Lifestyle – Brianne Elizabeth

Honduras 2018

July 2, 2018July 2, 2018 brianneilizaliturri1 Comment

Hello friends! It has been a while since I’ve had the chance to write, things have been very busy over the past few weeks! On Tuesday I returned home from my yearly Medical Dental Mission Trip to Honduras. I began going on this trip with my father and sisters when I was 16 and have only missed two years since. I realized while down there that this was my 10th year being a part of the team! This trip means so much to me and I hope to be able to continue the tradition for years to come. Every June, our team of medical and dental professionals, as well as general helpers, travel down to a rural village in Honduras, typically a few hours drive from San Pedro Sula, one of the largest cities. We typically visit a village for two years in a row and then move on to a different location the next year, where we go depends on the need of the surrounding area and whether there are facilities that will accommodate our equipment. This year we went to the town of San Luis, which is in one of the poorest departments (kind of like states in the US) in Honduras. This was my fourth time in San Luis as we had come here in years past due to the great need. In this town and the surrounding mountain villages and settlements, there are approximately 40,000 people. While some towns do have medical and dental services, most Hondurans are unable to afford to have the work done or are unable to lose a day of work in order to go to the doctor or dentist. Major surgeries and procedures would have to be performed in the city, hours away, which is just not an option for most of the people where we were. To give some perspective, even those people who are considered “well-off” in Honduras would be well below the poverty line in the US. Once we arrived in San Luis, we began setup of our clinic for the week. We had a general dental clinic for restorations, an oral surgery clinic for extractions as well as other facial surgeries, a medical clinic, optical clinic, and a pharmacy. We worked Monday through Friday from about 8:30 am until 6:00 pm, sometimes even later, and then worked a half day on Saturday.

People lining up outside on our first day of clinic. This year we were set up in a school.

As most of the water isn’t purified, we tried to give piperazine, a de-worming medication, to as many people as we could.

Patients would begin to line up hours before we were open. Many had come from far away, some on foot, and hoped to be among the first patients seen so that they wouldn’t be making their journey home in the dark. Upon entering the clinic, patients would choose to either receive medical or dental care, and were then triaged to determine which specific need could be met. Almost all of the Hondurans who came to our clinic needed multiple areas of care, but with our limited amount of time and caregivers, we had to decide which need was most critical.

Every year I work in the general dentistry clinic, assisting a dentist while they do fillings, and this year I was lucky enough to be able to assist my father. I love assisting in the dental clinic, but being able to work with my dad made it even more special. The most common teeth that we see needing to be filled are numbers 7, 8, 9, and 10, the upper front four teeth. These can be more challenging cases as they require additional time in order to successfully fill and shape, or sometimes almost completely rebuild, the front teeth, but they are also the most rewarding as you are transforming a persons smile. My father aims to give them a beautiful transformation that looks natural with their other teeth. Some patients are openly ecstatic with their results, but others are so used to hiding their front teeth and their smile out of embarrassment that they are still hesitant to open their mouths after. This young girl was very shy before and after her work, but she told us that she was happy with the results. (We made sure to get permission before taking pictures.)

My father and I with a patient after restoring her upper front teeth.

Before

After

This year in the general dentistry clinic we had five dentists performing restorations, with my father being the only North American. We were blessed to have the largest number of Honduran dental and medical professionals join us to serve as we have ever had in previous years. At the end of the week, we had seen 192 patients in the general dental clinic and had filled 930 teeth. In the oral surgery clinic they extracted over 2,000 teeth and performed several cyst removals as well as other minor facial surgeries. I don’t have the full statistics yet for the other clinics but will update this once I do. This specific medical mission trip has been going to Honduras for over 20 years, and as some of the founding members of the team are now unable to make it we hope to find new members who feel called to serve the people of Honduras, whether it be as a doctor, dentist, pharmacist, or general helper. For the time that we are there, we seek to help as many people as possible, but we often leave feeling that we are the ones who have received a blessing. If anyone is interested in being part of this trip in the future or would just like some more information about what we do there please do not hesitate to contact me!

My father, mother, Dr. Laura, myself, and my older sister. Dr. Laura is a Honduran dentist who volunteered her time to help us in the dental clinic. She was so hardworking, always ready to see another patient, and her example gives us hope that the work we do to serve those in Honduras will continue even after we have returned to the States.

