Tag: Gravestone Recipe

Cemetery Recipes: Glazed Blueberry Pie

Posted on Posted in Cemetery Recipes, Tombstone RecipesTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

For the last two weeks, I have been feeling a bit under the weather. I was struggling with a bad head cold, that turned out to be COVID-19. Before I got sick and went into isolation, I had done groceries and specifically bought the ingredients I needed to make a gravestone recipe that I had been eager to try. Once I was on the mend I decided to try some baking to lift my spirits, and use up the blueberries before they went bad. So for today’s blog post, I wanted to share my experience making Margaret Davis’ Glazed Blueberry Pie.

The grave of Margaret Davis can be found in Mountain View Memorial Park, in Washington State. Margaret rests with her husband Eddy, beneath a beautiful black marble monument designed as a bench. Their grave is adorned with a beautiful color portrait of the couple, doves of peace, the American flag, and a bible quote. If you look to the left side of the monument, you will also find a note From the Kitchen of Margaret Davis, her Glazed Blueberry Pie recipe. 

I was not able to find much information about Margaret in life, but from her gravestone, we know that Margaret was born on the 4th of July in 1918. Her husband Eddy was born in September of the same year. They were married on Boxing Day in 1942. Margaret passed away on November 6th, 2004 at the age of 86. Eddy passed away 6 years later at the age of 90. Underneath the recipe that adorns their gravestone is the symbol of the Freemasons, telling us that Eddy was a member. There are also a couple of other symbols as well that could tell us more about the couple’s affiliations in life, but they are cut off in the photos I have seen, and I can’t decipher them. There are currently no photos of the recipe side of the gravestone on Find a Grave, but a quick google search should bring up photos of this cemetery recipe.

  • Cemetery Recipes: Glazed Blueberry Pie

Here is the Recipe:

From the Kitchen of Margaret Davis

Glazed Blueberry Pie

  • Soften a 3 oz. pkg. cream cheese.
  • Spread in bottom of cooled, cooked pastry shell.
  • Fill shell with 3 cups of blueberries.
  • To an additional 1 cup of blueberries add 1 cup of water.
  • Bring just to boiling.
  • Simmer 2 min.
  • Strain reserving juice, about 1/2 cup.
  • Combine 3/4 cup sugar, and 2 tablespoons corn starch.
  • Gradually add reserved juice.
  • Cook, stirring constantly until thick and clear.
  • Cool slightly and add:
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • Pour over berries in pastry shell and chill.

This recipe is straightforward and easy to follow. The only issue I came across is the fact that blueberries are not currently in season here. So, the blueberries I was able to find were the non-organic kind that are comically large, and because of that are not very flavourful. And no, I didn’t lose my sense of taste or smell while I was sick. I will need to try this recipe again in the summer months when the local blueberry patches are ripe and plentiful. Because the blueberries were oversized, also messed with the measurements a little bit. I ended up using less than the 3 cups the recipe calls for, as my pie shell could just not fit them all. 

Despite all that, this recipe turned out deliciously! It’s almost like a blueberry cheesecake, but much easier to make. And because I made it during my isolation, I had it all to myself! That is another reason to make this pie again in the summer, so I can share it with friends and family. Baking and enjoying Margaret’s recipe helped relieve some of the boredom I was feeling at the time and helped take my mind off things.  

Will you be trying out this recipe? Do you have a family pie recipe that you would put on your gravestone? I would love to hear about it in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

References:

Cemetery recipes – Connie’s Date & Nut Bread

Posted on Posted in Cemetery Recipes, Tombstone RecipesTagged , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I had such a fun time trying out Kay’s Fudge recipe a couple of months ago, that I wondered what other cemetery recipes were out there. I was pleasantly surprised at the handful of recipes I found.

Today I wanted to try my hand at making Connie’s Date & Nut bread. 100% Good stuff – 0% Bad Stuff. Sounds delicious to me! 

  • Grave of Constance Galberd, Photo by Find a Grave contributor P. Jill Moore. Photo used with permission.

This tombstone can be found in the Cemetery of the Highlands in Highland Mills, NY. Instead of the recipe being engraved on the stone, it’s printed on a small white plaque that is attached to the stone. The headstone belongs to Constance Galberd.

From reading Connie’s obituary, she was a very busy woman. Constance was a retired Registered Nurse at Cornwall Hospital in New York, a member of the Woodbury Community Ambulance Corps, and a member and Trustee of the Woodbury Historical Society. She has three children, a daughter, two sons, and four grandchildren. I think it’s safe to say she was also a great baker with a great sense of humor. Constance passed away in September 2008, at the age of 80. 

You can view her memorial page on Find a Grave.

I love the idea of putting a well-loved family recipe on a tombstone. It ensures the recipe will be passed down through the generations, and that a piece of them will be remembered.

  • Recipe plaque on the grave of Constance Galberd, Photo by Find a Grave contributor P. Jill Moore.
    Photo used with permission.

The recipe reads:

Connie’s Date & Nut Bread | 100% Good stuff – 0% Bad Stuff

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz. dates cut into small pieces
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs, well beaten
  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

  • Pour boiling water (where 2 tsp. of baking soda have been dissolved) over dates and raisins. Cool.
  • Add 1 1/2 c. sugar and mix well.
  • Add 2 eggs, well beaten.
  • Gradually mix in 4 c. of flour and 2 tsp. of baking powder. Beat thoroughly.
  • Add 1/2 c. of chopped nuts. Beat thoroughly.
  • Bake at 350 for 3/4 – 1 hr.
  • Bake in tin cans.
  • One batch = 13 small cans.

