”STL

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar: Peanut Apple Pretzel Drops

photo by smalltowngirl

Christmas is four days away, and I’m curled up in my pajamas with several inches of show outside. My best friend and I are spending this snowy December day experimenting with vegan cookie recipes at her parent’s home in the Chicago suburbs.

"Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar" Cookbook, photo by smalltowngirl

Our [...]

A “Green” Bathroom

One of my smaller goals lately was to paint and decorate my new bathroom in all “green” or repurposed materials. It turns out that “green” is pricey (read: $99 for a hemp shower curtain), so I did a lot more repurposing than I did buying “green”.

The bathroom has dated pale yellow tiling, giving me two [...]

Fish Fries and Tall Tales

I was invited to join my parents at a fish fry in Coffman, Missouri in another family’s large shed/garage/barn.  Inside the barn, we listened to the men recount the day’s deer hunting adventures while we ate fried blue gill, potatoes and macaroni & cheese.

I sipped a Bud Light Wheat; a fire burned in the woodstove; and antelope, [...]

Bee Tree Park

Bee Tree Park 1, photo by smalltowngirl

I spent my Sunday tooling around South County St. Louis in a convertible, taking in the sunshine and enjoying good company. After a great omelet and coffee and First Watch, we headed to Bee Tree Park to get some exercise.

The park sits along the Mississippi River and has concrete and gravel [...]

Pumpkins

A year ago, I walked to the Fort Greene Farmers Market to buy pumkins and hot apple cider for homemade pumpkin soup. This year I went to Eckert’s Farm in Ellisville, Illinois as part of the #stlappletweetup.

I took a bit of time after picking apples to photograph the amazing pumpkins at Eckert’s. These photos were all [...]

The Ghostbusters Car in Richwoods, MO

Wikipedia lists Richwoods, Missouri as an “unincorporated community”, not a town. Richwoods was my Friday night destination of choice, and surprisingly, exploring it was a nice distraction from how much I miss my Friday nights in New York City.

Richwoods is in northern Washington County, Missouri. I would tell you what the population of Richwoods is, [...]

Pedestrian Traffic

On Sunday afternoon, I took a walk through downtown Farmington, Missouri. There was practically no automobile traffic, and there was even less pedestrian traffic.

Downtown Small Town, Missouri still shuts down on Sundays.

As I walked down Main Street, the occassional driver passing by in their truck or car craned their necks to stare…

What is that [...]

Lots and Lots of Tomatoes!

I posted photos earlier this summer of my fledgling garden:

May Garden, photo by smalltowngirl

The garden now bears little resemblance to that tiny garden I started with in May. The tomato plants and berry bushes are as tall as I am, which isn’t saying much, of course.

The trellice you see in the photo is for the [...]

Candy Cane Dog

One of the best parts of living back in Small Town, Missouri is having a dog again. I love New York City, but a 200 square-foot apartment is no place for a dog to live.

Today was my family dog’s monthly grooming appointment. Each time she’s groomed, she comes home in a new bandana with bows in [...]

$0.50 For a Picture with KISS

On Friday night, I went to my first Relay for Life in ten years or so.

My week was lousy. Work was indescribably stressful, and by Friday night I was ready for a stiff drink or a little bit of self-pity. When my friend Mandi called to invite me to Relay, I have to admit, it [...]