As a work at home Mom, I love to cook healthy meals for my family, but I also love convenience. This is why I absolutely LOVE shopping at the Dardenne Prairie Produce Market.

The market sits on the corner of Highway N, right outside of my lovely little community of Winghaven. I frequent this place quite a bit, in fact, I walk in and they know me!

Dardenne Prairie Produce Market, photo by Elisabeth Cutshall

The two owners, Shannon Yates and Jean-Paul Doyen, are helpful and approachable. Every time I am there, they are quick to show every customer how to pick out the perfect fruit or veggie, and they’ll even carry it to the customer’s car if it’s too heavy.

Besides all of their wonderful produce, Shannon and Jean-Paul also carry some fantastic local products (coffee, bread, spices, jams…). Both Shannon and Jean-Paul pride themselves on the quality of their products.

Dardenne Prairie Pineapple, photo by Elisabeth Cutshall

On more than one occasion I have heard them tell customers (myself included) that if we are not happy with our purchase, they would be more than happy to refund our money. They’re also more than happy to peel and core your pineapple, free of charge!

On the Dardenne Prairie Produce Market Facebook page, they update what new produce has arrived and also what is on special for the week. Since I am there so much, and since I’m such a social media dork, I always make sure to check in and tease them in some way or another…like requesting bloody mary’s or mimosas!

Dardenne Prairie Produce Market, photo by Elisabeth Cutshall

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The Dardenne Praire Produce Market is located at 7397 Hwy N in O’Fallon, Missouri. You can find Dardenne Prairie Produce Market on Facebook, and you can reach them by phone at 636-240-3990. The stand’s hours are Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Saturday from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

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Elisabeth Kuebel Cutshall is a work at home mom, freelace makeup artist & fashionista, & former Fashion Editor.  For more by Elisabeth, visit her blog, follow her on twitter, and like her Facebook Business Page; Makeup By Elisabeth. You can also subscribe to her website here!

Immaculate Conception Church, photo by MilliGFunk Photography

I spotted Immaculate Conception Church this week as I headed with a friend toward Louis P. Balducci Vineyards and Winery in Augusta, Missouri. The church sits atop a hill on the south side of Highway 94 in Augusta, and its presence is notable. Built at around the same time as St. Louis was hosting the 1904 World’s Fair, the church is small but stately.

I haven’t been able find much information about the history of the church, but my Catholic friend commented that Immaculate Conception was “very German”, which makes sense, considering that Augusta, Missouri was settled by Germans. A drive through the town reveals German-language engravings on other churches.

My friend and I were lucky that when we stopped at the church to take pictures a church employee was on the property to invite us inside. I didn’t feel comfortable taking photos in the sanctuary, but here’s another St. Louis-area blogger who has posted interior photos on his site.

Immaculate Conception Church is located at 5912 S. Highway 94 in August, MO.  As far as I can tell, the church does not have a website, but you can reach the church by calling (636) 482-4455. If historic small town churches inspire you, I’d definitely recommend taking a drive down Highway 94 so that you can enjoy Immaculate Conception’s beautiful architecture and lovely hilltop setting.

1. The St. Charles Community website offered a nice lead-in to my post on Picasso’s Coffee House in St. Charles.

2. The Cuba Mural Project blog wrote an post about me, linking to my post on the Cuba, MO Race to the Rocker, a 4-mile road race culminating at the world’s largest rocking chair.

3. My wonderful mom created this card for me, directing many, many readers from her successful paper crafting blog to smalltowngirlsguide.com.

Thank you St. Charles Community, Cuba Mural Project, and MommaG for making Friday a very good day for smalltowngirlsguide!

Picasso's Coffee House, photo by MilliGFunk

Work required me to travel to St. Charles yesterday, so I took advantage of the opportunity to have a quick cup of coffee in Historic Downtown St. Charles with my friend Elizabeth (@ekcutshall) and two of her three kiddos.

I went to college in a very old Louisiana river town, so I’m no stranger to rod iron railings and brick streets along a river. My college town’s historic district was three blocks long, though, while St. Charles’ brick streets continue for blocks and blocks, with beautiful buildings lining both sides of the street. Most of the buildings appeared to house shops, bars and restaurants, so I assume that an entire day could be spent window shopping and dining in Old St. Charles.

Apparently the Katy Trail –  a 300 mile bicycle path – runs through Old St. Charles, too, so a long bike ride, shopping and eating great food undoubtedly lies in my not-too-distant future.

Elizabeth and I met at Picasso’s Coffee House, St. Charles’ expert on the ‘art of coffee’,  on North Main Street. They exclusively serve coffee roasted in the St. Louis area, their breakfast menu is catered from LaBonne Bouchee Bakery, and they offer a full lunch menu from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.  In the evenings, Picasso’s serves wines, beers, and its famous Masterpiece Martini. The cafe itself is clean but creative, artsy but warm.

