Pretty Girl Rock: The Importance of Inner Beauty and Confidence ~ Peace Love and Pretty Things

Pretty Girl Rock: The Importance of Inner Beauty and Confidence ~ Peace Love and Pretty Things

It's Been Awhile!

Hi loves!!! It's been a minute. Sorry for my absence. Let's see, I went to Essence-had the time of my life. I will post a re-cap soon. But I've missed writing so much. so check for more posts soon.

Love,

B

This Week Columbus

If you are not a part of the solution, you may as well be a part of the problem. In keeping with my spin of this mantra, I decided to be a part of the solution. I'm such a solution person. We can go on and on about the wrongs and negatives pertaining to a topic, but that is so counterproductive. It's far easier to find solutions.

So here is my SOLUTION. Weekly, I'll do my best, to supply you with different activities happening in the Columbus area. No more "there is nothing to do here" or "I'm tired of seeing the same people". And I will try to include something for all different types of people.

Today, Wednesday: 

• Try out Jazz at the Park, Sounds on the Lawn at Easton from 6 to 9.
• While at Easton, head over to Edamame for some great sushi. Wednesday offers special of Buy 1 Roll, get 2nd half off!!!! Great deal!

Thursday:

• Columbus Young Professionals, CYB, is hosting a Personal Finance Panel at 5:30pm at Members First Credit Union. 
• Check out local farm specials at Easton's Farmer's Market, from 3 to 7, in the parking lot behind Fado.
• Columbus Commons, hosts Play in the Park, with Cornhole tournaments, live music, and a merry-go-round and reading zone for kids. This week's featured artists are Feedback and LDNL. (Major plus~~ the winner of the Cornhole tourney wins $50 off Dirty Franks!!!!!)

Friday:

• The Kickoff to Comfest, a community festival around since 1972. Fest will go Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
• Head over to Zydeco on High for Soul Social, completely free networking event from 5pm to 9pm. Go for great food, drinks, music, and even better conversation!
• Comedian Chris Tucker will be at Vet's Memorial this night. Get tickets!
• Capa Movies Series will be showing Bridget Jones' Diary at 7:30pm at the Ohio Theater.
• Easton Art Affair kicks off at 4pm.

Saturday;

• Farmer's Market on 18th and Main for King Lincoln District.
• UniverSOUL Circus kicks off at the Fairgrounds.
• Powell hosts their 15th Annual Powell Festival
• Columbus Clippers take on the Gwinnett Braves at Huntington Park, where there is not a bad seat in the house.
• Long Street is back open every Saturday night!
• Comfest continues.
• Movie + Magic is 7pm at Columbus Commons, this week's movie is Shrek Forever After! plus catch a magic trick.

Sunday:

• Comfest ends for this year. 
• Get a good workout in at Fit Club Yoga, at Columbus Commons, at 9am.
• Zoo is great for Sunday activities.
• Visit the Columbus Museum of Art for Art challenges at 1pm and challenge your loved ones in their creative ability, then stick around for Family Adventures at 2pm.

To close out every week, I will feature a restaurant of choice for a great meal. Family is super important to me, so Sunday makes a great time to get everyone together and eat until your heart is content. But for those unable to be with family all the time, or even those that can take the family along, here is my weekly pick: Marcella's!

Marcella's is your traditional Italian ristorante! from the family style seating to the red and white plaid tableclothes. There is not a bad pick on the menu, and the drinks are far from watered down. 

My choices are :

• Appetizer: Calamari- amazing garlic aioli paired with fried zucchini and lemons!
• Salad: Go for the Apple Salad- the tart flavor of the apples is great for a summer appetite!
• Plates are meant to be shared so team up with the fam and go for gold with the:
•  Margherita D.O.C. pizza and the Chicken Giardiniera. The sauce on the Chicken is so Amazing! my mouth is watering now. And they pickle their own veggies. The pizza is so fresh and refreshing with just enough basil!
• They even offer a Sunday Special:  Dine with us Sundays and enjoy a Marcella's Chop Salad, Spaghetti & Meatball and a Choice of Chocolate, Pistachio or Honey Vanilla Gelato for only $15.95

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Happy Week and Weekends! And remember there is always something to do!

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever!

