Baby It's Cold Outside!

Coming from Arizona, the weather of the Pacific Northwest definitely takes some adjusting.

Seattle has been pretty cold and rainy lately which has had me rethinking my outfit choices. I usually layer up or wear my down jacket, but here are some other very cute options to consider...

Matinee trench by J.Crew

Rain dotted Anorak from Anthropologie

Raglan Sleeve Coat by Zara

On the Avenue Coat at modcloth.com

Wuthering Delights at modcloth.com

Stay warm and look cute at the same time!

Ciao!

Steal Away...

I am in love with traveling.  I absolutely relish learning about new cultures and savoring all the beautiful and different architecture that sounds me.  I love sampling the local quisine and bringing home a bite or two or a recipe to share with others.  I even enjoy seeing what is in my own backyard.  Traveling is hands down, my favorite past time, but alas, I can't do it all the time.  So between adventures there is always Samantha Brown!

Just the other day I was treated to a trip to Vienna, Austria and Florence, Italy (both places I have had the pleasure of visiting) via Samantha Brown's Passport to Europe television show.  She gives you such great insight and has the best non-annoying perky personality to illustrate her travels.   This girl goes everywhere! 

If you've got a trip planned somewhere beautiful, exocit, historic, fun, romatic...chances are, Samantha Brown has covered it and can give you some great tips on how, when, and why to travel.  From smaller weekend get-aways, to overseas jetsetting, Samantha's show is definitely worth checking out before you decide to pack your bags.  Watch one of her many DVDs, listen to her podcast, or catch her throughout the week on the Travel Channel

By air, by sea, or TV, sometimes you just gotta steal away...

Cupcakes!

I am the baker in the family and I often find myself being comissioned to make a cake or some sort of dessert for birthdays and special gatherings.  One summer while in college, I decided to do something fun for myself by taking a cake decorating class.  I had so much fun and my family and friends got A LOT of cake for a few years.  Here is a picture of some cupcakes I made for my niece's birthday.

Cupcakes are one of my favorite desserts.  They are cute and can be dressed up simply or extravagantly.  I tend to go for the former and stick to great taste and time efficiency.

I stumbled upon this recipe and thought I would give it a go.  I have never made cake

from scratch, and thought the recipe looked pretty easy to try...hence the title.

Easy Chocolate Cupcakes with Sweet Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients for the cupcakes: 

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk

Ingredients for the frosting:

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (about 1 lb.)

1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves

Pink food coloring or gel icing (optional)

1 pint fresh raspberries (optional

Instructions:

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.

3. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

For the icing:

1. In large bowl, beat shortening and butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add vanilla; mix well. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add raspberry preserves and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Cake

Frosting

Making these cupcakes was so easy and fun.  I love the cute raspberries on top...very festive for Valentines day.  I will add that the cake is not as sweet as a boxed cake mix, but my roomates and co-workers loved them.  Spice up your baking routine and try something new!

Happy Baking!

The Barefoot Contessa

I love to cook, bake, and experiment with new recipes.  Here is a picture of me while taking a cooking class in Florence, Italy this summer.  I highly recommend cooking combined with travel, but that will be another blog of its own.  :)

My all time favorite go-to recipe books are the Ina Garten "Barefoot Contessa" books.  Tonight I decided to try a recipe from this book...

If you like comfort food and family friendly recipes, this book is for you hands down.
Thumbing through all the tasty photos, I stopped at the "Mac and Cheese" recipe.  I've never actually made Mac and Cheese other than the Kraft boxed version which may still be lingering in my gut as we speak no doubt.  This recipe is for real! 

Here are the ingredients...

7oz elbow macaroni, 2cups milk, 3 slices of white bread with crusts removed to make bread crumbs, 6oz Gruyere cheese grated, 4oz sharp cheddar cheese grated, 4 tbs butter, 6 tomato slices, salt, pepper, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 1/4c flour.

This is the finished product after only 15 min of prep and 35 min of baking...and it is so good!  The sliced tomatoes give the meal a nice texture and lighten it up a bit.  This is a great and easy recipe for kids and adults.  I cut the recipe in half, but here is the full version...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/mac-and-cheese-recipe2/index.html

What recipe books do you find yourself going back to again and again?

Happy eating!

Safety Night

Tonight is Safety Night at my next Seattle Aquarium orientation.  For those of you who don’t know, I am now an official Seattle Aquarium volunteer.  I have always had a love for marine life and the ocean in general.  So, when I moved out to Seattle from Arizona, volunteering at the aquarium made so much sense. 

What sorts of things will be discussed tonight? 

How to keep a fish in water?

What to do if an octopus escapes?

