To Die For: A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes with Rosie Grant

Thursday, April 30, 6-7 p.m. Eastern Time

Join us to learn more about the remarkable trend—for some, the family tradition—of preserving recipes on gravestones, celebrating the beloved food legacies of the dearly departed. To Die For includes fascinating interviews with surviving family members and, of course, an inspiring collection of recipes.

For so many, food is a touching, nostalgic thing that brings us together. So much so that some families choose to remember their loved ones through the dishes they made and the food that brought comfort to those around them by immortalizing their recipes on their gravestones. Rosie Grant has been searching out and documenting this interesting phenomenon. In To Die For, she collects 40 recipes she’s found across the globe, carved into headstones or associated with a grave that has a story to share. Each recipe is accompanied by an interview with the remaining family, plus photography of the food, the gravestone, and any memorabilia the family wanted to share. Thoughtfully and respectfully explored, Rosie has documented this connection between food, legacy, and family, remembering the deceased through the recipes they most loved, and giving their families a platform to share their loved one’s story and cherished dish with the world.

This USA Today and New York Times best seller includes recipes include Spritz Cookies, Homemade Fudge, Chicken Soup, French Silk Pie, and Guava Cobbler.

Rosie Grant is the creator behind @GhostlyArchive on TikTok and Instagram, where she researches and re-creates recipes found on gravestones. She works at the Center for the Study of Women at UCLA and is currently working on a food studies certificate at the UCLA Extension School. She received her Masters in Library Science (MLIS) at the University of Maryland with a concentration in digital archives in 2022, where she got to combine her love of food writing, cemeteries, and archival work. The gravestone recipe project first began during her digital archives internship at Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC.

Judy Lucey oversees the management and preservation of the Manuscript and Rare Book collections at American Ancestors. She is co-author of the Genealogist's Handbook for Irish Research and frequently contributes to American Ancestors magazine. Judy has given several lectures and curated exhibitions showcasing the vast array of family recipes and culinary history contained in the manuscript collections at American Ancestors.