I have kept my Bolivian Rainbow about 4 inches below a 3' fluorescent tube, which is attached under an overhead cabinet over my desk. The light goes on with a timer, so the plant gets light also when I am not in the office. If you do not have any windows close by, get a fluorescent desk lamp, which you can put close to your plants. 6 feet is quite far from the light for peppers. You do not need any special grow lamp, normal fluorescent or energy savings lamp is OK. Do not use the regular incandescent bulbs; they do not have the right spectrum for plants. Here is a link that might be useful: fluorescent desk lamps

I'd spring for a cheap toaster oven. The one I have will hold a pie plate or a 8x8 baking dish. Plus, you can bake cookies....six at a time! LOL! I did that more than once after my old stove died for the most part. Don't forget about breakfast for dinner. We loved it when we were kids and I still do it for myself now. My DGM always froze here apple pies uncooked, I do the same and they turn out fine. I'm not sure it would work with a crisp as I've never tried it before. This is a great main dish recipe and the first time I've not cooked steak on the grill. Might be a nice dinner for you and DH if the kids are spending the night at a friends house. Add a salad, starch, some good wine and well....you know.. : ) David STEAK DIANE FOR TWO (Mique) Mark Bittman, New York Times 2 6-ounce beef fillets, cut from the tenderloin (filet mignon), preferably not too lean Salt and pepper 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon minced shallot or onion 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, or to taste (I added 1/2 t. extra because dh likes it) 1/2 cup heavy cream or half-and-half Lemon juice to taste, optional Chopped fresh chives or parsley leaves for garnish. 1. Flatten fillets a bit with the palm of your hand, the back of a skillet or a small mallet; they should be about 1 inch thick. Sprinkle with salt and a lot of pepper. In small skillet, preferably one just large enough to hold fillets, combine oil and tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat. When butter foam melts, sear steaks on both sides, just until browned, no more than 2 minutes a side. Remove to platter. 2. Wipe pan clean with towel; add remaining butter over medium heat, with shallot or onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in mustard, Worcestershire and cream. Add some salt and a fair amount of pepper. Stir once or twice, then taste and adjust seasoning. 3. Keeping mixture at a steady simmer, return meat and accumulated juices to pan. Cook, turning two or three times, until meat is done to your liking, just 1 or 2 minutes a side for medium-rare. Remove to a plate, and add lemon juice, if using, salt and pepper to the sauce as needed. Spoon sauce over meat, garnish with chives or parsley, and serve. Closely related to steak au poivre, and best made with truffles (isn't everything?), it is about as straightforward, simple and impressive a high-class dish as you can make. If you and your date are meat eaters, you cannot go wrong with this. The process is easy, nearly foolproof, and gives you a few options. Though you can follow this procedure with almost any tender cut of beef (and with chicken breasts, if that direction appeals to you), it's a perfect treatment for tenderloin medallions (filet mignon) for two reasons. Tenderloin doesn't have much flavor of its own, so there's nothing to overwhelm with this rich, flavorful sauce. And it is supertender, which makes it a nice cut for a juicy, saucy dish in which you're going to use a knife. A couple of options: You can cook some mushrooms preferably wild, but shiitakes will do nicely along with the shallots, and add a touch of garlic as well, if you like. And you can add a tablespoon or two of Cognac to the cream sauce and ignite it for a bit of a show. But I doubt you'll taste much difference or note a change of behavior; for that, you're better off drinking it.

I used the same tile as the bath surrounds for countertops in my rent houses because it is very economical. Can't undermount sinks though, but so many nice sinks available. At 2.89 a foot cannot be beat--I used bullnose edge on one vanity so the edges were 4$ per foot or so. I use large porcelain with very thin grout lines and epoxy or fusion grout so the grout lines are no problem. Tile edges must be same color as top for it to look good if not using bullnose....although you can spray paint edges but I never have. In one house I used glass accents on the countertop and it turned out quite pretty. So....plywood, thinset and screw down denshield resin impregnated gypsum from Lowes made by USG (lightweight and sooooo easy to use, love it) and tile. the tile on top overlaps the tiled edges. So more than 2.89 ft. but not much for me as I usually have leftovers. Sorry about sideways photos:-p If you go this route, lay the entire countertop out first and check your overhang and especially your symetry, to look pro it has to be symetrical...the cuts, layout, etc. the left side of the counter the exact mirror of the right side. Floorndecor has 10' quartz prefab slabs for $500. You can take and pick up from a granite fabricator. Or Maybe use a wet saw to cut the slab and diamond blade hole saw and garden hose to cut a vessel sink hole.

Two other options you might want to consider. One is plyboo-- bamboo plywood. Most people who use it leave the edge exposed because it is really pretty. It isn't cheap stuff, but relatively straightforward to work with. Also you could consider a zinc countertop. Rotometals use to be limited in their lengths, but they can now cut at any length. You could get two pieces, solder the joint together, and buff the whole thing out. We did a small zinc counter in our laundry room and it was quite easy. Rotometals has tutorials on youtube for DYIers. My only recommendation is to take the sheets to a sheet metal or roofing shop and they can use a sheet metal break to put a really nice uniform hemmed edge on the counter. Here is a link that might be useful: Rotometals