Woman Recreates ‘To Die For’ Recipe Found on Gravestones
On TikTok, a woman is going viral for making "gravestone recipes," and her treats are "to die for."
Rosie Grant shares content under the username @ghostlyarchives and has been sharing recipes she finds on gravestones since 2022.
In a short time, Grant has amassed almost 110,000 followers who look forward to seeing her unconventional hobby, which started as a college project to learn about social media and its impact.
According to TODAY, Grant's discovery of "gravestone recipes" happened while she was taking an internship with the archives of the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
While trekking around cemeteries, Grant noticed that, on occasion, recipes were immortalized through epitaphs left behind by the deceased.
Believing this was a bizarre trend, Grant decided to combine her internship work and start a social media account committed to archiving the recipes she finds and sharing them with followers on TikTok.
Grant's first "spooky creation" was "Spritz Cookies."
The "Spritz Cookies" recipe once belonged to Naomi Miller-Dawson, whose headstone can be found in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery.
While there were no baking instructions on the tombstone, Grant joked in her captions, "They're to die for."
From that moment on, Grant has been traveling around the country to archive headstones and bring various "Gravestone Recipies" back to life.
Grant tells TODAY that this has been a fun project, and she's even learning new baking skills.
"I think the "Spritz Cookie" is my favorite one to make," Grant tells TODAY. "They're very pretty."
Her new hobby is also helping family members remember their relatives, and Grant quickly points out that food is always very close to people's hearts.
"People will comment what they would want to put on their gravestone if they had to pick a recipe, or some people say things like, 'Oh, snickerdoodles, my mom made it this way.' And so there's just this whole nostalgic connection, which has been really cool," Grant told the media outlet.
"When we're in mourning, food is very comforting to us," she explained, adding, "These recipes feel like a more tactile, all-senses-included way to remember someone rather than only using your memory. But when you're eating grandma's special cake or cookie or whatever it is, you feel a little bit more connected to her."
Grant has also noticed another clear benefit that hits home for her and her family.
Grant tells TODAY that her grandmother died of COVID-19, and she has spent time reflecting on a yellow cake her grandmother was known for making.
As a result, Grant has a new appreciation for food, especially as the holidays approach.
"It's nice to think about the recipes that hold a similar significance for other families," Grant said. "Perhaps at gatherings and holidays, they now know certain dishes will show up."
Unanimously, TikTok users are fascinated by her content idea. Some were even surprised to learn that "gravestone recipes" existed.
"I had no idea this was a thing," one TikToker commented on a recent recap video which showed several of Grant's spooky creations. "This is the coolest thing," someone else wrote.
"This is surprisingly wholesome," another wrote. "Like bringing a part of them back to life."