Notorious Katharine Hepburn Brownie Recipe Comment, Explained

Behind every great Internet meme, there's a story. And now the story behind perhaps the most notorious recipe comment in internet history has finally come to light.

A few years ago, Sydne Newberry left what just might be the grandest recipe comment of all time. It goes a little something like this: "This has been my go-to brownie recipe for 30 years. In the '80s, an acquaintance in Germany to whom I brought some of the brownies, and who considered herself a great cook, asked for the recipe but was never able to get it to work. She kept asking me what she was doing wrong and I was never able to solve her problem. Eventually, she moved to the U.S. and stole my husband!"

It has everything! International travel! Jealousy! Adultery! What more could you want in a homemade brownie recipe?

The Cut tracked Newberry down to ask: Wait, how can a woman who can't even follow a simple, classic brownie recipe nab a husband?

According to the Los Angeles-based nutritionist, the story is a little more complicated. While Newberry and her then-husband were overseas in Germany on Air Force duty, they met another couple and became fast acquaintances. Newberry brought over the Katherine Hepburn brownies, and the woman, described as a gorgeous Italian food snob, just needed the recipe. Despite apparently going back and forth with the recipe for years, the other woman could never nail down the recipe. She even accused Newberry of leaving something out of the recipe.

A few years later, the woman came to the U.S. and visited Newberry and her then-husband. After a few weeks, it came out that the woman and the husband were having an affair! Newberry even caught them red-handed. After an ultimatum and a broken promise, Newberry moved out of her husband's home and restarted her life in D.C. with her current husband, whom she calls "the love of her life."

And he loves her brownies.

Katherine Hepburn's brownies may be delicious but not every recipe from the past is. Check out these 25 retro recipes you won't believe people actually made.