The only thing you got wrong is that my mother wouldn’t have loved to think of these brownies as her legacy. She would have been delighted. For her, food and family were intertwined with remembrance. Though she made different recipes than her mother did, and I cook differently than my mother, meals and cooking became a forum for story-telling of other family events and eras. My Aunt Sadie’s chocolate cake, my grandmother’s potato pancakes for the entire extended family… things I ever tasted, yet I heard about many times.

So, you have passed this bit of our family lore and a remembrance of my mother, Sylvia, to many people whether or not they ever try your version of Sylvia’s Brownies. — Susan