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 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 [...]
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 [...]
Well hello, it has been a while. On Friday, I clawed my way out of my last law book. It took a few days for my hands to regain feeling… I woke up this morning and determined that I was well enough to wield a spoon. And so, on December 22, I made my first [...]
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 [...]
I really like a late summer plum. We’re into fall now, but still on the cusp, and stone fruit gets better and better from now until its dearth. I made a rustic plum galette recently, which is a nice way of saying that I made a dessert with permissibly crumpled edges and uneven folds. Every [...]
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 [...]
I made a lot of things this weekend on a visit to my parents’ house, including some batik eggs. Wax on a convex surface is decidedly unruly, but that is not the story here. This story is of a cake that almost didn’t get made: one I planned to bake and serve on Easter morning, [...]
