Author: thestlouiscooks

The St. Louis Cooks have a love for food and St. Louis. We share recipes, local restaurants, and small businesses.
Family, Life in General, St. Louis Small Businesses

Get Out and About this Holiday Season

thestlouiscooks

Christmas and New Year Wishes

I can’t believe Christmas will be here in five more days.  I say this every year because as I get older and busier, time goes faster and faster.  However, you can’t let it go without getting out and about in your city.  Our favorite time to go see the holiday lights is the week between Christmas and New Years.  Although I love the hustle and bustle before Christmas, it’s a little crazy busy especially with three active children and two working parents.  Of course, my number one source for checking out lights and holiday activities in St. Louis is Kids Out and About in St. Louis.

Check out their holiday page for all kinds of activities throughout the holidays especially light displays, tree farms, holiday shows and events throughout the St. Louis area.   Attached is a link to their holiday page –  http://saintlouis.kidsoutandabout.com/content/master-guide-december-holiday-fun-and-around-st-louis

Kids out and About is a great resource for family activities. For those of you not located in St. Louis, you can also find this great organization in many other cities throughout the US and they continue to grow.

Get connected with them! Get out and about with your families this holiday season!

Kids out an about Logo

The St. Louis Cooks wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

More recipes and local St. Louis business features to come…Stay tuned!

Drinks, Life in General, St. Louis Small Businesses

Great Perks at The Breve Coffee Company

thestlouiscooks

Coffee Beans

Good Friends and Good Coffee! Two of life’s greatest perks taking place right here in St. Louis!

Tis the season with a cup of joe from my dear friends at The Breve Coffee Company!

Their story is unique. It’s one of passion and hard work. Owner and founder, Kevin Wiesehan, an aeronautical engineer at Boeing Aircraft was transferred to Seattle to work with a supplier back in the early 90’s.  Both Kevin and his wife, Holly (my good friend from high school) lived in Seattle for three years.  Yes, Seattle…the coffee capital of the world! Kevin was working 100 hours a week and soon became a coffee drive thru junkie.  He loved it, and the entire coffee concept. This is where it all began…the idea, the passion, and the dream to one day bring this idea to the Midwest. He did just that.

On March 5, 1995, Kevin opened St. Louis’ first Espresso Bar in downtown St. Louis in the Paul Brown Building.  This was seven years before Starbucks even came to St. Louis!  Later in 1995, they introduced St. Louis to the first Panini press sandwich.  It wasn’t easy building the business, but in time the people kept coming back.  The quality and the passion was there in every cup of coffee because Breve Coffee only uses the finest coffee beans. Those coffee beans are grown in the mountainous regions of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Java, Sumatra, Columbia, Kenya, New Guinea, and other remote areas. Breve Coffee has a unique distinction of quality because of their true small batch roasting and temperature control all done right here in Pevely, MO at their Roastery.

Today, The Breve Coffee Company, has three locations 1) Lobby of the AT&T Center, 2) Lobby of the PNC Building in Clayton, and 3) Lobby of SSM St. Anthony’s Hospital. You can also find their coffees sold in some local stores.  If you are not located in St. Louis, look no further then their awesome website where you will find all their coffees including great Christmas blends perfect for holiday gift giving! Their website includes a wealth of information about all their coffees, how to purchase them, pictures of the locations, menus, hours, and so much more. Check them out at www.brevecoffee.com or contact them directly via this link…https://www.brevecoffee.com/contact.html

Don’t worry if you haven’t experienced Breve Coffee yet, better latte then never!

The St. Louis Cooks love to support and promote small businesses.  I hope that you will too!

Cheers!

Breve Logo

Family, Food, Kids, Snacks

Pretzel Rolo Snacks

thestlouiscooks
Pretzel Rolo M&M's

I’m a huge fan of sweet and salty mixed together.  I love pretzels and I love Rolos!  Unfortunately I can’t take credit for this recipe, but I still wanted to share it with you because it’s so good and easy!  Plus, it’s always a big hit at any party and my kids always help out in the kitchen.

