My Boyfriend, The Vegetarian

His being vegetarian isn’t his only redeeming quality. He’s smart, funny, compassionate, handsome, and he believes in our relationship. He believes in making us work as much as I do. 

Air & Space Museum (see us?)

For the better part of 2013, he was my best-kept secret. Only a handful of people in my family and friendship circles even knew we were dating.  In fact, let me narrate the following conversation between my cousin and I:

Her: So Morri, I saw from Facebook that your relationship started in December of last year (we had made it Facebook official in August).

Me: (sheepish grin forming) Yeah, about that…

Her: So my question is… Why didn’t you tell me?

Or, better yet, I would mention him in passing and people would say, “Woah, woah! Hold the phone! Your boyfriend?!”

In truth, with my last relationship ending last year and being absolutely devastated by it, I was hesitant to bring this one under the Meals with Morri radar. In my logic, it was kind of like tattooing your sweetheart’s name onto your body, daring the Universe to do its worst. But the more and more we talked and spent time together (he was abroad for the majority of our relationship, teaching in Italy) over the summer, the more confident I felt that this was the person I wanted to be with as my partner. 

Our First Mead.

The ultimate lesson I am getting from this relationship is taking things in stride. Nothing is rushed. For the first time I didn’t feel like I had to be going one million miles a minute, and it was a glorious feeling to sleep in, watch Babylon 5, and make delicious food. 

Gluten Free Chicago-style Pizza

... Or at least delicious messes.

Pumpkin Uh-oh Waffles

That’s the other lesson I learned: cooking is extremely important to me when it comes to love. When he came to visit in December, he taught me to make cheese from scratch. It was the sort of moment, watching us cook together in perfect synchronization in an out-of-body sort way, that I realized I wanted this relationship to work with all my heart. I realized I was in love with him.

Koester Potatoes with fresh dill from my garden

I’ve also come to understand that there is no limitation to how much you love someone. I know this because I find ways to fall in love with him more and more each day. I find that even with hard conversations, I feel better for having them. We work to come up with solutions and not argue about who is right. We turn little things into traditions, like Waffle and Koester potatoes on Saturdays or reading to each other during long drives. We teach each other our passions, such as his love for chemistry, philosophy, and all things geektastic and my love for cooking, health, and conflict resolution.

Finally, besides "Communication! Communication! Communication!", cooking together has become my favorite pastime with him. It’s the thing I hope we never grow out of and continues bringing us together. 

Veggie Sushi with Adzuki Bean Miso and Onion Soup

So the secret is out: I have a partner. One who loves peanut butter as much as I do. One who loves being in the kitchen and wearing silly aprons. One whose family is as supportive of our being together as much as mine. One who showed me the fascinating world of DnD and vegetarian cuisine. One who wants to take me places. One who makes me nourishing food when I'm feeling less than awesome. One who is all for this adventure we call a relationship.

Us.

Now, I'm not sure if I will go full throttle vegetarian at this point, but at the moment my body is enjoying limiting meat from my diet in exchange for eggs, cheese, beans, and high protein gluten free grains. We'll see how it goes. 

Returning from Summer Break Mode

It’s funny. You would think that, following summer school and not working since the beginning of July, I’d be posting recipe after recipe after recipe. Funny, truly, because I was suddenly thrown a curveball of free time and I had no idea what I was going to do about it. Free time was something of an unknown thing to me, something I haven’t experienced in quite a while and, apparently, desperately needed.

I traveled a lot in July and August. I went on so many adventures and did so many things. What I didn’t do, however, was write down recipes or photograph finished plates. It was time well spent and it wasn’t recorded.

So here. The weekend before my last fall semester of grad school and I try to fill in the blanks of over a month of silence. I have new things to share and new recipes to try. Secret projects are still being worked on under the Meals with Morri banner, and secret they shall remain until they are completed. There is love and there is grief to express. There is perspective and there is uncertainty in the months (and possibly years) to come.

One thing is certain, dear readers, and it’s that Meals with Morri is changing. It was always intended to be an outlet, a way of sharing my ideas, art, triumphs, and stories. On the other hand, I have always been hesitant to share my beliefs about where food comes from and ethical sustainability, about global nutrition and the human condition. Meals with Morri will be home to these ideas as well, which have nothing to do with recipes and everything to do with society and politics.

This summer was a true break, one where for the first time I removed the world from my shoulders. Stress is a sickness that can destroy you if you let it, and for once I am sleeping. For once I’m not everything for everyone, and it is a glorious feeling. 

I write this as a way of stating that yes, I am alive (wonderfully so) and that I am evolving (as is Meals with Morri), that I am here and that I’m not going away.

September is the start of something new for this site. Be prepared for the shift.