While stalking some of my favorite blogs, I came across some of the most delicious looking cookies I have ever seen. Normally I am not a cookie fanatic, but when I saw this I knew they were a must try. Boy was I right. This cookie takes the soft, chewiness of a chocolate chip cookie and mixes it with the crunchy and creaminess of an oreo. YES, you read correct! OREO STUFFED CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!!!! Thank you Picky Palate for this delectable recipe. I was so excited to try that I forgot to take pics during process, but it was so simple. Here are my results.

Doesn't this look amazing? The cream in the middle was the best part!!

Check out Picky Palate for more stuffed cookies ideas. I think I will try the Smore's next.

Here is the Recipe:

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar

1 Cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla

3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

10 oz bag chocolate chips

1 bag Oreo Cookies, I used the double stuff 

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.   In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined.  Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2.  In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.  Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie.  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough.  Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking.  Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.  Serve with a tall glass of milk, enjoy!

Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE Cookies

Nothing to Do in Columbus, Ohio

I'm so over hearing the same thing, "Columbus sucks", "there is nothing to do here","I always see the same people". Truth is, no matter where you go, Miami, Vegas, or even Atlanta, there is someone there singing the exact same tune. With age comes growth and maturity (at least these should come). Meaning you should open your mind to all the great possibilities that ANY city has to offer. Granted Atlanta is the "new" black Hollywood, but their job market is terrible so you will spend the majority of your time working 3 part-time jobs just to blow all your funds in the club, hoping to get CHOSE by some would-be celerity. I love talking to locals when I go out of town; fastest way to find the best eats. Last year in Vegas, the majority of the locals only go to the Strip when they have to work and steer clear of it and all the tourist activities as best as they can.

So all in all, the best way to discover the POTENTIAL of a city is to OPEN your mind to new avenues of entertainment. Columbus is no different. You just need to know where to look. Some great places to find what's happening are Columbus Underground or 614 Magazine. I love these sites.

Below find at list of some of the summer activities that are going on around our fantastic city. Step out of the club and into something FABULOUS! And most place little hindrance on your pocketbooks!

This weekend, June 17th - 19th, visit Juneteenth Ohio at Franklin Park during the day and head out to Gahanna at night for the Creekside Blues and Jazz Festival. Also check out the great food and music at Zoofari.

June 24th- June 26th brings Comfest back, a community festival taking place sine 1972.

In addition to the many summer festivals that go one, there are also day to day venues that love spoiling their patrons. Check out Easton on Wednesday nights from 6 to 9 for "Sounds on the Town" or Thursdays from 3 to 7 for Farmer's Market.

And if Clubs are your "thing", one of my other guilty pleasures, be sure to check out Prime on Saturdays at Lounge 62 in Gahanna, Arena District's many venues, and even the Return of Long Street, one of the best venues in Columbus.

Be sure to find me out and about all of these venues, most likely with a plate in hand. If you want to know more of places to see and be seen or need a partner in crime, follow me on twitter and I'm there!

Man Down

I'm a huge fan of REAL videos. That is videos that go with the lyrics of the song and ones that have a strong message behind them. Rihanna killed this video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEhy-RXkNo0

Lasagna Rolls

Pasta, pasta, pasta, pasta! Oh how I heart thee!

No but seriously, I could eat pasta every day of my life and never get bored. Lasagna is up there on my list as all time favs, however with it being so hot lately, I was not in the mood to have my oven on for an hour or longer. Insert Lasagna rolls. Same gooey goodness of lasagna, just not as long in prep and light on the tummy.  I snagged this recipe from Pennies on a Platter, which she adapted from Giada from the Food Network. Trust your stomach will be glad for this present. (All my swine-free, avoid the prosciutto and use turkey Italian sausage in its place).

Here are some pics as I was going along to give you an idea of how it should look. I added more marinara than recipe called for but was still delish. I love sauce so use more or less to your liking.I served with Pizza Bread from Pickie Palate. Eat up!!!

Cheese mixture

Filling before rolled

the bechamel sauce was a great addition

All ready to go in oven. I was so excited to eat I forgot a picture at end of whole pan.

Giada’s Lasagna Rolls

Printable Recipe

Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg

Lasagna:
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
1 large egg, beaten to blend
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella (about 4 ounces)

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, prosciutto, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl

Add a tablespoon or 2 of oil to a large pot of boiling salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.

Butter a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish.

Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface, then spread about 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle.

Starting at 1 end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll.

Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamelsauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture.

Spoon 1 cup marinara over rolls and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve alongside.

Ciao!!!