Look & listen as my guest Rosemary (Rosie) Grant, of TikTok fame @ghostly.archives, tells the story of a pandemic inspired baking interest, a library science project and an internship at Congressional Cemetery through the Thing that matters: a vintage aluminum cookie press.

Her first stop was Historic Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn NY, where she found the grave of Naomi Odesa Miller Dawson. Though Naomi was from Barbados, she had a Spritz cookie recipe (originating from Germany or Sweden) etched onto her gravestone…. thus a recipe to die for.

Rosie owns 4 cookie presses now, a collector she is, but the one she shows here is one she received from a fellow gravestone baker, food blogger in Arkansas. This woman has been receiving kitchen objects from fans for years and gifted this vintage press to Rosie. The tree press is Rosie’s favorite.

Needless to say all of Rosie’s life has lead her to this “new” obsession” with a search for gravestone recipes. Her parents have been ghost tour guides in DC for years. It’s easy to see how her new found interest has brought her into connection with the death positive community.

She’s become intimately aware of the food memories that get attached to death, grief & celebrations of a life well lived (as my friend, filmmaker, Sky Bergman says).

Rosie loves how NYC blends food traditions, styles & history… and that food connects us.

We spoke of the expense of etching recipes in gravestones. She lost both grandmother’s during the pandemic and exclaimed “Dying is expensive.”

She learned about #GraveTok & #cemeterytiktok and is grateful to connect with the death care community.

We even spoke about how cemeteries are at risk if they aren’t connected to the community. Historic Green-Wood Cemetery & Congressional Cemetery are well aware of this challenge and now offer lots of programming to build connections, community & legacy…. just as I do with Show & Tales.

Rosie has found 17 total graves with recipes etched onto tombstones. If you know of any other’s please reach out to her. You can connect with her via @ghostly.archives on Instagram & @ghostlyarchive on TikTok.

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