lenzai's Profile

I don't know if this is the "best" one but certainly the one I make a lot for occasions and also bring to dinner parties. It's easy and all from store bought ingredients. Large platter with mounds of: canned artichokes (not marinated), roasted red peppers, little mozzarella balls (the kind that comes in oil and herbs), rolls of prosciutto or bresaola, stuffed grape leaves, olives stuffed or plain. I find that there's something for everyone, it's easy to make vegetarian/vegan and it goes great with any wine selection. If I have extra time then I can make the roasted peppers and stuffed olives myself.

Frame, and vertical or on a pole hanging of the flag would be a great move. Just make sure you involve him in the decision.
For the bottles, keep one and put a candle in it and burn it (safely) so that the bottle is mostly wax covered http://www.mad-web.org/Web_Data/Gallery/Images/full/1278/Christmas-2004-Wax-Covered-Wine-Bottle.jpg
As for other decorating, try to come up with at least one thing (furniture or art) that you get together, that way when you look at it it'll be "we picked that together". It really helps. I had the same issue with my husband and I found some lovely vintage ship pictures from a book and he choose the specific ones 6 (they were 4x6) and we framed them together. It was cheap ($2 a print and $30 for 3 frames and some burlap)
Similar to this but all DIY
http://www.etsy.com/listing/109378653/pair-of-vintage-framed-ra-vowles-owl
Good luck!

It takes me 30-60 min depending on what I'm making and if I have help. We've managed to do quick stirfry's where he's frying up the tofu and other longer taking ingredients while I'm chopping up the veg in under 20 min from start to plate. I never do a new recipe (or an actual book recipe) on a weeknight unless it's only a slight variation on something I know by heart and no new cooking techniques involved. I almost always use the oven for something so that the protein or roasted veg is cooking while I prep something more labor intensive. If my husband had his way, our dinners would be mostly one pot meals, but I like variety on the table so there's always a main dish and several veg sides, plus I make salad dressing right before serving. I do make time intensive meals (roasts, stuffed peppers etc) on weeknights to serve for a couple of days on nights my husband makes "pantry quesadillas". I love cooking as it's a guaranteed creative outlet.

There's always a stash of homemade chicken broth in the freezer for a quick soup (add sauteed carrots, celery and noodles) in case I'm sick. If the husband is sick I make a big pot from scratch and then it has the meat in it (the extra broth is frozen of course). I also crave citrus when i'm sick since the flavor is strong enough I can still taste it when I can't taste anything else. When I don't feel good and it's not a cold, I go for warm plain rice with a little butter and parmesan cheese. Soup was definitely a staple in our house when I was a kid both for sick and healthy days.

This is my favorite so far. It aligns with my aesthetic and I can picture people in it as well as the design process. It feels real and not over designed.

Can't stop staring at the cutest baby! The rest is nice too, but hard to focus on.

it does work but you have to change the water and it works better if the leaves are not in the water as well.

OurGroceries is great. It has a web feature too (great for those who cannot bring phones into the office but have internet access and want to add something)
I use it as a "to do" list as well since you can make multiple lists on top of the standard "groceries" one.

I have 2 sets of cups and spoons (post household merging with husband) and it's really nice. One set of spoons is two ended and oblong so easier to get into the spice jars..

I second hanging the bikes and painting the door a bright color. I love how wide stripes in white and light tan look, vertical or horizontal.
http://cdn4.blogs.babble.com/being-pregnant/files/nesting/striped-hallway.jpg
http://media-cache-lt0.pinterest.com/upload/21251429462726562_TNEApirv_b.jpg