Tag: Kids

St. Louis Small Businesses

Erin King Photography

thestlouiscooks

Erin King PhotographyAs a Mom of three children, I love pictures especially of my kids.  Some of my all time favorites are when they were babies and toddlers.  I will never forget that day at Simon Says (my kids preschool/child care center) when I picked up the kids to be presented with these absolutely darling photos.  All of them taken by the one and only Erin King.

Let me introduce you to Lil’ Angels Photography and Erin King Photography with our second local business feature. Lil’ Angels Photography is a national franchise that works with child care centers and preschools to offer parents a little more than normal “school” photos. Lil’ Angels Photography offers a “fashion” program where the photographers bring in outfits and accessories.  Lil’ Angels Photographers dress the children up so when the parents pick them up, they have beautiful photos of their children in darling outfits, and parents don’t have to lift a finger!

When Erin King graduated from Maryville University in 2004 with a degree in Integrated Marketing Communications, she knew one thing for sure…She wanted to work for herself! A friend that Erin went to high school with had purchased a Lil’ Angels Photography franchise in St. Louis. She built the business for a couple of years, but was moving to Kansas City, so Erin bought it from her. Erin has owned that franchise for 10 years now, and 5 years ago, bought a second St. Louis area franchise with her husband, Rich King. At the child care centers, Erin King had a lot of requests for private sessions for siblings that didn’t attend the preschools or child care centers.  She started using her basement as a makeshift studio and met people in parks for outdoor sessions and family pictures.  These private sessions took place on Saturday and Sunday mornings for almost ten years until she explored other options.

It was then Erin King Photography was born! The studio is located in historic Cottleville, Missouri. It’s conveniently located 5 minutes from Erin King’s home!  The new studio is a historic home that was built in 1910 with the perfect setting to offer old world charm. Located on 3 acres, along with a cabin that was built in the 1800’s, a barn, and unlimited outdoor settings for spectacular photos. “Having a location that is great for a studio and outdoor photos is a photographer’s dream,” said Erin King of Erin King Photography.

Having both Lil’ Angels franchises and the Erin King Photography studio keeps Erin King very busy. Her five-year old son, Cole, loves to work with Erin at the studio and explore on the grounds. Recently, they welcomed a new addition to the family with a baby girl named Charley. Erin King could not be more excited about what the future holds for her family and their two photography businesses – Lil’ Angels Photography and Erin King Photography.  Below is contact information for Erin King at either Lil’ Angels Photography or Erin King Photography.

Check out her amazing work online!

Erin V. Veith-King
Lil’ Angels Photography & Erin King Photography
314-604-0800
Family, Food, Kids

Marshmallow Fudge Brownies

thestlouiscooks

 

Fudge Brownies

Today, Jack Sievers, child #2, was the chef in our kitchen.  He decided he wanted to make desert!  That’s no shocker.  We both pondered a few different recipes based on ingredients we had at home.  We decided to go basic, but something with big and rich flavors.

There’s one thing you will always find in my kitchen – a big box of Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie Mix from Costco.  In my opinion, it’s the best brownie mix out of a box.  They are rich with big chucks of chocolate.  Jack decided he wanted to top them with marshmallows.  I told him that was a good idea and maybe we could add another topping.  So there you have it – Marshmallow Fudge Brownies!  This is an easy recipe to involve the kids in the kitchen and they will love the end result.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Pan (9×13) Brownies, baked and cooled – we use Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie MixJack putting on marshmallows
  • 3 Tablespoons of Butter
  • 1/4 Cup of Milk
  • 1 Square Ounce unsweetened Chocolate, chopped
  • 1 (3 ounce) Package of Cream Cheese, cut in cubes
  • 3 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
  • 2 Cups Miniature Marshmallows

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Let brownies cool completely.Jack making frosting
  2. In large sauce pan, combine, butter, milk, unsweetened chocolate, and cream cheese. Cook over low heat, stirring until well blended. Remove from heat, stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
  3. Sprinkle marshmallows over brownies and bake for 2-5 minutes until puffed. Remove brownies from oven and immediately pour frosting over marshmallows.  Lightly swirl to a marble with a knife.
  4. Refrigerate for one hour or until firm.

Enjoy!

