years. I knit maybe 150 pair a year. Some of them go to the abused women in a shelter in Evanston.
What’s the worst advice you’ve ever taken?
I don’t know. I usually do my own thing, and my own thinking. I make my own decisions.
What’s your vote for the cutest animal ever?
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I think there’s nothing cuter than a kitten. I think they’re so cute. Those big, curious eyes and that little mouth!
Do you have any particular special dish that you like to make?
I used to make a black forest torte, but I don’t do it much any more because it takes so long to decorate. It takes an hour and a half to decorate. You make it with cherry liqueur and whole cherries marinated in the liqueur, and chocolate cake. You put a layer of cherries and a layer of whipped cream in it. It’s very good, but as I said, I don’t do it much anymore.
Zombie apocalypse or alien invasion – which do you think you’d survive?
Oh, I don’t think I’d survive either of them! But if I have to choose, I’d choose alien invasion.
Describe your idea of the perfect day.
To me, a perfect day lately has been when the sun is shining and it’s 80 degrees outside, when I’m going out with my friends, or coming here to play canasta. I play canasta here every second Friday. That’s a good day!
– Kathy Routliffe, Pioneer Press
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