This recipe and introduction are excerpted from “To Die For: A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes” by archivist and author Rosie Grant. The cookbook studies and highlights tombstones with recipes from deceased people and tells their stories. These chocolate-like cookie bars from the late Mary Silvernail are still a crowd-pleaser. Layers of sweet-salty cookies are bound together with graham cracker caramel and topped with chocolate caramel, made even more decadent with peanut butter. No wonder they have been loved by Silvernail for years.
“Mary Silvernail came from a family that understood that food was more than sustenance. It was love, survival, and something to be shared. Mainly of Norwegian/Swedish descent, Mary, one of six children, was raised in a rugged rural home outside of Palermo, North Dakota, where harsh winters taught neighbors to trust each other and where casseroles and hot dishes fed families numerous. …
When it came time to choose your memorial, [her daughter and grandson] Melissa and Jake knew what should be on her headstone: a rock in the shape of North Dakota with a heart to reflect the prairies where she grew up. A deep, steady blue—the color of Mary’s eyes, the color of the sky she grew up under. And, of course, the recipe for Clubhouse Cracker bars. The recipe is loved and frequently requested by family and friends. In front of her tomb is a quote that Mary embodied throughout her life: “Proverbs 31:29 Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”
Her family still makes bars for her. The trick is to follow her instructions exactly – no substitutions. Melissa cooks them and one day will make them for Mary’s great-grandson, Daniel. Although Daniel never met her, he will grow up hearing stories about Mary and enjoying the spirit of her cooking that lives in his family.”
