29 May 2013

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

. . . east entrance 
of the mesa arizona temple . . .
. . . bathed in light . . .
. . . shaded by magnificient 
old olive trees . . .


. . . at dusk . . .


24 May 2013

. . . 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 . . .


23 May 2013

. . . 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!

22 May 2013

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

. . . nearly full moon . . . 
. . . pleasant temperature . . .
. . . beautiful surroundings . . .


. . . favorite place to spend 
wednesday evenings . . .


15 May 2013

. . . 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 . . .


08 May 2013

. . . 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 . . .




01 May 2013

. . . 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 . . .