summerland wrote: Any other suggestions?
Mind if I poke my head in here with a more mundane suggestion? There is an old saying that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I have found that rings true for women as well. I have cracked some pretty tough cookies by cooking for them.
As strange as this is going to sound (I know a few people will laugh), I actually took cooking lessons at a local school. Most community colleges and dedicated cooking schools (ie Le Cordon Bleu, Viking, etc) have classes to improve the skills of amateur cooks. Besides helping you learn your way around the kitchen, developing knife skills, learning techniques, you develop confidence. Most women (I say most, as it's not every case) love confidence.
Some suggestions of things to cook:
Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Apple Cider:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/ ... uce-107206Chicken with Apple Brandy Cream Sauce:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/membe ... ce-1243908Penne Pasta with a Red Wine and Mushroom Sauce (Get a decent Penne Pasta, cook the noodles, then throw the sauce over it. You could also grill a steak and put this sauce over it. That would be pretty good too):
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyle ... ecipe.htmlTypically it takes me a few tries, before I get it "right," but I never had any problems taking care of my mistakes.
I am sure you can invoke some spirit to help you make this come out better. Just my $0.02...