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!
This has been a long year. Sometimes I feel quite tired. So tired that my body aches–from sitting. I have various perches: swirling classroom chairs, straight, wooden library chairs, crumb-covered bistro chairs, soft sofas, (which are the worst for aching) dining room chairs, bar stools. The floor. I sit everywhere, but somehow, never for rest. […]
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 […]
I hope you’ll enjoy tonight as I will. Go Huskies. Texas Guacamole Serves 4 1 large shallot, chopped 1 medium, red onion, diced, divided 1 jalepeno pepper, finely diced 1 large, red tomato, diced 2 jumbo avocados (or 4 small) 1/2 c chopped cilantro salt and pepper to taste olive oil lemon juice – Saute […]
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 […]
I just finished licking all ten of my fingers and am feeling like Sir Kay from The Sword and the Stone. For some reason, one of my most vivid childhood memories involves watching him take down a drumstick in a single lippy bite… and wincing in embarrassed self-recognition. I may have been disgusted then, but […]
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 […]
We’ve taken to roasting a chicken on Sundays. It may not seem like the most practical thing to heat up a tiny kitchen when external temperatures exceed 100 degrees on most days, but there’s nothing like the taste of freshly roasted chicken—especially when it gets an encore as tarragon chicken salad or as the base […]
This blog post is an apology, and an attempt to explain that I really can cook a main dish. I am so sorry that I only ever post about salads, sides and baked goods. You must think I have a really, really strange diet. Although the assumption is not entirely untrue, I must tell you […]
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 […]
