Holiday Outfits

2013 Derby Goals

For the 2013 Dead Girl Derby season, I want to push myself to a level of play in which others would vote me as the league MVP pivot. And this is how I hope to do it.

1. Cross-train at least once a week, every week. Also, yoga once a week, every week.
2. Improve pack communication, verbal and nonverbal, giving and receiving. Understand my hearing-related limitations, yet overcome them whenever possible.
3. Let go of any physical fears in order to be comfortable skating forward/backward, transitions at higher speeds, jumps and lateral movement.

It's also time to get out of denial of the 30 pounds I've gained in the past year. Join me on myfitnesspal! My username is kellyvonlunen.

What are your goals for 2013, derby or otherwise?

Meltaway Cookies

This recipe is also in a cookie book my mom had when I was a kid, and I have since stolen from her. They're not really a traditional Christmas cookie, but it's a Christmas cookie book, so I usually make them in December. I'm not sure why I don't make them more often—more often than chocolate chip cookies, even, because they're probably my absolute favorite.

When I was younger, I just melted the butter because I didn't know what it meant to brown butter. Now that I do know, it took these cookies from delicious to incredible. Sadly, I'm giving this batch away to some coworkers today as part of a cookie exchange. If any of them don't like the cookies, I'm demanding that they return them to me.

The recipe below is modified slightly from this blog post to match the original in my cookbook and my notes.


Meltaway Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting
(makes 30 small cookies)

Cookies
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour

Frosting
1/4 cup butter
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2-3 tbsp milk, as needed

1. Beat butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add egg yolk and vanilla and beat well. Add flour and stir until mixed in. If the dough doesn't come together, add a little milk until it does.
2. Form into 1-inch balls and flatten. They should be about 1/4″ thick. You can crowd them because they will barely spread.
3. Bake for 7-9 minutes until just barely starting to brown.
4. While cooling, brown the butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium low to medium heat. Mix the browned butter, powered sugar and vanilla together. Add milk 1 tbsp at a time until frosting is thick but creamy and spreadable.
5. Frost cookies immediately. Allow frosting to set before storing in an airtight container.

DGD to Play Season 4 at Hale Arena

My league just made the biggest announcement today. We have a real bout venue now. Check it out!

http://www.deadgirlderby.com/dead-girl-derby-to-play-season-4-at-hale-arena

Tuesday Outfits

Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats

A coworker brought these Rice Krispie treats in to work a couple months ago. She asked me if I'd tried one, and I kindly told her that I don't really like Rice Krispie treats. However, she convinced me that these were special and I really would like them.

You know what? I did. And I had a bunch of Rice Krispies sitting around my house left over from when I made Cinnamon Toast Crunch Krispie Treats, so I thought I'd give them a go.

Here's the original recipe, which I did not change: http://www.merrygourmet.com/2011/05/guest-post-brown-butter-rice-krispies-treats/

The final verdict? Make these with caution. The caution is that they are SO good that I never want to stop cutting off little pieces and stuffing my face with them.

Happy Friday: Christmas Cookies

I made these cookies last night, and I quite vouch for them. Try them for yourself!

Pip & Ebby: Chocolate crinkle cookies with a Rolo surprise

Derby Blogging: Vicious Circle

I updated a blog post I did for Dead Girl Derby, and Vicious Circle Magazine has it featured on its website right now!

http://viciouscirclemag.com/2012/12/04/beat-me-halfway-presents-m-a-d-e/

Christmas Spirit

Sadly, I'm not really feeling the Christmas spirit this year. At least not yet. Other people have mentioned that they're having the same problem. I'm determined to force myself into at least a little holiday cheer.

Yesterday, I dressed up somewhat elf-like for work for no reason at all.

And on Sunday, I gave myself this Christmaslike manicure.

I haven't gotten the motivation to put up the usual Christmas tree, a nice standard Midwestern artificial tree inherited from my parents. So I picked up this $8 purple one from Target and decorated with just my and Mr. Breakdown's favorite ornaments.

What holiday spirit do you have so far this December?

Fast Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Dudes... ladydudes... This is... just... Ohmygod.

Fast Buffalo Chicken Pizza
(makes 1 single-serving pizza)

Packaged garlic naan
Frank's hot sauce
Morningstar buffalo chicken nuggets
Italian five-cheese blend

1. Buy those ingredients.
2. Microwave nuggets.
3. Assemble ingredients to look like pizza.
4. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melty.
5. Stuff your face.
6. Hate me for introducing you to this because now you want to eat it every meal of every day.

Beat Me Halfway 2012

I was going to do a fancy little write-up of Beat Me Halfway like Thermal Detonator posted for me last year.

But then I wrote a blog post about it for Dead Girl Derby. And we're working up a piece on it for Roll Out Magazine. Lastly, there's gotta be some incentive to attend such awesome events. It wouldn't be the same if I just gave you all the goods now, would it?

Here's why you should attend next year, though. Quadzilla clinic.

