Like thousands of other couples around the country, I have abruptly found myself in an unplanned, unprecedented long distance relationship due to Corona virus. While my boyfriend Keelan and I are lucky enough to at least be quarantined in the same country (though still hours away from each other), it still feels like a million miles when you are not allowed to see each other.
I think for me I am finding it even stranger because I am not at all used to the distance. My boyfriend and I met at University, where we studied on the same course and lived down the road from each other. We then went travelling together for six months, and then lived together in New Zealand for a year. We ended up having to come home because of Corona, and have both headed back to different cities to live with our parents.
So for almost the first time in our relationship, we've suddenly had to get used to technology being our only form of contact. To be fair, I have found it much easier than I originally expected, and I think part of that is knowing that what is going on is much bigger than my boyfriend and I missing each other. But it's always going to be a hard situation, and I have newfound respect for couples who are always long distance- they are the real MVP's.
Kee and I have found one thing that has made it feel easier is trying to do things 'together', even from different houses. For example, today we cooked dinner together! Here's how it went for us.
Kee suggested we try and make dinner 'together' a few days ago, and we organised a date for it a couple of days later. I know spontaneity is great, but sometimes so is a good old fashioned plan, especially during this quarentine! I have found setting a day like you would a proper date gives me something to look forward to, and also gives me something to centre my day around if I am feeling a little low. Even from a practical point of view, planning this type of date is important right now because we both had to buy the ingredients on our weekly trip to the supermarkets #stayhome.
So on the day, we both trawled through cookbooks and online recipes until we found something that looked good (and easy, because I am an atrocious cook). I originally thought we'd just make a meal we already knew, but Kee was keen to try something new which actually turned out so fun. I am so guilty at being a lazy cook and just recycling the same three mundane meals but with all this spare time, there felt like no excuse not to step out our comfort zone of spaghetti bolognese or chicken kiev. So we decided on a King Prawn and Salmon Risotto- fancy.
So we both headed to the shops and I managed to get the majority of the ingredients. Luckily, so did Kee.
(I am a bad photographer, and there were actually about five other ingredients which I forgot to put into the photo, so great work there Saz).
Then we set up Facetime and started cooking! We tried to keep in time with each other, chopping the onion together and adding the risotto rice at the same time. This helped to make it feel more like something we were doing 'together' We both had a drink which also made it feel more like a date.
(Shoutout to Keelan's really high quality camera).
When we were finished cooking, we dished it up and set the table as if we were in a restaurant. Then we stayed on Facetime while we ate!
(Once again, my photography skills and presentation leave something to desire, I am fully aware this looks like a pile of vomit on a plate).
So that's the quarantine themed date night! Very basic idea, but I personally have loved reading how other couples are managing this sudden long distance. Have a go at it, and let me know in the comments how you go! I'll pop the recipe down below if that pile of vomit looks appealing to you 🙂 Recipe taken from @marcus_cooks_ on Instagram!
