Alice went to Wonderland

I'm so sorry that this is late, id like to give an excuse of how busy Ive been at school, and all, but actually its the opposite, i travelled to Toronto for 2weeks  to un-saturate my brain and rest .......a lot, it was Caribanna weekend and NaetoC was in Toronto, i went for his concert, can i just say it was A for amazing, i also spent a day at Wonderland with my brother and sister, nothing like quality family time with my siblings, all in all Toronto was a blast.

Returned to Ottawa last week Monday, and of course dived into books head on, had a lot to catch up on, My professor had filled my quiver with lots of work he expected me to do before i got back,and of course in true Alice fashion i had to stay up all day and night Monday to complete them in time for Tuesday because i didn't even attempt doing them when i was in Toronto.

Update on my Thesis, i finally decided to go with GTNetS,  so i have abandoned Ubuntu and CORE, i just had too many things to learn, combining familiarizing myself with the Linux Distribution and also learning XML scripting and tcl programming was just becoming too complex, good thing is that i am still learning XML on the side just to know it *wink* you never know when it will come in handy plus no knowledge is ever lost.
So right now i am focusing on GTNetS which just needs me to learn C++, a friend of mine that's a really good programmer has offered his services in exchange for me cooking for him every other day win win *huge grin*, i was just going to take a fall undergraduate class for C++ but he convinced me that the class was too elementary for what i needed so he would tutor me, i am really excited about it.
Summer thesis work is gradually coming to an end, suffice to say I'm heaving a sigh of relief, its been really hard, I'm actually looking forward to dripping thesis work for a while and concentrating on my classes for the fall semester, id take up my thesis full time in January 2012, hopefully be done by August 2012 by Gods grace.
I start work at f21 on the 25th, I'm looking forward to that also, after computers and cooking, fashion is my next passion.
without further ado here is the recipe for the coconut rice i promised, sorry its late, i cooked it for my mum and siblings when i was in Toronto, they LOOOVED it.

 

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1 sweet onions, diced small
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk, canned ( mix well)
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 1/8 cup golden raisins (optional)
• 1 teaspoon chili paste ( chili paste with holy basil leaf)
• 1 small chili peppers, left whole
• 1 garlic cloves, fresh, peeled and coarsley crushed
• 1/2 inch fresh ginger, peeled, left whole
• 2 fresh lime leaves, or dried whole leaves1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon lemongrass, chopped or sliced thin
• 1 cup long grain rice or 1 cup jasmine rice
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, shredded, toasted
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat peanut oil over medium heat.
2. Saute onions for 5 minutes.
3. Add chicken stock, pineapple juice,.
4. coconut milk and water; bring to a rapid boil.
5. Add sea salt, pepper, chili paste, chili pepper, garlic, ginger, lime leaves, lemongrass, cinnamon stick and rice to boiling liquid.
6. Stir well
     Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until all liquid has been absorbed.
   7. Toast the coconut lightly and set aside.
   8. Finely chop the cilantro and set aside.
   9. When rice is completed, remove the chili pepper, garlic, ginger,cinnamon stick, lemongrass and lime leaves.
   10. Fluff the rice and before serving add the raisins, toasted coconut and finely chopped cilantro.