10 Thanksgiving Hacks for Your Best Turkey Day Yet

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Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

In just two short weeks, we will all be knee deep in turkey and carbohydrates. I couldn’t be more excited, though for me, the excitement is geared towards the carbs (I’m not 12246734_10154327565770898_7143389020818750825_nreally a turkey fan). Anyway, as fun as it is to stuff our faces alongside our loved ones, preparing the feast is always a challenging and time consuming task. In an effort to help make things just a little bit easier for everybody getting ready to feed their families, I wanted to share 10 Thanksgiving hacks to help you host your best Turkey Day yet.Continue Reading

Drab Dinner Blues Cured With Wine

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Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

It’s the middle of the week which means that for a lot of people, dinner is starting to feel like a chore and reheating leftovers sounds way better than whipping something up. I’m all about ease and convenience so I’m not going to sit here and tell you to that you red-wineabsolutely have to snap out of it and test out a new recipe tonight. If you don’t want to cook, don’t cook! Either go out and treat yourself or reheat something from earlier in the week. However, if you go the leftover route, I do suggest making one small tweak: spice it up with some new wine.Continue Reading

How Much to Serve at a Party

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Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

I love playing hostess and throwing parties. It’s so much fun to plan a theme, pick out décor, and serve amazing food and drinks. The thing that most people struggle with in terms of planning is how to determine exactly how much of each item to prepare or order. Well fear not my party planning friends because I’ve found an easy reference chart to help you out! Today’s post is short and sweet but check out the chart below to help you figure out exactly how much to serve at a party.Continue Reading

To Salt or Not to Salt? The Answer is Both

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Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

Let’s be real for a second. Salt is the spice of life. We use it in cooking and baking because it goes with sweet and savory. It balances out a meal, livens up other flavors, and turns a bland dish into something worth writing home about. An under-salted dish is extremely underwhelming yet an over-salted dish can often be deemed inedible. To salt or not to salt?Anyway, before I go off on a tangent, I think we can all agree on the fact that salt plays a really important role in our kitchens. But there are more ways to add salt to a dish than throwing another pinch into the pot. Today I want to talk about three ingredients that you can add to a dish to kick the salt level up a notch without adding actual salt.Continue Reading