Five Food Centric Ideas For Your Wedding

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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 am currently sitting in the airport with my fiancé, Matt, preparing to take off for the final wedding of the year (and might I add, the one I am most excited for as we will be celebrating Matt’s older brother, Mark, and his amazing bride, Becky – yes there will soon be two Becky Boland’s). Anyway, Matt and I were just chatting about the many Five Food Centric Ideas For Your Weddingweddings we’ve attended over the last few years and we realized how many really cool things that our loved ones have done on the big day. We’ve seen homemade photo-booths, full rooms devoted to foods from all over the world, incredible bands, engaging DJs, donut walls, and so much more. While we’ve had a blast attending all of the weddings we’ve been lucky enough to receive an invite to, I think it’s only natural that we always circle back to our own and what we wan that day to look like. Early on in our engagement we decided that come wedding day, we wanted our main focus to be on the food. I’m not going to give away any spoilers as to what we have planned for our nuptials next fall but I will share some of the unique ideas we came across during the planning process. So fellow foodie brides/grooms to be, this post is for you: Five Food Centric Ideas For Your Wedding.Continue Reading

10 Make Ahead Tailgating Recipes for Football Season

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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)

If you want to talk football season, I am not your girl but if you want to talk football season snacks, then you’ve hit the jackpot. I am the self-proclaimed queen of snacking and since my fiancé and I closed on a house earlier this month, our home has already been dubbed THE place to be for Sunday game day. As soon as Matt mentioned his excitement for the season to begin, my brain jumped to all of the things I can make so that it’s enjoyable for me too. I could probably put together a decent sized book of all my favorite appetizers and snacks that are perfect for game day at home or a live tailgate, but today I figured I’d start out with 10 of my favorite recipes that can be made ahead of time and enjoyed cold because honestly, who doesn’t want to enjoy an easy Sunday without the need to prepare and cook?Continue Reading

You HAVE to Try This Pasta Trick

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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)

So you guys know by now that I’m a foodie turned health nut. Don’t worry this blog will never focus on kale and quinoa (though I do love enjoying both of those ingredients on a regular basis). However, from time to time I may share some fun chef tricks that You HAVE to try this pasta trickdon’t include adding more butter, oil, or sugar. Like today! I am going to share a cooking hack with you that will make every pasta dish you ever prepare taste even more decadent and lush and it all starts with the water.Continue Reading

A Foodie’s Real Opinion of Yelp

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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)

Before I get started here, I want you to know that I am an avid Yelp user. I like to check out some opinions about a restaurant before I head in (many times, not all the time) and I read both positive and negative reviews. That being said, I never rely 100 percent on those reviewsmy opinion of Yelp because there are just too many unknown details. Plus, not for nothing, but some people are just outrageously picky and ignorant about how a restaurant really works. Anyway, I’ve had several discussions on this topic lately so I want to touch on it a bit today. Part of me wants to say “Screw Yelp, never use it,” but the realistic part of me has settled on “Go ahead and use Yelp, but make sure you’re being smart about it.”Continue Reading