Three Wooden Spoons

DIY: Potato Stamped Canvas

Ashley — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:08:06 +0000

A few weeks ago I tried my hand at something crafty…and it kind of worked! I had an old canvas from Pier One that I didn’t love, a bolt of fabric gathering dust, and some fabric paint…the possibilities were endless!

The supplies: wood-framed canvas, fabric, rotary cutter, paint and (not pictured) a staple gun and a potato.

It’s pretty self explanatory but here are the steps:

Cut a piece of fabric about 3-4 inches bigger than your frame. It will need to wrap around the back to be stapled on all sides. *
Iron the fabric to remove any wrinkles. If you want the back to look more ‘finished’ then you could sew the edges…but who has time for that?
Lay out the fabric with the right side facing down and place your frame in the middle, making sure it’s lined up with the grain of the fabric.
Starting on one side, fold the fabric over the frame, making sure it’s straight, and staple every couple of inches along the whole side. Do the opposite side next, making sure to pull the fabric tight and even.
When you get two sides done you will then need to deal with the corners, which I did by folding like I was wrapping a present (see below).
Fold and staple the corners and finish off the sides like the previous two.
Carve your potato into any shape you want for your stamp and stamp out your design!

*You could also just buy a plain canvas and stamp directly onto it. Too easy though, right?

I went for a very simple stamp and design but I was quite pleased with how it turned out. I was originally going to do a circular design but figured it would take a lot of measuring to get it right and I was too lazy. This took maybe an hour, start to finish, including ironing the fabric and everything. Perfect for nap time! I used a piece of paper folded in half lengthwise for a guide along the edges but that’s all the measuring I did…I kind of wanted it to be imperfect.

The end.

A Weekend in Beantown

Ashley — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 18:49:22 +0000

Reid and I headed down to Boston over the weekend to celebrate our anniversary. Four years! I can’t even believe it. Matilda stayed with my sister for the night…it was my first time leaving her overnight but all went well! She was spoiled rotten and we had a blast. I just love that old city! Please excuse the phone pictures but it’s all I brought.

Our view at dinner…

We ate at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House which is our #1 favorite…reserved for very special occasions only though! Quite expensive, but well worth it…if only to get the most delectable crab cake that you will ever eat. I dream of this dish…it’s served with a lobster sauce that makes you wish it was acceptable to lick your plate in public. Not that I do it at home or anything…

I went with the filet trio for my entrée and it did not disappoint. Three small filets, each with a different topping: a demi-glace, crumbled bleu cheese, and another with the crab and lobster sauce combo.

Afterwards we cabbed over to the North End and walked around a little bit before heading to the Improv Asylum for a show. I really want to go back to Hanover Street to try one of the small Italian restaurants that had lines a block long…the smells coming from them were enough to make your mouth water, even after a huge meal.

A cute little bakery tucked away in an alley…

The next day we headed out to walk around the Boston Common, sipped one of the best iced caramel lattes from The Thinking Cup and picked up cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes.

It was a beautiful day and a relaxing little getaway! But it sure felt nice to get home to our little bug.

Some of these photos are from Instagram and you can follow me for more at @ashleymaho!

Matilda: Year One

Ashley — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:10:09 +0000

Our daughter turned one on the eighth of May. I know. I KNOW. We threw her a bash and she cried, because cake is scary and she doesn’t want to grow up. She told me so.

I just got the pictures back and I’m a little obsessed. Prepare for a photo overload…

Matilda, you are so loved.

All photos in this post are by Julia @ JB Photography and I highly recommend her if you’re in the Southern NH area.

Bagels and Lox (not)

Ashley — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 20:26:22 +0000

Sometimes the most basic meals are the most delicious, don’t you think? Reid caught a bunch of trout on his last fishing trip so he brought it to be smoked. It was only fitting that bagels and cream cheese joined the party…though my next task is to make homemade bagels…mmmm.

Lox generally refers to salmon but who’s getting technical around here? And Reid informed me that trout and salmon are in the same fish family so…I don’t know…and don’t really care, for that matter. We also came to the conclusion that dry, flaky smoked fish > slimy smoked fish. Who even likes that stuff? I mean, if it’s just sitting there I’ll probably eat it but…you know.

Scallions stood in for capers…

It was delightful.

Formerly Will Run for Food

Ashley — Wed, 08 May 2013 00:28:56 +0000

Hi, All!!

Welcome to the new site! Please bear with me as I get things working smoothly and play with the design…it’ll take some time but I wanted to get things rolling on here!

I’m so excited for a fresh start. I debated whether or not to import my old posts and in the end I decided that I wanted them here. Even though I won’t be blogging my daily meals and workouts anymore (and most of those posts were a snooze fest, if we’re being honest), I put a lot of work into those 300+ posts! I couldn’t just “throw” them away! Well, I can’t really throw anything away but that’s a topic for another time. Or maybe not. Hoarders unite!

Oh, and if you subscribed to Will Run for Food via email, I don’t think it will automatically update the link so I believe you will need to re-subscribe, which you can do over there >>>>>>> >>>>(somewhere). Trust me, you want to.

See you soon!