How to properly display a “Caution Wet Floor/Cuidado Piso Mojado” sign?

The most effective way to retrieve a child who has fallen into the tide pool exhibit?

Honestly, who knows…but I’ll be sure and update you if we do indeed discuss any of the above items. :)

What it did get me thinking about is something we can all do to be prepared in case we find ourselves in an unexpected situation.   

With February also being  “Heart Month,” I thought I would share this invaluable video that everyone should watch and learn from, and later hear how this video helped me in a real life situation last year.

This new and effective method was created by incredible physicians an my Alma Mater, the University of Arizona.  It is easy, memorable, and almost anyone can perform it.

Last spring I was coming home from lunch with two good friends when we happened to witness a terrible motorcyle crash in front of us.  I had just seen this video at a school nurses meeting and ran to the unconscious victim and snapped into Continuous Compression only CPR.  Unfortunately, the victim did not survive.  I had not previously had an opportunity to perform CPR (thank God), but I had always wondered if I would be able to snap into action.  Continuous compression CPR allows you to do so much without having to remember...do I give a breath now? do I check a pulse now?  The method is simple and I did snap into action very fast...and you will too!

If there are people in your life that you love, watch this video.  You can't control the outcome, but something is better than nothing.

Here's my interview with Fox news...

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/traffic/good-samaritans-try-to-save-motorcyclists-life-04032011

Have a safe day!

First Day...Smile

First Day...Smile!
Hello out there! It’s Marissa

…and I am entering the land of blogging. I have been against this idea for a while because I didn’t think I would be committed to something like this or have much to contribute, but just like how somedays I just gotta dance…somedays I just gotta write. So welcome to La Vida Luna…where you will be immersed in the life of M. Luna.

Today I am kicking this blogging business off by discussing my dental health! (Obviously, these posts may get a bit gritty…not for the faint of heart) Check it! No cavities yotches! I just went to the dentist two days ago and was ready to hear D.O. #14 (which translates to cavity in my world, but may just mean tooth…who knows?), but lo and behold Dr. White said “Your xray’s look good.” I looked at her and said “Thank God! That’s a miracle!” If you are like me, you expect to have a cavity discovered at every dental visit. Partly my fault…like 25% me and maybe 75% genetics perhaps? These hypothesized numbers help me to better cope every 6 months.
I’m gonna be totally honest with you right now and tell you I never went to the dentist when I was in college…and I don’t remember flossing at all unless some crazy piece of protein was interfering with my concentration. AND!…I was in college for 6 years. I alway feel like I need to sheild myself like this…

when I admit this fact.

Anyways, after graduating I finally went to the dentist. I went to three different dentists who wanted to charge me ridiculous amounts of money to fix my teeth. It wasn’t until I moved to NYC that I decided to actually get my teeth in order. The dentist was nice and so were her staff, but if I can give one piece of advice it would be this…DO NOT WAIT TO GET YOUR DENTAL WORK DONE IN NYC. THEY WILL CONVINCE YOU TO GET THIS DENTAL CREDIT CARD AND CHARGE YOU THREE TIMES THE AMOUNT YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN CHARGED IN TUCSON. It would have been nice if someone would have shared that with me pre NYC move.

I have had so much dental work. I know, gross! Going to the dentist is like taking a walk in the park for me. I have even fallen asleep through a procedure performed by Dr. Bhatt at Serenity Dental of Gilbert (who I highly recommend to those living in the greater Phoenix area).

So here are a few dental tips that will help you avoid making extra dentist visits and staring at potentially images like this…

or this…

Okay…what the heck is this???

Did this dental poster artist just finish watching “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” and “Little Shop of Horrors?” (Both good movies, FYI).

Here are a few tips I have acquired throughout my dental journey that you may find helpful.

1) Use a soft toothbrush and brush along the gumline at least twice daily.
There’s no need to brush your teeth every day like you do right before you go to the dentist. Although brushing for 5min. is recommended. I like to use a brush like this…

because it has bue indicator bristles that remind me when I need to replace it.

2) Floss at least nightly and as needed.

I like Glide the best because it gently gets in those hard to reach places without hurting. My recent hygienist recommended GUM floss,

but I had already invested in a Costco sized package of Glide. I wasn’t gonna go buy more…Shoooot!

3) Use a flouride rinse daily.

I am really bad at this, but when I do remember, I use ACT flouride rinse. ACT has been highly recommened to me by several dental professionals, but the selling point for me is its self-measuring feature at the top of the bottle. With just a squeeze of the bottle, you get just the right amount.

February does happen to be Dental Health month…so give yourself a dental makeover…because let’s face it…if you are reading this, you are important to me and I don’t want anyone saying you have bad breath and look like this…

Adios!