A recipe's provenance is sometimes as interesting as the recipe itself. No doubt your recipe box contains stories galore. I have the chili recipe my mother clipped from a magazine in the  1970s, my German grandmother's chicken fricassee instructions, a coffee cake Mammaw made for church functions, Roxanne's Chomboth, recipes from one of the Garlic Queen's mysteries and countless others.

The brownies, however, came from a funeral.

We were at a memorial party, munching on the food and chatting about the deceased when we happened upon this tray of brownies. They were phenomenal--moist, but dense and cakey, larded with nuts. Given the setting we were a bit unseemly in our enthusiasm for the above. A gentleman with whom we had been talking, indicated proudly that he was the author of the brownie recipe in question. "I have copies of the recipe out in my car."

We stood there nonplussed while he trotted out to his car. Herewith JR's Brownies, as amended by yours truly:

1 1/2 cups unsifted flour (bread flour,  if possible)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

2 cups chocolate chips

2 cups walnuts, chopped

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In small saucepan, combine butter, sugar and water; bring just to a boil. Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips and vanilla; stir until morsels melt and mixture is smooth. Transfer to a large bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. Gradually blend in flour mixture with spoon. Stir in nuts. Spread into a greased 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan.

Bake for 45 minutes. (Test at 35-40 minutes to ensure you don't over cook.)

Eat with relish.