Weekend Round-Up

Best New Find
Trader Joe's Cauliflower Pizza Crust 

For some people, cutting back on carbs means giving up pizza, but delicious cauliflower pizza crust recipes have made pizza withdrawals a thing of the past. Each box has six servings at just 80 calories each. The gluten-free crust is made of cauliflower, corn flour, water, cornstarch, potato starch, olive oil, and salt. Granted a pre-made cauliflower pizza crust is minus some of nutrients a homemade crust will have but this prepackaged crust with low carbs and gluten free was a huge time saver. And I might add a tasty  appetizer to dazzle your guests. 

For the more ambitious cook try The Pioneer Woman's  Cauliflower Pizza Crust recipe

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/cauliflower-crust-pizza-3436142

I've noticed some stores now carry riced cauliflower in the produce section which is a huge time saver. 

Cauliflower Pizza

Cook's Note: The pizza featured in photo above was not made with a sauce though you could easily add that. Adding lots of fresh basil amped up the taste. 

Ingredients:

• 1 prepacked cauliflower crust 
• Diced red and yellow cherry tomatoes
• Olive oil
• Marinated fresh mozzarella cheese slices
• Grated Parmesan cheese
• Chopped fresh basil
• Optional 1 tsp. Italian seasoning

Directions:

• Follow box directions for pre-baking crust.
• Drizzle a little olive oil over the tomatoes.
• Add ingredients in following order to the pizza crsut: mozzarella cheese slices, tomatoes, Italian seasoning and grated Parmesan cheese.
• Bake at 450 degrees 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit in oven until all cheese has melted 3-5 minutes. Add basil and serve. 
  

Indeed I was on the lookout for the presence of wonder with  Annual Arts Off 84.   
This past weekend was the 9th annual event. It is a 31-mile art touring event held in various locations along State Highway 84, between Pine River and Longville. MN. 

Art’s Off 84 mission is to promote works of local artists and provide an art presence to the Pine River, Longville and surrounding areas. This juried event features high end art forms as well as quality handcrafted items. 

Many of the 7 outside locations were what I would call rural so you never know what you'll see. Take for instance these chickens running around at one location. In the back of photo there was a huge chicken coop.

I am always impressed with the creativity and ingenuity artists display taking used items and finding a new purpose for them. Take for instance this lamp,  

and lawn art made from plates or scarves made from men's ties. 

Beautiful landscape pictures turned into photo art were stunning.  

Original artistic woods designs from Artwoods 

with their jewelry line inspired by nature gave buyers lots of choices.

Food and drinks kept the crowds happy on a warm day    

with interesting kid friendly places to explore. 

An added bonus for us (not part of the art crawl) was a return visit to 

Creations at the Lake.  What a visual treat enhanced by nature's setting. This year there were new quilts 

and a new building nestled among the trees.   

 A lovely way to spend a late summer day with 

 fall just around the corner.