About Bread and Stories

If you have enough money for two loaves of bread, buy a loaf of bread and a pot of geraniums. —a long-ago neighbor

What Is Bread and Stories?

Through personal stories and recipes, this ezine aims to feed both soul and body. Each post is a loaf of bread and a pot of geraniums. And because the world is a dark, divided place—a place that right this minute is breaking my heart—Bread and Stories crosses as many borders as possible. Barriers drift away like the steam from your mother's ragout chicken. What's left is just a person telling you their story and inviting you to sample a flavor of their home.

Who Publishes This Blog?

I'm Jody Frank, a longtime professional writer and editor who began blogging from her lonely desk during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those contemplative posts for family and friends became Things Invisible to See on Substack in 2021. Then around winter solstice of 2025, I lost trust in that platform at the same time that I lost the will to keep explicating and arguing toward some shared vision of humanity. What else was there to say? Somewhere in those anxious days between "Hey everyone, I'm leaving Substack" and "I know exactly what to do next," I saw that I had renewed the domain breadandstories.com, reserved years ago after a glass of wine. It was still mine! Now that it has found its time, it's yours, too.

Bread and Stories plans to invite guest posts from everywhere eventually. At first, this blog will provide space and editorial support for friends from a variety of countries and cultures to share their memories and reflections along with a recipe. I'm excited to share these lovely people's offerings, and I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do.

NOTE: Each post is copyright by the contributor/author.

An Independent Project

I launched Bread and Stories on the open-source Ghost platform so that it can be truly independent. When a commercial platform is free to use, you're always the product in some way, and your work and its reach are at the mercy of profit-driven content promotion algorithms. I want this blog to find its readers in more organic ways within a community of like-minded creators. Plus I grew up in a haunted house, so Ghost sounds a lot like home.

Why Subscribe?

Subscribe for free to get new public posts delivered to your inbox, or choose a paid subscription to get additional premium content and support this project–not to mention, feel beams of gratitude warming you from a little desk in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Your paid subscription helps cover the cost of Ghost's platform subscription fee, which grows with the subscriber count, and thus helps Bread and Stories continue to exist.

Whichever subscription you choose, thanks for being here!

Meet Fellow Soulful Foodies

Join an inclusive community of subscribers who love evocative, funny, touching personal stories and comforting food.