Welcome 2012

Wishing you all a very Happy 2012 :)

Its a brand new year, and this is the first post for 2012, so it had to be about me and my passions         

• My Art
• Food
• and, Fashion :) :)

My Art:

A new addition to my Arab inspired collection. You will see more of this collection in the future posts.

Food: 
Kheer (Rice Pudding)

On my husband's demand, I made Kheer (Rice Pudding)  to welcome in 2012. It is one of the simplest of the desserts to make. Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:

Milk: 6 cups
Rice: 1/4 cup (I used long grain Basmati rice)
Sugar: 1/4 cup
Cardamom Powder: 1/2 tsp
Saffron: A generous pinch
Assorted Dry fruits: Almonds, Cashew Nuts, Pistachios (use them as per your liking)

Procedure:

1. Wash the rice and soak it for 30 minutes.
2. Boil the milk in a non stick pan. It has to be reduce by 1/4th of its original quantity, it took me 20 minutes to do so on a medium high flame. Keep stirring the milk and in short intervals and scrape the cream that sticks on the bottom and sides of the pan.
3. Drain the rice and add to the milk. Keep on cooking till the milk has reduced to half and is thick and creamy and the rice becomes tender.
4. Add the saffron strands, sugar and all the dry fruits and cook for 2-3 minutes.
5. Serve chilled.

Fashion:
The Outfit

And this is what I wore for a short trip on the first day of our New Years Eve Weekend :)