Jack's Brownies

 

Family, Food, Kids, Snacks

White Chocolate Strawberries and Pretzels

thestlouiscooks
White Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Wow! Amazing, delicious, decadent, pretty, sweet and salty are just a few ways to describe our favorite snack – white chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels.  Really… anything white chocolate is fantastic in my book.  And, here’s the added bonus…they are one of the easiest things to make!

These goodies are my favorite all time snack to make with the kiddos.  I usually keep a few bags of chocolate morsels (white or semisweet) in the kitchen along with strawberries and a bag of pretzel rods. I’m a huge fan of white chocolate so it’s always my first choice for dipping.  Many people think this type of dessert would be difficult to make but I prepare it in a way that is super easy and fun for the kids – no long process or stove top melting!

Next time you want to involve the kids in the kitchen, this is one snack they will surely love to make and eat!

White Chocolate Strawberries and Pretzels

  • Servings: 10-15
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

Ingredients:Jack dipping

  • 1-2 bags of Nestle White Chocolate Chips (or any kind)
  • Strawberries (or any berries for dipping)
  • 1 Bag of Pretzel Rods
  • Vegetable or Canola Oil (optional)

Directions:

  1. Clean Strawberries and allow them to dry thoroughly keeping the stems on.
  2. Place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.  Heat in 30 second intervals stirring Nick dippingthe chocolate in between.  At this point, you can add a touch of oil to help smooth the chocolate or you can pass on the oil for a thicker consistency of chocolate.
  3. Once the chocolate is fully melted and smooth, begin dipping the strawberries holding the stems with your fingers.  Place the dipped strawberries on a baking pan lined with wax paper.  Repeat for other berries and the pretzel rods.
  4. Place the chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels in the refrigerator to set and chill.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Pretzels
Drinks, Family, Kids

Summer Smoothies

thestlouiscooks

Banana Strawberry Smoothie

We love smoothies in the summer time.  Heck, we like them all the time. There are so many different types of smoothie recipes out there, but this first one is my absolute favorite.  I always have all the ingredients in the kitchen. Yogurt is always in the fridge and Costco‘s Kirkland Frozen Three Berries or any other frozen berry variety. My best recommendation is to double the recipes.

The Banana Berry Smoothie

Ingredients

  • 1 banana
  • 1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt or any berry type
  • 3/4 cup of orange juice
  • 1 cup of Costco’s Kirkland frozen three berries (any kind is fine)

Directions

  • Blend all ingredients for 30 seconds to make 2 healthy servings.  Yummy!

Here is another great smoothie recipe based on ingredients we had at home…

The Banana Pineapple Smoothie

Banana Pineapple Smoothie

 

Ingredients

  • 1 banana
  • Hand full of ice cubes
  • 1/3 cup of fresh pineapple or canned pineapple
  • 1 cup of orange/pineapple juice (or any variety)
  • 1 tsp. of vanilla

Directions

  • Blend all ingredients for 30 seconds to make 2 healthy servings. Yummy!

The beautiful thing about smoothies is you can get creative, try different flavors, use what you have at home and enjoy!

Family, Food, Snacks

Festive Flag

thestlouiscooks

Festive Flag

It doesn’t have to be Memorial Day, Fourth of July, or Labor Day, to enjoy this awesome snack.  Last year, I came across this idea from Pinterest.  I saw this cute picture of a flag snack using skewers.  I had a ton at home so I decided to try out the recipe, but I changed it up a bit.  The recipe that I found on Pinterest used bananas for the white part.  I swapped the bananas for marshmallows because I worried the bananas would brown and I figured it would add a little more excitement!  It was a HUGE hit at the house!

This year the kids demanded that I let them make it all by themselves.  I was a little reluctant, but I gave the go ahead. My oldest, Melanie, was the head chef, Jack and Nick were the assistants (plus my hubby was in the living room listening/monitoring).  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the finished product!

Festive Flag

  • Servings: 8-10
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

Ingredients:

What you will need…

12 Total Skewers, blueberries, strawberries, and marshmallows

Directions:

  • 6 Skewers with 10-12 blueberries, 3 strawberries and 2 marshmallows on each one
  • 6 Skewers with 5 strawberries and 4 marshmallows on each one
  • Use the picture to follow pattern
  • Lay on a flat cookie sheet or nice platter

The kids love this snack and it’s a great side dish for a party!  Your guests will be impressed!

Enjoy!