Taking It to the Grave...

…I began to understand how important cooking is for people and for family histories. Rosie Grant

We all have encountered or heard of talented cooks who refuse to share their recipes. They protect the secrets within the written instructions for so long that they take them to their grave. Sadly, no one can ever duplicate the magic of the deceased’s skills and knowledge unless someone accidentally stumbles on it.

I don’t know if such protection of family secrets has led to a new fad or not. However, some modern graves are now adorned with a recipe, instead of or in addition to, an epitaph.

And we know about this relatively new tombstone decoration because Rosie Grant enrolled in the University of Maryland’s Masters of Library Science program. During her studies, two factors opened her eyes. First, she enrolled in a class on social media.

Secondly, she accepted an internship in the digital archives department of the Congressional Cemetery, in Washington D. C. Her professor suggested she merge her findings at the cemetery with her efforts to use social media. All because of a discovery she made about recipes on tombs and reported them on her new account, she has become an overnight sensation on TikTok.

Grant’s story is eerily similar to that of Julie Powell, who pledged to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and report the results on her blog. Her story was turned into a movie.

Grant’s first discovery  in the archives department was about Naomi Miller-Dawson of Brooklyn, NY.

Grant lived close enough to the Greenwood Cemetery that she visited the grave. The traditional epitaph reads: “Beloved mother, aunt, grandmother and great grandmother Naomi Odessa Miller-Dawson,” and the dates: “November 26, 1921- June 10, 2009.” Sure enough, there on top of the tombstone shaped like a book was the list of ingredients for Spritz Cookies. Grant copied the recipe and using her own knowledge of cooking, went home and made a batch. They remain her favorite of all the graveyard recipes she’s tried.

“In the case of Naomi Miller-Dawson, this was the recipe that she would make for family gatherings but would not give anyone,” Grant says. “Literally on her deathbed her daughter came up with the idea of like, ‘Hey, let’s put you spritz cookie recipe on the gravestone,’ so she basically took it to the grave.”

Grant returned to the grave site with a plate of the cookies for a video shot. Posting the image and the recipe on her TikTok account,“Ghostly Archives,” she started something that snowballed and totally changed the trajectory of her career.

She’s continued what she’s started. She’s located numerous tombstones with recipes in Iowa, Alaska, Louisiana, California, Utah, Washington and Israel. She’s visiting them as she can. She’s been busy making the different recipes. In her initial research, all of the tombstones so far have recognized women. Most of the recipes have been for sweets although she’s discovered one for meatloaf, another macaroni and cheese and yet another for cheese dip.

Grant says, “Food is this weird entryway to talking about harder topics like death. We don’t want to think about our own mortality, but through talking about food and memorializing, it’s a little more palatable.”

Today, Grant is Outreach and Communications manager for UCLA. Her TikTok account has over 100,000 followers and she’s received close to 5 million “likes.” Commentators call her an “influencer.”

According to Katie Davis with Bailey Monument Company, Jesup, sales representatives have seen a few recipe-adorned monuments in Georgia. One features blueberry muffins.

“I like the idea,” says Davis. “Maybe I’ll have ‘Katie’s macaroni and cheese’ recipe etched on my monument. It’s hearty and savory. My love language is food. I like cooking for people and this would be a way to keep on giving to the world.”

2023

Dear Readers:

Because we are moving and I know that I will be without Internet access for several days, this seems a fitting column to end "From My Back Porch." Thank you for reading these words over the past six years. I'll continue to write for The Press-Sentinel. Again, thank you.