. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . east entrance 

of the mesa arizona temple . . .

. . . bathed in light . . .

. . . shaded by magnificient 

old olive trees . . .

. . . at dusk . . .

. . . mustache mania . . .

. . . my husband and my boys 

will attest to the fact 

that i am the facial hair sheriff . . .

. . . i ask all the time 

"did you shave today?" . . .

. . . i'm just not a fan of visible stubble,

 or flavor savers,

or goatees, 

or whiskers in general . . .

. . . i have, however, 

been known to jump on a bandwagon

 now and then . . .

. . .and the mustache trend 

is just plain funny . . .

. . . what tiny baby boy 

wouldn't love these? . . .

. . . they're hilarious . . .

. . . and they'd make 

the perfect fathers day gift 

for any new dad . . .

. . . pesto pasta salad . . .

. . . first things first . . .

. . . thanks for your kind emails 

and inquiries . . .

. . . yes, i'm fine . . .

. . . stuphfromsteph, 

however, has obviously 

been in a coma . . .

. . . it might be time to wake her up . . .

. . . gently . . .

(if you really want to know 

what i've been up to, 

follow me @stuphfromsteph 

on instagram. it's fun!)

. . . so . . .

. . . it was my turn to be the boss 

of our quilt group yesterday . . .

. . . and i made this yummy salad . . .

. . . you can make it, too, 

if you'd like . . .

what you need:

•1 pound rotini pasta

•1/2 costco-size jar of basil pesto

(or 1 grocery store-size tub)

•1/2 cup craisins

•1/2 cup pine nuts

•1/2 cup shredded parmesan 

(not the powdery kind)
•1 costco-size container spring greens/spinach mix 
(or 2 grocery store-size bags)
•girard's champagne dressing
•rotisserie chicken (optional)

what you need to do the day before:

•cook the pasta in boiling, salted water according to package directions 
•drain and rinse in cold water 
•stir in pesto 
•add craisins, pine nuts, and parmesan 
•refrigerate overnight

what you need to do to serve:

•in a large bowl, mix greens with a little champagne dressing 
•don't drown them
•arrange greens on a large platter
(really, you need a large platter for this!)
•top with chilled pesto pasta
•optional: top with a few nice slices of rotisserie chicken

pro: looks impressive; tastes fantastic; nothing (seriously, nothing, unless you use chicken) to chop
con: after the greens are dressed, you can't really save the leftovers
hint: serve a big crowd and there won't be leftovers!

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . nearly full moon . . . 

. . . pleasant temperature . . .

. . . beautiful surroundings . . .

. . . favorite place to spend 

wednesday evenings . . .

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . one of my favorite views 

of this beautiful temple . . .

. . . this is the reflecting pool 

on the north side . . .

. . . serenity at its finest . . .

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . i wondered how a nighttime photo

 taken with an iphone 

would turn out . . .

. . . no surprise . . .

. . . when the subject is as beautiful 

as this one is,

it turned out just fine . . .

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . it's always a sad day 

when spring flowers give way 

to the few spots of color 

that can survive 

an arizona summer . . . 

. . . temple gardeners, though . . .

. . . they sure know 

what they're doing . . .

. . . if you're wondering about 

the best things to plant 

at any given time of year . . .

. . . just take a little stroll 

around these grounds . . .

. . . the flower beds and i both 

got a much needed trim today . . .