Hi. I’m Isabel, I cook and scribble. I make a lot of food and do a lot of writing, and Bread & Courage is what I have to show for it. It started as a simple food blog called TASTE but evolved into something more—a place where I express my love of food, community and the environment. Thanks for spending some time here—and be in touch!
If you want to make nice, make these. It’s amazing how people will fall for dessert in the morning if you tell them what they want to hear. In this case, “Jam.” Muffins are one of my favorite modes of deception (un-frosted cupcakes), although bars are equally versatile. If you added chocolate or toffee, your […]
I like to push my desserts to the edge of imperfection, cookies especially. A dough that has been taken to its richest point is typically on the verge of crumbling, fragile and delicious with the weight of so much butter and sugar. These latticed cookies are a mighty fine example of what can happen when […]
I am well aware that most people don’t make ginger snaps in 90 degree weather. But then, most people don’t have my recipe. And until recently, I didn’t know a darn thing about ginger snaps. I whole heartedly admit. Those I’ve made before have been paltry precursors to what I have since discovered: the ne […]
Last week, I started a yoga program called “The Forty Days,” pretty self-explanatory, really. Forty days of yoga, plus a fast and twice-daily meditation. Sometimes my body aches, but mostly I feel extraordinary. Open and calm and centered—qualities I usually admire from afar. When I’m unhappy, I can be a bit of an anxious recluse. […]
Christmas! And I’m staring at a half a plate of Russian Tea Cakes, lips white with powdered sugar. Like ginger snaps, these were not my first choice as a child, although they have moved high up the list of foods to appreciate. First of all, they are not super sweet—don’t be fooled by their coat […]
If you ask me, gingersnaps get short shrift. Until recently, they were the one variety I didn’t reach for and I notice this phenomenon all the time at parties. They don’t ooze chocolate or sparkle with powdered sugar. Sometimes they come in the form of little men, but I think this makes them even stranger […]
Until my Aunt Lorraine brought buckeyes into our home, food was just food. Discovering the finer flavors in life doesn’t usually come via a plate of peanut butter and chocolate, but this is precisely how it went for me. As a child, I lusted for the simple, forbidden things: Lucky Charms; McDonald’s chicken nuggets; Charleston […]
I’ve been baking a lot of cookies lately, recreating my past. It’s funny how many cookies there are out there—and which ones happen to remind me of being a small thing at Christmas. Sneaking batter from something unfamiliar, no matter how good it tastes, just doesn’t bring me back to where I want to be. […]
I have just finished a short, intense love affair. I am afraid my lover will not be visiting again soon—he’s just too much for a girl to handle. He makes me do crazy things, like sit in the kitchen for hours, hot and red-faced. He takes his time. He makes me sit inside the house, […]
