The Rebel Palate

(Click here to jump to today's recommended song, Gene Vincent's cover of Unchained Melody!) It's Valentine's Day, rebels! Even though I didn't post this in December like I wanted to, Valentine's Day is an equally opportune time to talk about making cookies. Last year, I got this Mirro "Cooky" Press for my birthday, because someone needed to get rid of it and thought I'd want it. And why not? It's food-related, it's old, and it's obscure. I wasn't sure how old it was at first, so I did some minor digging. Using The Internet Archive's handy-dandy "search within text" function (which I used in this post ), I found documents containing "Mirro Cooky Press" from as far back as 1949. A book called Spiffy Kitchen Collectibles says it's from the "1940s-1950s", and since it came out in the final year of the 40s... let's just call it 50s. ...

Welcome to the rabbit hole.                                                                                                                       (Click here to jump to the recommended song, Jesus Lover of My Soul by Brigham Young University Choir!) In August of 2021, I went to a fancy cheese shop and ordered from the ever-intimidating "big girl counter" for the very first time. I didn't know what I wanted, so I ended up with four ounces of Appenzeller, some Gruyere with black truffles in it, and a cast-iron mouse I named Tony Squeak. The Appenzeller took some- sorry, a lot of getting used to. It smelled like cat pee and feet with a hint of jasmine. It's kind of a miracle...

(Click here to jump to the recommended song, Comu si Beddra by Angelo Daddelli & i Picciotti!) Ciao, ribelli. Gangster media is a staple of American pop culture. Everybody knows about The Sopranos, The Godfather and Goodfellas. Sometimes we sympathize with Mob characters or fantasize about being in their shoes. They have just about every status symbol- money, power, and ways of showing their money and power. Plus people have a morbid fascination with crime. But at the end of the day, we don't want to catch ourselves thinking we like the Mafia. In real life, they're real trouble. And forget about joining them- even the movies can tell you it's not a good idea. The victims are real, but in Sicily, they're taking a stand. Addiopizzo (or "Goodbye Pizzo"), is a nonprofit organization based in Sicily. They have a travel service and an online store . They partner with local businesses that refuse to pay the pizzo, or...

Happy New Year, rebels. I've gotta admit something to you all. I don't think I've been terribly honest the few months I've worked on this blog. I didn't lie in any of my posts. Intentionally, at least. I like to believe all the information I share is accurate or otherwise accounted for (hence the constant "don't take my word for this, but..." disclaimers). I've been lying to myself , if anything. THE REALITY CHECK I intended The Rebel Palate's schedule to work for people with "real jobs". Initially I wanted one post every Monday and Thursday. Monday was to give people an extra hit of dopamine to get through the week, and Thursday was to keep them sane while waiting for Friday.  I always post at 1:37 pm, because I wanted it to be sometime in the middle of the day, and 1:37 in 24-hour time is 13:37. Add that to the "Ways I Pretend I'm Older Than I Actually Am" list. I think I was only semi-consistent during The Month of Th...

I have a love-hate relationship with marketing gimmicks, which sheds some light on how my brain works.   (Click here to jump to the recommended song, Santa Claus is Back in Town by Elvis Presley!) Howdy rebels. This is one of many times of year when we're bombarded by cheesy, tacky and sometimes slimy advertising. As a rebel, I don’t like corporate tomfoolery. I don’t like it when companies try to make you want something you never thought to buy. Especially when it’s supposed to “solve” an incredibly minor inconvenience that affects all humans for simply existing. I see things like this every time I walk into a store. Especially the “aisle of shame” at Aldi and pretty much all of Walmart. Unnecessary products with some “revolutionary new feature” that’s meant to make it better or easier or some other “er”. Honestly I hate the implication that someone’s actually buying those things instead of living their everyday lives th...