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!
All of my original TASTE blog entries with the new look.
I’ve just discovered an incredible new kind of egg: the newest kind. I’ve been buying local dozens from a farmer at the Houston Farmer’s Market who gives them to me in boxes that I bring back to him the following week. Nothing is wasted except the freckled shells. Which are sometimes so pretty that I [...]
On Saturday morning we went to the Mid-Town farmer’s market hosted at T’afia restaurant, where chef Monica Pope brings local Texas food to the table. Only local. No toms from Chile or China. This means a menu that depends on the sunshine of the day before. It’s my favorite place in the city. You can [...]
I wrote an upcoming piece for findingDulcinea about growing an herb garden. (Though the herb feature isn’t yet live, there is a nice Web Guide to Gardening available on the site now.) Mid-way through, I took lunch at the local garden center. After reading so much great advice and looking at so many pictures, [...]
I’ve been thinking about how this got started: why I love foraging from markets, (wish I had the wherewithal to hunt for morels in the bayou forest) hoarding ingredients, and trying to make them into something interesting–without ruining how good fresh food is on its own. There are few things I can do with [...]
Last night I cooked chicken for the first time in my life. Indeed. I drove my bicycle to the Houston Farmer’s Market at Rice University, and then went whipping to Whole Foods for cruelty-free breasts, since the Jolie Vue farmer had run out of her own. Chicken breasts, I mean.
I bought them skinless, with bones [...]
Last night I made cupcakes, but called them muffins. I got away with it for a few reasons. 1. They are brown, but not chocolate. We’ve all heard that white stuff is the enemy–white flour, white sugar, white lies… As long as I throw a cupful of molasses into the (very white) mix, suddenly things [...]
April 21st. A new season to celebrate, though Spring comes earlier in Houston.
I’ve found myself challenged to create beauty and not just to buy it. To eat food prepared with care, bought from people who’ve overseen seed to plant.
There are some extraordinary farmers markets here in Texas, and one exemplary and good-natured guinea pig who [...]
