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Tonight, I’m taking it way back to 2012, my senior year of college. I wanted to be a food writer/blogger. I was minoring in journalism and writing a food column for a local paper (thanks to my favorite professor for connecting me with his contacts). I loved it! I was able to sample menus before restaurants opened, eat for free (sometimes) and write my opinion in a column of my very own. I was thrilled to be 22 with a newspaper column – even if it was in a small local paper. Anyway, I wanted to do more so I approached my  father and asked him if I could write a monthly newsletter for his business. I could include updates and business stuff but I could also write in some family history and stories from the kitchen I grew up in at home. The newspaper column and my column in the newsletter both held the same title: Food For Thought.

Anyway, while the local paper covered restaurants and bars around Newark (I went to the University of Delaware), my newsletter column was modeled after the movie “Julie & Julia.” Do you know it? It’s a movie about a young women with a passion for cooking, working her way through Julia Child’s famous cookbook. But instead of using a famous cookbook, I worked my way through a recipe book that my mom made for me, containing alllllllll of our precious family recipes. It was a really fun project and I can’t speak for my roommates, but I think they were pleased with the project too since I would cook enough for all of them too.

Back to present day: I’m a virtual fitness coach with a certification in nutrition. I want to work my way through this cookbook again, but in a different way. I’m going to cook my way through each recipe with a healthy twist – ingredient swaps, portion checks and other small adjustments that will make each recipe suitable for my clients seeking to lose weight without feeling like they are sacrificing all of the foods they love (because how freaking boring would that be?!).

Here’s where this blog comes in. I’m going to share the journey here too BUT I’ll include two versions of each recipe for ya’ll – the original and the “healthified.” You fellow foodies can decide which to try. But that’s not all.

I am counting on YOU for feedback! Actually, let’s start now! Should I begin this project in January as a 2019 journey OR should I just get going now with the holiday recipe section? Comment with your vote!

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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

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