Honey Brine Chicken with a Mohawk

So I kind of have a Mohawk now and the decision to do this was a scary one.

 Ever since watching a the season of Project Runway with Anya who was the gorgeous beauty queen from Trinidad turned fashion designer who had the sides of her head shaved, I was very intrigued by this style.

After that season aired I started noticing more and more people with this strange haircut. You leave the top long, in some cases very long like Anya, and shave the sides and back. The next thing I know there is another girl on Project Runway with a similar cut, Pink has a version of that haircut, and then the haircut that shocked the world was Miley Cyrus. Once I saw her version of the haircut, I really wanted to try it. In no way am I a real fan of her or her music, but I do think she looks amazing with the haircut and has some catchy tunes.
So I go to my incredible stylist Vickie at Salon Vie and show her pictures of....Miley Cyrus.

We talk about the cut and decide to take baby steps. No clippers came out that day but I ended up with a pixie on one side and a very textured short bob on the other. As the hair was flying off, I got nervous and my heart was pounding. I wasn't even going for the full shaved sides but it was still scary and that says a lot for me because I am pretty adventurous with my style. I remember watching the transformation in the mirror and nervously joking; "uuuhh wow, I can't believe I am doing this...."
Well that was nothing!
I ended up loving the cut and felt it made me feel younger and prettier and made my face look thinner...
All things that are very important to a woman of course.
I got a great reaction from friends and guests at my current job and so that gave me the confidence to finally, after about 2 years of thinking on it, go for shaving most of my head!
I show up at the salon again with pictures of Miley... again. I sit down in the chair and Vickie says; "OK, what are we doing today". My current cut and color had grown out a lot and was almost unrecognizable to the original style at this point so I had lots of options. I took a deep breath and said; "we are doing it, we are buzzing my head today."
She was instantly thrilled as we looked over more pictures and talked about how this was going to go, what color to dye it, and before I even knew it, the clippers came out and the first row of hair was on the floor. No turning back. Other stylists were coming over to my chair to watch and talk about it. It was the buzz of the whole salon. Patrons were talking about it and watching it all buzz buzz buzz off on to the slick black floor.
We painted on the bleach and now it was time to just sit and wait and hope I didn't make a horrible decision.
It took what felt like forever. Part of me was scared but part of me was really excited. I remember waiting for the color to process and kinda praying that Nick would like it, and that the other Moms at the play ground wouldn't think I was strange.
Why was I even doing this? I guess I am taking this time in my life to really enjoy life. I get to be home with Lily and I have a pretty neat little part time job, I finally lost all the baby weight, and it just felt like why the heck not. I am 33, Im still young and fun, and this is me. Who cares what the Mom's at the playground think. I wanted to try something really different, I wanted a change, I wanted to challenge myself in a way and be brave.
So I did it, and it came out great. People have been lovely about it and although I do think most the Mom's at the playground wonder what type of person I am....and are pretty curious if I am gay. Let them think what they want, and if I were gay, shame on them for judging me for that! Shame! A haircut doesn't define a person, but it can very well express something about them. My lady Mohawk says I am fun, adventurous, and daring....and I like that!

So as part of enjoying life more, I am cooking again and blogging again...yay!!
So in honor of the new do, I wanted to try something new with chicken that I had never done. Chicken can be pretty darn boring but I have created some great marinades that put flavor through all the meat and Im pretty proud of them. However, I usually grill chicken and the weather is turning colder so I thought....whats a way I can get great flavor through the whole piece of chicken, keep it moist, but bake it. So I thought why not brine it. I do that with pork chops and its awesome.
So I looked up a couple things on honey brines and thought, yep that's the ticket.
So I created my own brine and then made honey lemon carrots and simple pan roasted brussel sprouts to go with it.

Honey Brine Chicken
1/3 cup sea salt
1/2 gal of hot water
2 cups vegetable broth
1 1/4 cup honey
3-4 handfuls of ice
chicken breasts ( I used two but you could do up to 4)

In a large bowl combine salt and hot water. Stir until dissolved. After that add veggie broth and honey. Stir.
Add chicken and immediately add ice to cool down the water. Cover and place in the fridge for several hours. I started the brine at 9:30am and took it out at 5:15pm

Pat dry the chicken breasts and place in a greased baking pan. I sprinkled the breasts with garlic powder, parsley, pepper, a little lemon juice, and a little more honey drizzled on top.
I cooked them for 25-30 mins at 375.

Honey Lemon Baby Carrots
2 lemon slices
2 T butter
about 2 cups of baby carrots
honey 1-2 T depending on how sweet you want it
salt and pepper

Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Add carrots and boil about 5-6 minutes until just getting tender. Drain the carrots and add back to the pot. Next add lemon, butter, and honey. Cook on med for about 5-6 mins until nice and tender and the carrots have a bit of a glaze on them. Add a little salt and pepper to finish it off.

The whole thing came out amazing! It was the best baked chicken I have ever made!