Then I got to work on Quadzilla-taught skills with this other skater, and he critiqued us. Squee!

We worked on toe-stop starts and stops, so I'm way more comfortable doing them now.

There were clinics for blockers and jammers alike.

I got to watch Vyolent Grimm skate in real life. Holy crap.

These all-stars were so fast, I couldn't get pics.

So much wow. I was in derby awe.

Quadzilla and Streak. If you know men's derby at all, you know these guys. They're amazing.

And I got to dress up all pretty-like for a party with these fabulous people.

My favorite takeaways from the Quadzilla clinic:

• New skills can take a really long time to learn. If it takes you a week or a year, keep working on it.
• EVERYONE needs to know how to do tomahawk stops. This includes newbies who just started skating three months ago.
• Roller derby is full-contact. If you don’t like it, go home.
• If you think you have your skills mastered, go home. There is nothing left for you to do.

My favorite takeaways from the Magnum p.i.m.p. clinic:

• When jamming, be able to change speed and direction.
• Most of us think we're jumping/hopping, but we're really not. Jammers need a lot of lateral movement.
• Traditional hits are a thing of the past. As a blocker, you want to stop the jammer from moving. Drag her out of bounds or control her with booty blocks.

Vegetarian Buffalo "Chicken" Salad Wrap

I made this on Thanksgiving Eve, snapped a photo while I was eating it, and promptly forgot. But here's a nice quick lunch idea.

Vegetarian Buffalo "Chicken" Salad Wrap
(makes 1 wrap)

5 Morningstar buffalo chicken nuggets
Cheese (cheddar or blue cheese)
Buffalo sauce (I used Frank's Hot Sauce)
Lettuce
Tortilla

1. Microwave buffalo chicken nuggets according to package instructions.
2. Arrange on a tortilla with lettuce and cheese. Use buffalo sauce as desired for dressing.

Ugly Sweater Mash-Up

Have I told you how much I love derby mash-ups? All of the ones I've done have been WFTDA rules (where as Dead Girl Derby skates MADE), but it's a great opportunity to meet and skate with new people. I always learn something new.

The theme for the one I played in last week was "ugly sweaters." Unfortunately, I have a strange aversion to ugly sweater contests. So I wore my cutesy Christmas shirt instead.

Just recently, I told someone that I almost never wear fishnets when I skate. I don't want rink rash, so I have to put them over solid tights, and it gets to be too many layers. However, I was getting dressed and found out that the only pair of solid nude tights I had were pretty beat-up, so I threw on also-beat-up fishnets to help hold my fluff in. Success! The Santa socks were a Christmas gift from a coworker a few years ago.

When I played softball, I laughed at players who wore makeup. Now, I can't possibly scrimmage without if I know photos will be taken. Mel Makeup, it is!

This lovely lady skates in Wichita. I've known her for six months or so, and it was great to finally skate against her!

Mega Manic is taking a year of from DGD, which breaks my heart. She rode out and jammed against me. Yay!

She also made this poster herself and gave it to me as "gas money." Best gas money EVER!

Getting Colder: Recent Outfits

Best Baked Apple Oatmeal

Sorry about the inadvertent hiatus. Holidays, strep throat, general life busy-ness. Just too much!

I hope this original recipe makes up for it a bit. I know it made me feel better! Start by dicing two apples (organic preferred because they taste like apples and not mush). Throw them into a 9x9 pan with a cup of oats and 1 3/4 cup water. Add cinnamon.

Stir it up and put in the oven at 350 while you make the rest.

In a food processor, mix up pecans, brown sugar (I was out and had to substitute), butter and flour. This stuff is the BEST. The idea and proportions are stolen from Pioneer Woman's sweet potatoes.

By the time I was done dragging my feet and getting the topping done, the oatmeal was baked up nicely.

Spread out the topping over the top. Put it back in the oven.

This is what mine looked like when it was done. I'm not sure how long it was in the oven while I was cleaning up and doing other things (read: wasting time on Facebook), but I'd guess about 15 minutes. You could leave the topping off to be healthier, and mix chopped pecans into the oatmeal. But then would you really be living?

Just looking at this photo makes me want to get leftovers out of the fridge and eat it right now.

Right out of the oven, I scooped some into a bowl. This would be pretty tasty as-is.

But this made it better. I'm calling it a meal now, made only unhealthy but the sugar in the topping. If you wanted to call this dessert, you could top with ice cream instead. I just really love this yogurt.

As always, this tasted way better than it looked. It looks pretty good, so I think that says something.

Best Baked Apple Oatmeal
(makes 4 servings)

Oatmeal
2 organic apples, diced
1 cup plain oats
1 3/4 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon

Crumble Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup flour
3 tbsp butter

Yogurt, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix oatmeal ingredients. Spread into 9x9 pan and put into oven.
3. Prepare topping. Spread over oatmeal as soon as the oats have absorbed the water.
4. Bake with topping until browned.
5. Remove from oven and top with yogurt as desired.