Kendrrat Designs

I finally decided to start a blog dedicated to my art! So that means no more art updates here- as if I did it that often anyways haha.

And hopefully, eventually, I'll make something really worth looking at! So keep checking out the new blog to see all my sketches, paintings, etc.

kendrrat Designs

Crazy new hair!

Last Monday night I was laying in bed with Kris, looking at Pinterest on my phone. My hair was in my nightly top knot- frump at its finest. And thats after spending a whole day in a bland, tasteless bun for work. *Sigh* I was definitely stuck in a hair rut. And its been going for a while too! I'd been trying to grow it out, I cut in layers, I grew out my bangs, then i cut more bangs, then I started growing those out again... But it just kept ending up in a bun, day after day. And even when I did wear it down, I didnt like how it looked. It didnt feel like "me" anymore.

I had a feeling like I wanted something edgier, something chic. Something that would add fashionable interest to an outfit, and not scream I was too lazy to think of anything better than a bun! I mentioned this to Kris and he said, "Why dont you get a pixie?"

Well yeah, I'd always wanted a pixie, and I always talked about doing it "one day".... I told him I dont think I'm ready something that short. What I meant was I dont know if I'm brave enough, confident enough, pretty enough... 

 That night Kris' suggestion weaseled its way into my mind like frickin Inception! The next morning I woke up (with my hair loosely falling out of the top knot) and I knew I was getting a pixie cut. After I little bit of research into what face shape I have and what pixie cut would work for me, I was sold.

My mom is a hair stylist so I called her up and made a home appointment for Saturday (yesterday). The rest of the week I was giddy. I told friends at work about my plan and they gushed with excitement for me. I knew I couldnt chicken out now- people would know if I didnt follow through! That kept me strong when, later in the week, I began to falter in my determination.

Saturday morning finally arrived and I was calm. As my mom off chunk after chunk I was excited, but not sad or anxious like I thought I'd be. I never cried and, even though I've never felt ANYTHING like hair this short, it seemed so fitting. Like I should have had this hair do loooong ago. Its so easy, effortless. Which is perfect for me, who's so lazy and... honestly fickle and slow about my hair. I cant find one negative thing about my hair now, and I'm constantly finding positives.

I bought some styling products today: sea salt spray and pomade. I've watched a of videos on styling pixie cuts, so tomorrow I'll work out my first real 'do with this hair. But even air-dried it looks so... chic. I've never looked mature or chic in my life. It feels... sublime.

Thats Kris... being creepy of course

Dinner Tonight: Easy Bake Salmon

Last night after I got home from work I was pretty tired. I thought I could make some broccoli, salmon and rice... simple, right? Ugh, but I just wasnt in the mood to cook. I wanted something even easier than that. So I made this dish!

I've made it a couple times before and, even though I don't always stick to the recipe, it always comes out amazing. Here's the how-to:

First you'll need to preheat the oven to 450* and (if you use frozen fish like I do) start defrosting your fish. The recipe calls for salmon but Kris and I always get trout since its identical in taste (to us) and is more sustainable.

Next the food prep: chop up one red bell pepper into bite sized pieces. Then, grate 1 carrot. We only had baby carrots so I just chopped those into little slivers. You can also use pre-grated carrots.

Sauce prep: put the vegetable (or peanut) oil in a small pan and add the garlic and ginger. After about a minute they should start smelling amazing. You then add the hoisin sauce, rice vinegar and soy sauce and simmer for about 2 minutes.

Now put it all together! Take a big piece of foil and place the salmon in the middle and sprinkle some salt and pepper on it. Toss the bell pepper and carrot on top of that, then sprinkle the sauce over everything. Fold and crimp the foil so it makes a little packet containing everything- no holes! Then toss it on a baking sheet and in the oven for about 20 minutes. After you've got that in the oven you can scoop some rice into a rice cooker and get that started.

Our salmon cook times have varied a lot with this dish- from 12 minutes to 20 minutes. I think it depends on the size of your fish and the integrity of your foil packet. I usually check the fish after 12 minutes to see how much longer it needs. Your fish and rice should end around the same time, so portion the fish, vegetables and sauce over the rice and BOOM! Dinner is served!

So you defrost and preheat, chop and simmer, fold and crimp, then BOOM! Dinner.

My favorite part about this dish is that I can sit down and relax while all the cooking is going on. Nice! And my second favorite part is that this dish isnt difficult or picky. One time I forgot to simmer the sauce- turned out fine. Last night we had no ginger. Tasted great. Very forgiving, which is what I really need in an after-work-I'm-too-tired recipe. And this dish is Kris approved!