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!
My friend Mark, dear, amazing Mark, is the gentleman behind the best-ever gingersnaps. He is also the man who discovered this incredible batter, which comes straight from the pages of Saveur.
This recipe is the one I make when I need to make an impression. Since carrot cake seems relatively innocuous, nobody thinks you’re being a [...]
If you get tired of turkey with stuffing, chutney and green beans (in a few days), give this a whirl. It makes the bird fresh again.
Tarragon Turkey Salad
1 lb turkey meat, shredded
3/4 c mayo
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1/2 c chopped tarragon
Sea salt and fresh pepper
–
Place shredded turkey and mayo in a bowl and mix [...]
The best pecan pies come from south of the Mason Dixon line, and different states have their own style. I am really fond of the Texas version (especially the pie from Good Company), but I also have an affinity for Georgia pies. As a kid, I spent a lot of summers near Macon. We used [...]
I grew up in an old farm house, deep in the woods of Northern Connecticut. It was built in 1787 and hasn’t been modernized much since, except for the addition of electricity and plumbing in the 1950s. My father, who grew up in the house with his mom and brother, remembers getting his backside stuck [...]
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 [...]
You know those people who resolve piety in the New Year, embracing soups and fruit juice and brown rice baths? Well I’m not one of them. But I do love soup. It makes me feel warm and clean and hale. This year I was especially in need of some elixing.
It started, as with all great [...]
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 [...]
