How about a Bit of Artsy Inspiration? Plus, a Little Recipe

I love a good, artsy movie. Usually they are a little obscure and demand your full attention. When my husband calls me up and says, "We should see this today." I make sure to pay attention. Last night was such the case. We went to see "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassas"


Here's a wonderful example of the power of cut paper animation. It is by Andersen M Studio for the New Zealand Book Council:

How about another one they made for Nokia?


This evening we are getting ready to have a few friends over to do a bit of light Valentine crafting. Here's a great project that I found at the Artful Crafter:

We're going to make a few of those and have a nice potluck dinner. In trying to keep with their food allergies I made a variation on Kheer with Almonds for dessert.

Kheer with Almonds

3-4 cups Milk (you may replace 1-2 cups of the milk with water, if you like)
1 cup Basamati Rice,cooked
1 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk (You may replace this with Coconut milk, if you like)
1/2 cup Sugar
3 TBL. Raisins
3 TBL. Almonds
3 TBL. Pistachios (I didn't have any of these)
1 tea. Cardamon, powdered
(1/4 tea Almond Extract)

In a medium pan warm up the milk and add in the rice. Stir often to prevent burning. Slowly incorporate the sweetened condensed milk and/or coconut milk. Next, add in the sugar. Follow this with the raisins and the nuts. Taste it for flavor. My son wanted more almond flavor so I added a wee bit of almond extract. You can serve this as a drink warm or cold. I cooked it longer to allow it to thicken slightly. You may also increase the amounts of rice, raisin and nuts to meet your taste. Garnish with cinnamon and a few nuts placed decoratively on top.