I may be forgetting to mention the most important part about Picasso’s: it’s coffee. I ordered my usual skim latte, and I was impressed. The temperature was just right, the coffee was smooth, and the milk had great flavor.

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Picasso’s Coffee House is located at 101 North Main Street in Historic St. Charles, Missouri. To read more about St. Louis-area coffee shops, check out my October 2009 post on wifi and coffee in The ‘Lou. To learn more about Picasso’s, visit their website.

Lisa is a photographer, and my brother and I wanted to have professional pictures taken together for our parents for Christmas. On short notice, Lisa and her photography partner Raquel not only made arrangements to do our photographs, they were incredibly flexible when the weather was unexpectedly unfavorable.

On the morning of our session, Lisa and Raquel found a beautiful alternate location that would accommodate our needs despite the cold, December rain. Two days before Christmas, they met my brother and I for the first time, and were so personable that even my very quiet brother was laughing and smiling for the session.

Needless to say, my parents were thrilled with their Christmas gift, and John and I were beyond pleased with Lisa and Raquel’s work. You can follow Lisa on twitter (@LeesaB) or check out our online photo gallery here. If you’d like a more detailed recommendation on Lisa and Raquel’s photography, feel free to email me at smalltowngirlsguide at yahoo.com.

Credit: Lisa Nikole Photography

O'Fallon Wheat

O’Fallon, Missouri isn’t exactly a small Missouri town, but in the nature of learning new things, I’ve decided to share a little bit about this not-so-small town.

What do I know about O’Fallon?

1. Established in 1856

2. Located in St. Charles County, just west of St. Louis

3. Home of the Celebration of Lights

4. Home to O’Fallon Beers

O’Fallon Brewery is a small, family-owned business that was founded in 2000, and I really enjoyed the O’Fallon Gold that I had with dinner following the Celebration of Lights last week. It was my first O’Fallon Beer, and it won’t be my last.

I love it when locally-produced beers outshine the beer world big dogs. Go, O’Fallon!

@meghoulihan gave us the VIP walk-through, complete with behind-the-scenes stories about the display. The total tweet-up head count was nine people. Not bad, considering that it was 34 degrees and raining.

Thanks to @bobbyautry for letting us use his camera to take this picture. In case you can’t see it, the signs point to St. Louis and New York, among other places.

Happy Holidays to all my tweeps in both cities, and thanks to @meghoulihan, @versadave and @jenn_if_er for helping to promote this tweet-up.

#stlchristmaslighttweetup

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Attending the #stlchristmaslightweetup 2009 were: @meghoulihan, @jenn_if_er, @bobbyautry, @tojosan, @nanna_j, @donhead, @donhead’s kiddo, and my friend Tony!

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To read about my last #stl #tweetup, check out this post about Jack Dorsey’s visit to St. Louis in September.

McKinnis Home, photo by smalltowngirl

On Sunday I took my mom on a small town blogging adventure to the Washington, Missouri Holiday House Tour. One of my favorite features of the homes we saw was the fireplace in The McKinnis House, which was decorated in letters that spelled “Believe”, along with lots of whimsical, wintery accents and Christmas stockings.

Believe! photo by smalltowngirl

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The Homes Tour also featured the following locations:

St. Peters United Church of Christ

The Kriete Home

Hillerman Nursery & Florist

The Meyers Home

The Schneider Home

The Gildehaus Home

Gary Lucy Gallery & Home

The Prenger Home

Tickets for the tour were $10 in advance or $15 at the door, and were available for purchase at Four Rivers Area YMCA, Hillerman Nursery & Florist, Urban Accents, Four Seasons Florist and the Gary Lucy Gallery. Stay tuned for more pictures and writing about smalltowngirl’s experience on the 2009 “Homes for the Holidays” House Tour.

McKinnis Family Tree, photo by smalltowngirl

Today was a mother-daughter blogging adventure in the town of Washington, Missouri. Washington is on the Missouri River west of St. Louis, and while it’s not a tiny town, it’s downtown has a historic, small, river town feel about it. Decorated for Christmas, the town left a nice impression on this small town girl’s heart.

After months of subtle hints from friends to make the trek to Washington, it was the Four River Family YMCA’s “Homes for the Holidays House Tour” that finally inspired my visit. The homes tour included eight homes and businesses and a church, and though my mom and I weren’t able to visit all nine locations, we both really enjoyed our day.

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The Homes Tour featured the following locations:

St. Peters United Church of Christ

The Kriete Home

The McKinnis Home

Hillerman Nursery & Florist

The Meyers Home

The Schneider Home

The Gildehaus Home

Gary Lucy Gallery & Home

The Prenger Home

Tickets for the tour were $10 in advance or $15 at the door, and were available for purchase at Four Rivers Area YMCA, Hillerman Nursery & Florist, Urban Accents, Four Seasons Florist and the Gary Lucy Gallery. Stay tuned for more pictures and writing about smalltowngirl’s experience on the 2009 “Homes for the Holidays” House Tour.