ON CARROT CAKE #RECIPES AND HEADSTONES

By Lois Winston

 

Authors find inspiration everywhere, sometimes in the strangest of places. On a trip to northern California a few months ago, I found myself walking through a quaint Victorian town one gloomy afternoon. After a rainy morning, my sister-in-law suggested it as a good place to stretch our legs.

The town didn’t disappoint. I particularly enjoyed strolling around some of the antique shops and an old-fashioned general store. However, the pièce de resistance was that hillside cemetery. Cemeteries, especially old ones, fascinate me. Several years ago, I spent hours wandering around one in Key West.

I know many people purchase their cemetery plots in advance, and some even have their headstones carved, minus their death date, which gets added after their demise. I suppose it makes life easier for those they leave behind. Sometimes people include quotes, often from the Bible or a favorite poem. Some headstones are inscribed with tongue-in-cheek sayings. However, this cemetery was the first I’ve ever come across that contained a grave with a complete recipe etched into the stone!

And it apparently isn’t even a fabulous, prize-winning recipe. According to the title, it’s only A Good Carrot Cake recipe. A look at the front of the tombstone and its companion, shows that it’s obvious this couple has quite a sense of humor. It makes me wonder about the backstory of the carrot cake recipe. 

I suppose I could have looked up the couple and asked. According to the markers, they’re both still alive, but I lacked the courage. It’s possible everyone in town knows the story behind the gravestone recipe, but I didn’t ask anyone. Instead, I took some photos and filed this bit of trivia away for future reference. Someday it just might show up in one of my books. I’ve already warned Anastasia.