Carlos’ Hawaiian Luau Birthday

April 26, 2018 brianneilizaliturri2 Comments

I love a good theme party, so when my husband suggested that we have a Hawaiian Luau party for his 31st birthday I was incredibly excited. Immediately, I began to brainstorm what kind of foods we would serve as the food is always my favorite part of any party. Carlos jokingly suggested that we roast a pig on a spit, much to my horror, but he ultimately decided on pulled pork sandwiches (with pork purchased at the store) and various sides. For an appetizer, we made bacon wrapped jalapeños stuffed with cream cheese, both a regular version and a vegetarian version. Accompanying the pulled pork sandwiches was a spaghetti salad as well as chips and salsa. For the vegetarians in the group, we used the Gardein sweet and sour porkless bites. I had never had this kind of sandwich before and I was amazed at how well the pork bites, coleslaw, and King’s Hawaiian rolls complemented each other. I loved it so much that we made it again for dinner last night!

These are delicious and found at many grocery chains as well as on Amazon

For dessert, I wanted to do a cake that was on theme, however, Carlos also wanted a special birthday cake. I decided to make two cakes as we anticipated having around 20 people, and we still ended up having mountains of cake left over! The on theme cake that I made was a Hawaiian Wedding Cake. This recipe came from one of the ladies who goes to my parent’s church. It is simple to make and turned out well, however I will adjust a few aspects of the recipe next time that I make it.

I followed the recipe, however I did find one direction confusing. Where it says “Blend cream cheese with pudding and gradually add milk,” I didn’t know whether it meant to blend the cream cheese with fully prepared pudding or to mix it with the pudding powder. My mother believed that it meant to mix it with the pudding powder, so that is what I did. It tasted fine, but wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked. In the future, I will mix the pudding powder with the milk first and then blend in the cream cheese. It is also important to make sure that the cream cheese is softened to at least room temperature. Another variation to the recipe that I will try in the future is to make it like a poke cake. This would allow the pudding and pineapple mixture to seep into the cake and have the flavors be better incorporated, rather than just having a cake layer and a toppings layer. Overall, the cake was quite tasty and I was very glad that I’d made it.

The second cake that I made was a Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting from scratch. I found the recipe on the Life, Love, and Sugar blog and followed the cake recipe to a T. The cake batter itself was so delicious that I literally said “Screw, salmonella!” and licked several spatulas clean. The cakes came out evenly and while they cooled I moved onto the frosting.

I was excited to make a peanut butter buttercream frosting for the first time, and it did not disappoint! The recipe called for 9 cups of confectioner’s sugar, however I only used about 7 cups and I used both additional milk and water to get it to the consistency that I wanted. This lightened the flavor and thickness of the frosting, yet it still packed major peanut butter flavor. Copious amounts of leftover frosting were eaten by myself, my husband, and a few of his friends. I’m still working on my technique when it comes to frosting and decorating. I seem to learn new tips and tricks every time that I hope to implement on my next baking endeavors. I know that cutting off the rounded tops of the cakes will give a more neat and uniform look, but in the past when I’ve attempted this I’ve cut them unevenly, so I didn’t want to risk it this time. Any tips on how to do this well would be greatly appreciated! I loved using the peanut butter chips to decorate and the piping helped to dress up the cake as well. I didn’t end up making the ganache as it was already quite late once I finished the cake, but I would like to try it in the future. My husband loved the cake, which is really all that matters, but I was also happy with how it turned out. It is not as moist, in my opinion, as other cakes that I have made, but the explosion of peanut butter in each bite alongside the creamy frosting definitely makes this a recipe worth repeating!

The full recipe for the Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting can be found here: Loaded Peanut Butter Layer Cake

The Hawaiian Luau Birthday was a tremendous success, filled with laughter, food, and family. I am beyond thankful that I get to celebrate these special occasions with Carlos for the rest of our lives, and that he has family so close by to share in them with us.

Matching Picture

Life Update

April 12, 2018 brianneilizaliturriLeave a comment

It has been a busy past few weeks! The most exciting event was the birth of my niece. I’m very lucky to have many nieces and nephews from my husband’s side of the family, but this was the first baby from one of my siblings. My twin sister had a little girl and she is so precious and immensely loved already. I was able to go to meet her a few days after she was born, and sharing that time with my parents, sisters, and my brothers-in-law was incredibly special.

In less exciting news, I spent the majority of last week sick and in bed, although the timing of my sickness was rather fortuitous as Wickham was scheduled last minute to be neutered, therefore my being home with him for his recovery was quite helpful. They say that the recovery process for male dogs is much quicker than when female dogs are spayed, however it can still be a challenging 10-14 days. He is still a puppy and constantly wants to run and play, activities that do not aid in the healing process! Keeping him calm without walks or active play is a real struggle, he and I will both be relieved when he can resume his daily exercise! Despite his dislike of the cone and diapers while he heals, he is still so sweet and loving. As he grows and we see more of his personality emerge Carlos and I fall more and more in love with him. He has been the perfect addition to our little family.