There are tons of different variations of these pretzel Rolo snacks floating around.  My all time favorite ones include the pecans on top, however my third child has a peanut and nut allergy so I do not get to indulge in those anymore.  I decided that there had to be something else I could use as my topper on these awesome snacks. I came across a few different options.  I must admit that these Pretzel Rolo M&M’s are just as good as the Pretzel Rolo Pecans. Plus, my little one can eat M&M’s with out any problems so it was good for all of us!

Ingredients

  • 2 bags of Rolo’s
  • 1 Bag of Pretzel Snaps ( can use regular pretzels but I prefer to use the Snaps)
  • 1 (12.60 oz.) Bag of M&M’s
  • Foil

Directions

  1. Place foil on baking sheets.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  3. Place pretzels on foil until entire sheet is full approximately 1/2 inch in between.Nick making Rolo Pretzels
  4. Open all the Rolos and place in the center of each pretzel. I usually have the kids do this part because they love to pop a few in their mouth.
  5. Place the pretzels with the Rolos on top in the oven for 3 minutes. Remove from oven. Then add one M&M to each one and gently push down to spread the Rolo all over the pretzel.  I also take a few of them and make a pretzel sandwich by adding another pretzel on top instead of an M&M.
  6. Cool the pretzel snacks and then place in the refridgerater so they can set.

The best way to serve them is at room temperature.

Enjoy!

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Stage 1
Family, Food

Pasta with Peas and Bacon

thestlouiscooks

Bacon Pea Pasta

It was one of those kind of nights.  I didn’t want to do take out and I didn’t want to go to the grocery store.  It was time to get creative and pull together a meal with some of the ingredients I had at home. Of course, I picked out some of my favorites – pasta, garlic, peas, and bacon!

This meal was so quick and easy and the entire family loved it. It’s a light dish (not low fat), but light and not heavy.  You could use any kind of pasta and/or vegetable.

Who doesn’t like a dish with bacon in it anyway?

Ingredients

  • 1 Bag of Frozen Peas – defrosted
  • 1 Box of Linguine Pasta
  • 1 Small Onion Chopped
  • 4 Cloves of Garlic
  • 6-7 Slices of Cooked Bacon
  • Salt and Pepper to Taste
  • 4 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

Directions

  1. Cook Pasta according to package directions.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, add olive oil to large pan and sauté the onion and garlic.  I use a lot of garlic.
  3. Add peas to pan and stir.  Cook the onion, garlic and peas over medium heat and add salt and pepper as desired.
  4. Drain pasta and add to pea mixture on the stove.  Lightly toss to coat all of the pasta and pea mixture.
  5. Break up bacon pieces and add to pan.  Lightly toss bacon into pasta.
  6. Serve immediately and add fresh parmesan.

Enjoy!  This one is a keeper.

Family, Kids, Life in General

Kids Out and About in St. Louis

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Fall

The weather is getting cooler and the leaves are beginning to change beautiful colors of red, yellow, and orange.  It’s time to pull out the boots. The St. Louis Cardinals are in the playoffs once again, and our Missouri Tigers are unbeaten. It’s Autumn here in St. Louis.  It’s an awesome time to be here. October has become one of my very favorite months because there is so much excitement in town.  People are visiting the Missouri wineries and taking their families to the pumpkin patch.

Recently, I wanted to take the family to a pumpkin patch that I visited several years ago. I couldn’t remember the name or address so I decided to check out my friends at “Kid’s Out and About in St. Louis”.  I knew they would hook me up with a list so I could find my favorite one.  Not only do they provide a list of pumpkin patches, but they provide so many other activities for families.  It’ such a great resource.

KidsOutAndAbout.com is an online resource offering parents, grandparents, and caregivers great stuff to do in and around the St. Louis area with their kids – culture, the arts, festivals, active fun, and recreation. Organizations that provide activities for kids and families can have a free organization listing so they can post on any of their three calendars – events, classes and summer camps. An enewsletter is sent out every Thursday morning filled with ideas for family fun for that upcoming weekend and beyond.

Stay connected with them. It’s an awesome organization!

Kids out an about Logo

website:      http://saintlouis.kidsoutandabout.com/

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/KidsOutAndAboutSaintLouis

Twitter:        https://twitter.com/KidsOutStLouis  or @KidsOutStLouis