This recipe is pretty easy to follow. I have made banana bread before and found the process very similar. The directions are very clear, although I was a little uncertain of how long to let the boiling water over the dates & raisins cool. I spoke out loud to Connie while I mixed my ingredients and waited for the water to cool. When the water was no longer steaming, I mixed in the sugar and continued with the recipe.

I was a little thrown off by the last 2 directions, about baking in tin cans. I had to look that up. I found out that baking in tins cans, like vegetable or soup cans, was used for baking during the depression. The end result would be little round cakes or loaves of bread. I would have loved to be authentic to the recipe, but I didn’t have any empty tin cans to wash out and recycle for baking. It is something I would like to try in the future though. For this recipe, I used 2 loaf pans and split the batter between the two.

My kitchen smelled amazing while these were baking! I had to have a piece when it came out of the oven, and I was not disappointed. It’s a dense bread, similar to a fruit cake. Connie is absolutely right when she says “100% Good stuff – 0% Bad Stuff“. I am really happy with how they came out. After letting them cool on a cooling rack, I popped them out of the pans and wrapped them up. I always love to share my baking, and being able to share Connie’s recipe too feels like a sweet way to remember her.

Will you be trying Connie’s Date & Nut bread? Or have you found another tombstone recipe I should try? Tell me about it in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

References:

Cemetery Recipes: Kay’s Fudge

Posted on Posted in Cemetery Recipes, Tombstone RecipesTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Last year I posted a news article on my Facebook page about an interesting tombstone. What makes Kathryn Andrew’s stone so unique is that it features her go-to fudge recipe. Kay had asked for her recipe to be engraved on her tombstone as a way to share her delicious recipe with others. According to Janice, Kay’s daughter, Kay would often share her fudge with friends and family1. 

Kay passed away in 2019, at the age of 97. She was laid to rest beside her husband Wade. Her now-famous tombstone has been circulating on the internet, with many folks trying out her famous fudge recipe. 

  • Photo of Kay’s tombstone, by Find a Grave member, Lizzie. Photo used with permision.

To learn more about Kay and see more photos of her tombstone, visit her memorial page at findagrave.com.

Here is the recipe, as listed on Kay’s tombstone:

  • 2 SQ. CHOCOLATE
  • 2 TBS. BUTTER
  • MELT ON LOW HEAT
  • STIR IN 1 CUP MILK
  • BRING TO BOIL
  • 3 CUPS SUGAR
  • 1 TSP. VANILLA
  • PINCH OF SALT
  • COOK TO SOFTBALL STAGE
  • POUR ON MARBLE SLAB
  • COOL & BEAT & EAT

Interestingly, when the recipe was first engraved, there was a typo. It originally called for a tablespoon of vanilla. I’m told that that would make for some very runny fudge. The tombstone was updated to read a teaspoon of vanilla. I wonder if this correction was made while Kay was still around, and how she would have felt about it?

Of course, I couldn’t write about this unique tombstone without trying my hand at making Kay’s fudge recipe myself. I have dabbled in the past with making candy but never had much success, so I was a bit worried about ruining it. I made sure to take my time and follow the instructions, although I did need to take some time to Google a few things. I used a candy thermometer to make sure I didn’t overcook the ingredients. I did have a little trouble at first as I was not reading my thermometer properly. I started talking to Kay out loud as I poured out the mixture into a bowl. It looked too runny to me. Talking it out with Kay, I put the mixture back on the stove and took a closer look at the thermometer. A Google search clarified that the softball stage is reached between 112 to 115 Celsius. You don’t need a candy thermometer though.

To tell when you have reached the softball stage you can use a spoon to drop a little bit of the mixture into a cold glass of water. If the mixture forms small malleable balls in the water, you have reached the softball stage. After getting that sorted, I watched it carefully to get to the right temperature.

I don’t have a marble slab so I opted to pour the mixture into a bowl to let it cool. I did another Google search to see how long it should cool for. After 15 minutes, it was time to beat the mixture. Again I had to do a little bit of research to see how long to beat the fudge. Traditionally it would be beaten on a marble slab, but I read that you can beat it in a bowl with just a spoon. The trick is to beat it until it is no longer glossy. I was a little unsure about this step as it did not seem to be losing its shine but after a few minutes it did, and it started to firm up. I then poured the mixture into an 8×8 square dish and let it set.

I am very happy with how it turned out! It’s sweet and chocolatey with a lovely texture. It also made a decent size batch. In the spirit of Kay’s generosity, I brought my batch of Kays fudge to a small gathering to share with my friends.

Thank you so much, Kay, for sharing your recipe with us!

To read more about Kathryn’s unique tombstone, visit: Headstone for woman who died at 97 includes her signature fudge recipe | ABC Action News

After all the fun of making this recipe, I started to wonder if there were other tombstone treats I could try? If you know of other cemetery recipes out there, please share! I would also love to hear how your fudge turned out, if you attempted Kay’s recipe.

Thanks for reading!

References:

  1. We tried the famous fudge recipe engraved on a late grandmother’s gravestone | Today.com | June 2, 2021