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!
Thank God I am still in Vermont! It gets better and better, if a bit colder. We had dinner recently, with new friends who have lived here a while, and the gentleman said he didn’t mind the cold because the sky tends to stay blue. That’s been true. In the morning, though, it’s often pink.
Lupe [...]
I love fall. I haven’t had a lot of time to cook for myself, but I immensely enjoy eating things other people make, especially if those things involve apples. Also, I love cider donuts. I’ve even found a recipe to try, someday…when I graduate from law school, start my career, have children and watch them [...]
It’s fall, so I rush around a lot. I’m getting used to not having time to linger over lunch. I have to bring it with me most days, and eat it while I read about hearsay or the Fourth Amendment. Despite the rigors of daily life, Sundays are sanctified by a roasted chicken. Christopher and [...]
Is this the time for ginger granola? Probably not, but I’ll tell you something: it got me through a lot this spring, and it goes great with slivered nectarines. It’s certainly the kind of thing I imagine eating in flannel PJs and slippers, but it has gone just fine with cotton t-shirts and old cut-offs [...]
A while ago, I though I would have time for salmon gravlax with buckwheat blini. Who was I kidding? I barely have time to butter an English Muffin. It might have been around New Year’s–when I was finishing up a month-long vacation, and when smoked salmon felt ’seasonal.’ The truth is, sometimes I get seduced [...]
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 [...]
Green on Greens will teach you to do incredible things with vegetables, one of which involves stuffing a chicken with a celery root… Imagine! I haven’t done it yet, but I will let you know when I do. Quite a few pages are dogeared with irreparable creases, but none is more worn than the page [...]
Recently, I had a chill. Last Sunday, I believe it was. I may have behaved a bit badly on Saturday and warranted it. But whether it was the inklings of an illness, or just a bit of a post-champagne grog, I’ll never know: the soup I made that day cleared all of my troubles [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
