Old St. Charles Again

My family and I visited Old St. Charles again last weekend. I'm really not going to write a caption for every picture because most of it is the same from last time. The only difference is that there was more Christmas decorations up.


















The beauty of Old St. Charles strikes me every time I visit. I cannot wait to go visit next time because the town will be totally enthralled in the holiday spirit. 

Until next time,
Taylor xx

Gluten Free Cookie Review

Recently my doctor wanted my mom to go gluten free among other things. However, people deserve a treat every once and awhile and we stumbled upon the "Pillsbury Gluten Free Flour". This "flour" is made from a blend of rice flour, potato starch, pea fiber, tapioca starch and xanthan gum. On the back of the package it gave a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that I decided to test out. I actually halved the recipe that I'm going to list.
Ingredients:
3/4 c. shortening *
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/4 c. Gluten Free Flour
3/4 tsp. salt 
2 c. chocolate chips 

*Instead of using shortening I used more butter, I will replace shortening in the directions with butter

Directions:
1) Heat oven to 350F. Beat butter, brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl with a stand mixer or hand mixer until blended. Add eggs and beat until combined.

2) Stir the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat into the butter mixture until well incorporated. Stir the chocolate chips in by hand.

3) Put balls of the cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

 And then store your cookies in a festive, penguin themed container. 

The Review:
I'm not gluten free, however I do try to eat as healthy as possible for being a teenager. These cookies are good because they look and actually taste like chocolate chip cookies. However, due to the ingredients that make up the flour blend, there is a gritty after taste to the cookies. My mom really enjoys them because the rest of the time she can't eat anything. My brother doesn't like them because he's a picky eater and enjoys my "regular" chocolate chip cookies. Overall, if you are already gluten free I am sure you will enjoy these cookies and the flour blend.

Until next time,
Taylor xx


Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child is easily one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season-- I know, I know, I said Christmas season before Thanksgiving. However, Operation Christmas Child is an amazing program that brings Christmas to impoverished villages all around the world. I thought that I would share with you what my family bought the two children we "sponsored".

For Operation Christmas Child, people pick an age range of children: 2-4 year old girl or boy, 5-9 year old girl or boy, and 10-14 year old girl or boy. Then you buy all the toys for the child that you can that fits in a shoe box. As of this year, if you pay online you can track your box. Although you won't know what specific child gets your present, you will know the general location of the present. 

5-9 year old girl:
What little girl doesn't want a hair bow?

 Again, every little girl should receive a teddy bear to cuddle at some point in their life.

We chose this miniature sized Moxie doll to put in the shoe box. There weren't any Barbie dolls small enough to fit into the shoe box that had "real" hair, so when we found this doll, she worked perfectly.  
 Sorry some of the photos are crooked, I don't know why they did that and I can't change them. Again, because we had to fit everything into a shoe box, my mom and I had to find smaller-sized gifts that could all fit inside the box, luckily we found a miniature coloring book and corresponding crayons.

5-9 year old boy:
This ball proved to be the most difficult to pack because it was inflated and stuck up a little bit. With some skillful organization, my mom was able to get the ball to fit.


These toy cars were in small enough packaging that they could fit in the shoe box. Toy cars can be played with almost anywhere on any surface.

There was a matching "boys" set of a crayons and a coloring book that we fit into the box as well.

 This was another extra little toy that we added to the box. It's especially nice because the little boy can draw anywhere that he brings the board.


For both children:
Wash cloths along with bar soap are always great things to incorporate because a lot of the children don't have the luxury of a clean wash cloth. Also, children always need tooth brushes and tooth paste. Although it might not be the "most fun" gift, it is important to the children. 

 My favorite product of all time. I have been obsessed with Play-Doh for as long as I can remember. We bought this and split up the Play-Doh among the two children. 



If you want to check out what my family purchased click on the link here: 
Last Year's Post

Historic St. Charles

My favorite place in the St. Louis area is easily Historic St. Charles. Old St. Charles is beginning to prep for the Christmas season and the atmosphere is incredible. My parents and I decided to spend the morning grabbing coffees, walking around and enjoying an early lunch. 

If yostopI hope I was able to capture the feel of Old St. Charles through these photos. If you ever stop by Historic St. Charles go check out Picasso's Coffee House, I'll leave the link to their website below.



My dad's coffee, the House Blend  
The street view
One of Picasso's slogans is "Coffee is Art" along with "Coffee Made by Real Baristas". They are able to create amazing coffee art.
I got the "Van Gogh" Mocha which was comprised of chocolate, vanilla, and carmel


  

And the bottom of the mug had a Picasso's logo

For lunch we went to Ham's Deli which is directly next store to Picasso's. They have some of the best sandwiches and chili that I have ever had. It's a family run business, and I would love if you could go support them. I didn't take a picture of my food but I ordered the Santa Fe. It was turkey, avocado, and tomato on wheat with a side of chili for only another dollar.

I am in love with exposed brick and it seems to be everywhere in Historic St. Charles. This was inside of Ham's.
And now for all of my photos as we walked around.








This is the side of one of my favorite sit down restaurants, Lewis and Clark. I love their quesadillas, as weird as that sounds.

I cannot wait to go back to Old St. Charles when it's lit up for Christmas. Being in Historic St. Charles during Christmas is one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. There is so much jolliness and cheer being spread, and it is absolutely incredible.

Until next time,
Taylor xx