Gretchen McKay

Tweet   So you’re among the thousands of Runners of Steel who participated in the Pittsburgh (or another city’s) Marathon. Or maybe you’re one of the many spectators who got…

Tweet This is the last in a series on Lt. Col. Chris Cieslak’s deployment to Afghanistan:   A bunch of red, white and blue balloons danced at the front door…

Tweet VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Neptune, the Roman god of water and the sea, is the majestic poster boy for an annual festival that draws 500,000 visitors to Virginia Beach…

Tweet       This time of year when so many are obsessing about eating less in an effort to fit into warm-weather shorts and bathing suits, it’s all I…

Tweet This a third in a series of stories and videos on local traditions by Gretchen McKay and videographer and photographer Steve Mellon. As in so many Italian homes, something…

Tweet Most everyone hopes to find a few sweet treats tucked into their Easter basket along with the colored eggs and milk chocolate Easter bunny. In my house, for example,…

Tweet It”s officially spring, but other than asparagus and early-bird spinach, it’s still too early for the tender vegetables we’re so hungry for this time of year. So instead, we’re…

Tweet For some, it’s proof that the dining scene has, quite literally, gone to the dogs. But to animal lovers such as Dan and Joan Huber of Observatory Hill, eating…

Tweet West Virginia’s New River offers some of the best white water in America. On the Lower New, rafters can expect to crash through giant waves but still float through…

Tweet Dan Casne makes his living redesigning and rewinding electromagnets used on overhead cranes in steel mills. It’s a technical job, and not a bad-paying one. But his true calling…

Tweet BELLTOWN, Pa. — Every paddler has her moment when the only thing on her mind is placing her water shoes on dry land. For me, it came about five…

Tweet A movie production crew set up shop inside the Ben Avon home of PG reporter Gretchen McKay (center) for the filming of “Riddle,” As someone who writes about homes,…

Tweet From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette: The Post-Gazette’s “Cooking with Gretchen” video series has won a national award in the Association of Food Journalists’ Awards Competition 2010. To see the…

Tweet I appreciate a nice pilsner or dunkel-style dark beer as much as the next frau. My ancestors on my mom’s side hail from the tiny village of Frommern in…

Tweet NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario — Tell someone you’re heading to Niagara, and she’ll probably think of one thing: the fabulous falls straddling the Canadian and U.S. borders that draw more than…

Tweet LILY DALE, N.Y. — I like a good ghost story as much as the next gal, especially this time of year, when even the staunchest disbelievers hope to hear…

Tweet Got teenagers? Bet you have trouble getting something decent in their stomachs before they run to the bus on weekday mornings. Here’s how the school day unfolds in my…

Tweet Cara McCandless and Barton Branstetter have never forgotten their storybook wedding trip to Thornbury Castle Hotel in South Gloucestershire, England. King Henry VIII spent 10 days in 1535 in…

Tweet Every home cook has her Achilles heel, the one dish or technique that she simply cannot master. For me, it’s homemade pie crust. Or as it’s referred to in…

Tweet NEW WILMINGTON — Like the four generations that proceeded him, Lyle Johnston has spent a lifetime growing what he considers the world’s tastiest apples on the fruit farm his…

Tweet When you’re strapped for time, or maybe just impatient, the difference between a good dish and a really great one isn’t just the number of ingredients or how long…

Tweet We all like to scare ourselves silly at Halloween. But usually, the goose bumps are a reaction to a frightening event we see or hear, not something dished up…

Tweet By the time my hip pushed open my parents’ back door just after sundown, the 14-pound turkey I’d just finished roasting sliding precariously on the rimmed cookie sheet I…

Tweet First in an occasional series on the birth of Notion It’s tough to pigeon-hole Dave Racicot, the self-taught chef who earned Nemacolin Woodlands Resort’s Lautrec restaurant its coveted AAA…

Tweet The sun had barely started its creep toward the heavens when the Rev. Father Mike Zavage positioned himself against a tree, his .284 Winchester hanging at the ready on…

Tweet It just wouldn’t be the season without some sort of festive gathering of family and friends. Usually, bless their generous souls, some brave couple in my neck of the…

Tweet With the Steelers one step higher on the Stairway to Seven, we know you’re more than ready for some football. Here’s what you might still be trying to figure…

Tweet Retired public relations executive Larry Werner has been sporting the same no-nonsense businessman’s haircut since at least the Kennedy administration, if not longer: short around the sides and neck,…

Tweet Joshua Boggs and his equally fleet-footed twin, Justin, have run races on every imaginable terrain since embracing the sport in high school. But their mad dashes to the finish…

Tweet  Who doesn’t love a wedding? The dress, the flowers, the promise of love everlasting … Add to the mix a good-looking member of the British royal family, an…

Tweet VICKSBURG, Miss. — Most of us have a way of coping, a method for dealing with the things we’d rather not deal with. Lt. Col. Chris Cieslak chose denial…

Tweet Summer is fast approaching, and what better way to slip into vacation mode than by trading your oven mitts for some long-handled tongs so you can sink your teeth…

Tweet VICKSBURG, Miss. — War is never easy, but residents of this busy river town perched on the bluffs of the Mississippi River were especially miserable when on July 4,…

Tweet Painful and permanent, tattoos used to be the mark of bikers, sailors and hard-core rock ‘n’ rollers. Today, just try finding someone under the age of 35 who doesn’t…

Tweet PARIS, Va. — History abounds in this picture-perfect hamlet snuggled in the crook of Ashby’s Gap, in the heart of Northern Virginia’s wine country. A young George Washington is…

Tweet Don’t know about you, but whenever I feel the need to rejuvenate, I head for the beach. As busy as life and work get sometimes, it’s hard to feel…

Tweet   Like so many parents I know with physically active kids, I spend a lot of time at school and community athletic events. In the last 25 years of…

Tweet When it comes to road races, nothing beats the classic 5K. Last year alone, the 3.1-mile distance chalked up nearly 4.7 million finishers, or 36 percent of all race…

Tweet The mercury has dipped to 18 degrees when Leon Panella pads into his garage in Prospect, Butler County, at about 8 a.m. on a recent, snowy Saturday. Still, he…

Tweet QUEBEC CITY, Quebec — I’m not going to lie. My husband thought I was nuts when I suggested spending my January birthday at Hotel de Glace here in Canada….

Tweet For most Pittsburghers, some things are as sure as the sun rising each morning. You root for the Steelers. You don’t, unless you absolutely have to, cross rivers. And…

Tweet     People can be funny when it comes to eating fish. You want a fillet to taste vaguely of the ocean so as to distinguish it from meat…

Tweet   Ree Drummond wasn’t looking for celebrity when she sat down at the computer five years ago, created a blog on Blogger and started typing. Blessed with a few…