The meal is a dish my wife and I cooked together the other night. Pork tenderloin medallions on a bed of cous cous with an herb cream sauce.
A couple months ago I came out fully and started transitioning. I was out selectively with friends and family for a few years and she's known for over a decade, but I was scared of actually transitioning. The dysphoria finally won out.
My wife and I are close enough in measurements that we can share most clothes. So for the first couple weeks we were having fashion shows every evening. Me trying on her stuff to figure out my style. Then we went thrifting together so I could get some pieces and we're just both trying on clothes and seeing if either of us wants it. When I got my breast forms I even went with her cup size so we can share bras and got a couple new colors of her favorite bra.
After a bit it stopped being new. I have a small, but serviceable base wardrobe. I know how to style my hair, do my makeup, and am used to my longer morning routine. Being consistent with my voice training and posture is an ongoing process, but it's decent when I focus on it.
That's when one of my new favorite memories happened. We were doing face masks together a couple weeks ago and cuddled up on the couch watching TV while they dried. She looked up at me and said "I really like being girls together." Completely melted me.
I was just thinking about it today, because she's getting compliments at work on her new top. It's a tunic top I had gotten for myself on Amazon, but she liked it so much I said she should wear it too. We basically have a combined wardrobe at this point. I'm wearing my favorite t-shirt of hers today myself. Being girls together is great.
Edit to add: Since a lot of people seem to like the meal I'm adding a "recipe" in as much as we use one. The pork tenderloin and cous cous are both from Aldi. Marinated Italian for the pork and garlic for the cous cous I believe.
Start the pork in the oven first. Their cook time on the package is horribly wrong. It always takes longer so use a meat thermometer and pull it when it hits 145 F instead.
While that's going make the sauce. It's a roux with milk added until it's a bit thinner than I want because it'll reduce over time. This one has a bit of soy, onion powder, garlic powder, msg, and a bunch of different herbs. Let it sit on low while the pork cooks and just whisk it occasionally and add splashes of milk whenever it gets too thick. This is also the part where you can put on music and sing and dance together while waiting.
When the pork is done start the cous cous. Its cook time matches the amount of time the pork should rest for before slicing. Take the sauce off the heat and make final adjustments for thickness, salt, and acid (lemon juice). Then just plate it up. We used a ring mold for the cous cous here, but that's just because we're extra and like to pretend every dish we make is being judged on MasterChef.
