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!
It’s a bit late to begin writing about winter, but I have been hibernating. Still and quiet, but whirling with ideas. Many come up when I sleep.This morning I got up quite early and did some stretching and had some coffee and my sleepy thoughts took shape.
The best thought was that I need to write more [...]
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 [...]
I made this last winter for the first time, and recently came back to it. It’s as bright as ever–please enjoy.
Thank you, citrus, for gleaming through these gray winter months. I’ve got an appointment to have my teeth cleaned soon, and I’m sure my dentist will admonish me for my very much eroded enamel, but [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
A few nights ago, I conquered the common cold over the stove. It was a long journey to recovery, I realized. As I stirred the nutty, spicy mixture of soy milk, cardamom, cinnamon and honey into a lump of leftover Chinese takeout, I knew that I had finally grown up. That is not a joke.
I’ve [...]
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 [...]
