The Atlas Obscura Podcast Our Favorite Objects: The Spritz Cookie Gravestone (Classic)
Aug 26, 2025
Sam O'Brien, a writer from Gastro Obscura with a passion for cemeteries, joins to discuss the unique intersection of recipes and gravestones. They highlight Naomi Odessa Miller Dawson's spritz cookie gravestone, showcasing how culinary art can serve as a personal memorial. The conversation dives into the nostalgia of family traditions, the secrets behind cherished recipes, and how families are increasingly opting for recipe gravestones to honor their loved ones. Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their own culinary commemorations.
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Gravestone Topped With A Cookie Recipe
- Sam O'Brien discovered a Greenwood Cemetery gravestone topped by an open book that contains a cookie recipe instead of scripture.
- The engraved recipe is for spritz cookies and it immediately hooked his curiosity about the woman behind it.
The Exact Spritz Recipe On Stone
- The recipe reads: one cup butter, three quarters cup sugar, one teaspoon vanilla, one egg, 2¼ cups flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt.
- The etched recipe is literal and concise, preserved on Naomi Odessa Miller Dawson's headstone.
Family Memory: Hot From The Oven
- Richard Dawson remembers racing to eat his mother's freshly baked spritz cookies straight from the oven.
- The family treasured the cookies as a holiday marker and a symbol of togetherness.