Good morning, Canada!

Today is a day of Firsts.

First post of this year. First post since God knows when. First post since finishing studying Grade 12 Biology: Chapter Three--Photosynthesis. First post since--hold your breath, ladles and gentlespoons--FINISHING. THE FIRST DRAFT. OF. THE. SEARS PLAY.


Exciting news successfully condensed and announced.

Now for an Imagist poem!

The Dinner Table
Flat but uneven;
Unsmooth and splintered;
It holds our conversation
Stable enough.


Lastly, First Post announcing a Series of [Possibly Collaborative] Posts Concerning (Songs to) Tune Out & _________ (to).

Parantheses obliterated, it's just gonna be posts containing YouTube playlists with different themes each time but every playlist will be something to escape to.

I've a few ideas on what to play when I tune out and...

• Study
• Stop being hormonal
• Dance my pants off (DANTSOFFPANTSOFF ANYONE?)
• Eat (<3)
• Read
• Cry (a good cry does you good)
• Laugh (funky, funny, freckletastic)
• Revisit old memories

Now, to sleep before the dreaded Bio test tomorrow.

Oh, one last annonce:

MURDER MYSTERY DINNER PARTY

featuring a collaboration between the DRAMA DEPT. and FOOD DEPT.

Yes. They just decided to combine the two loves of my life.

More information to come in the Spring! :)

Live, laugh, fall on your face, appreciate life and all that.

-Maggie

The Caf's Mexican Rice with Chicken Fingers!

So I finally found time to blog again. And of course, the first thing I'm going to blog about is food. I felt like eating something tomato-ey and herb-y but still rice-y. So Mexican Rice it was :P

I haven't cooked in ages so I was ecstatic when I found out how simple it was to make. Just some ingredients almost everyone of any culture has in their pantry/fridge and you can throw together some yummy orange rice. It turned out well, considering I've cooked a proper dinner about once in my lifetime. xD

THE RECIPE

What you'll need:

1. 1 tbsp olive oil (great for your skin, fantastic for your arteries!)
2. 1 cup medium or long-grain rice
3. 1 cup chicken liquid stock (or a cup of water, a teaspoon of salt and half a tablespoon of powdered chicken stock)
4. 1/2 an onion, finely chopped
5. 1 clove garlic, minced
6. 1/2 bell pepper (any colour; optional)
7. 1/2 a medium-sized tomato, diced (optional--I know many of you dislike tomatoes and bell peppers!)
8. 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of tomato sauce or tomato paste (you can add more or less according to your preference)
9. A pinch (around 1/4 tsp) oregano (dried or chopped)
10. A pinch of parsley (dried or chopped)

3 breaded chicken strips--I cheated on this one, haha.

What to do:

1. In a skillet (or wok xD), brown the garlic and onions in olive oil. Add the rice and brown that, stirring constantly, for about four minutes or until the onion is soft. This process adds a nutty, rustic flavour to the rice. Set aside.
2. 
   
3. In a saucepan (or wok! :D), bring the chicken stock to a simmer. (Or heat up water and then add salt+powdered stock.) Add the tomato paste/sauce, tomato, bell pepper, oregano, parsley, and a dash of salt. (A dash=roughly a teaspoon. Don't add more salt if you want to eat less sodium!) Bring back up to a simmer and add the browned rice/onion/garlic mixture. Cover and let the rice cook for 15 to 25 minutes.
4. 
   
5. You may want to open it up and stir the rice occasionally (every three minutes) to make sure it doesn't burn. Personally, I like my rice a little dry and a little crispy but I'm sure there are many people who dislike a few hard grains of overcooked rice.
6. 
   
7. As the rice is cooking, place the chicken fingers/strips in the oven or toaster oven at a toasty 425 degrees Farenheit. (Oh shush, I know I'm Canadian but I see Imperial measurements EVERYWHEREEE.) Let them bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on how dry you like them and your oven's power. Flip after ten minutes.
8. 
   
9. When complete, plate the chicken on the rice and serve! :D

Now, back to my journal-ing.

I finally finished my speech for English! And jeez, Grade 12 this year is a pain. But at least Ms. Mo marks easier than Mr. Hulme! xD

I've decided to do a eulogy. You'll find out how I've decided to do it at my presentation. Hmm.. math test tomorrow... Ugh. I guess now I'll finish eating and go study.

Dimsum girrrrrlll... ♪

As some of you might have heard, Anika, Terence, and I have this tradition of going somewhere to eat dimsum/Korean BBQ or go bowling whenever we have some time off school. It's mostly just to keep in touch since Anika goes to a boarding school and Grade 11 doesn't leave much free time for casual socializing. Last Monday, Abie joined us on a trip to the Perfect Chinese restaurant at Brimley and Sheppard.

We had a great time. The service was good because we had the forethought to get there early. And the dimsum was amazing for its price--$1.60 per dish with no differentiation between "Small," "Medium," "Large," or "Specialty" dishes. Everyone left with a full stomach for a grand total of $30 (including taxes & tip)! Then, we went to Shifa's for some pool and Top Spin. It was a good day.


Considering my love of dimsum, it was great news to hear my parents say that I'd be dimsumming at an even nicer restaurant yesterday. We went to a popular place I forgot the name of after dropping my brother off at a birthday party. The food was good and left me with a pleasantly plump sensation.

And at 5pm, as a nice closer to my March Break, I headed over to Christina's for a movie night with some of the guys. We watched The Hangover (which, by the way, was hilarious, naked old guys and all) and Donnie Darko. Thankfully, the guys' ridiculously hormonal sense of humour made Frank seem less scary... ish. At least I didn't wake up last night screaming about bunnies, so it's all good.

Overall, a very fulfilling March Break. Some good food, retail therapy, and fun times. Now... to finish my homework. Guhhh....

For those of you still wondering: The English Novel ISU's due April 1st and the Media Presentations start rolling tomorrow!