to anyone here that during Kelly's periodic bouts of vegetarianism I am relentless in my joking.... I'll often order a burger then say "can you throw some bacon on that? how about a veal chop?"  

the day she came home upset b/c she'd heard some report about beakless chickens led me tod o my beakless chicken imitation every time we shaked and baked.

I'm horrible i know but I do make her laugh?

I'm a vegetarian, he's a carnivore. I tried like mad to make our dog a vegetarian - almost killed her. DD was a vegetarian until she was 18 months old and BEGGED my SIL for a turkey leg at Christmas dinner. I have it all documented in her scrapbook. Too funny. I was bummed but it wasn't as hard for me as I thought. DS, when asked if he likes meat, scrunches up his face and says, "I hate meat." And he does. He won't touch it with the exception of Burger King chicken nugget things - has to be BK or he won't eat it. Silly boy.

I do not buy meat, I do not cook meat; if they want meat, they are on their own. That said, they pretty much only eat meat when we go out.

DH used to think it wasn't a meal unless there was a dead critter on his plate. 15 years later, that myth has been debunked!

I'm happy in my marriage and wouldn't change it, but I do wish we had closer eating habits.  I'm a vegetarian, he'll eat expired chorizo.  Even our vegetables preferences are different, with me preferring the orange and red variety and him green, although that problem is solved with our daughter falling more into the green camp.  So it's mostly broccoli, asparagus, sugar snap peas and red bell peppers, which really most people like.

Aside from being inefficient, both economically and labor wise, I really do miss sharing food with my partner.  But not so much that I think the relationship is a mistake.

..when I came to the US, and before visiting Sister Q and her visiting me. She'd said (she now denies it, but I remember) that she could smell the dead flesh on meat eaters if she was in close (relatively intimate) proximity to them, and I felt like that wasn't something I wanted her to experience when she was with me, so I just stopped. It was the same logic that had me stop smoking cigars. I've never smoked many, but I did enjoy them on occasion. If you've ever kissed someone after they've had one (days or weeks after, even), it tastes like something's died in their mouth. For me, that sort of thing is just affording your partner some respect - she never asked me to do so, it just seemed like the right thing to do.
Since then, I've slipped a bit. I do feel better if I eat some meat on occasion, but on occasion is every month or two. We also eat a lot of fish.

I think in some ways, outlook on this is more important - neither of us feels that it's wrong to eat meat that's been raised and slaughtered in a humane manner. Before I changed my diet, I made an effort to eat meat that had been raised in a humane way. I think I'd struggle to be with someone who had no problem with the factory farming of animals, and there are certain things that are produced in an extremely cruel manner such as foie gras or veal that I wouldn't allow in my house, nor respect anyone who chose to eat them.

in a mixed marriage to some degree?  Nobody's spouse cooks like their parents did.  We're mixed because DH won't eat green vegetables and isn't big on vegetarian or Asian food, both of which were a big part of my diet growing up.

I kind of think Tony is right - the cooking and eating of meat is a holy thing.  But, factory farming is the enemy of all that is good and decent in the universe.  I really need to make more of an effort to get meat that doesn't come from that system.  It wasn't that hard for chicken when I made and effort, but I never tried for beef.  The way we treat farming in this country means what should be life-giving and holy is soul-killing instead.

My husband is allergic to garlic. So is his mother. Really allergic. So there's no garlic in our house...and I do miss it at times. Luckily, I didn't grow up eating it a lot, so it's not a huge deal for me. I know a lot of people for whom it would be very very difficult indeed!

I must admit to a large helping of garlic bread occasionally when we go out to dinner. And then DH has to sleep in the guest bedroom while it comes out of my pores. :) Not that he'd react at that stage...just the smell is very overpowering for him. Yum.

for me, I'm very live and let live about this issue, unless someone gets all preachy about it. If I'm having guests over for the first time, I do my standard allergies/food preferences spiel, because I would hate to serve something that is inedible for one reason or another. We're omnivores and I love my meat, but we ususally have two or three vegetarian meals per week. I try to buy humanely farmed/organic meat as much as possible for ethical and health reasons, but I know I can do better.

However, if someone tries the "dead animal" line on me, I'm really liable to take Katie's route and ask for an extra side of bacon on my lamb/veal fricasse! Or order my steak extra-rare and cut it with great abandon and zeal. This has only ever happened a few times, and you really have to piss me off to get me to that point.

Like others above, I'm a vegetarian, my husband is a carnivore.  I once had one long, intense conversation trying to convert him, for environmental reasons, but it didn't work, and I'm OK with that.  Our deal is that our home is a vegetarian home, which means that we only cook and eat vegetarian food at home.  When we go out, he can eat whatever he wants, and when the kids are old enough, they'll be able to choose to eat meat out of the home as well.

It's a pretty flexible rule, though.  My husband will sometimes cook meat after the kids are in bed, and I'm fine with that.  He'll also occasionally mix meat into something in front of them, and if they ask for it, he'll just tell them it's spicy.  This bugs me a bit, but I let it slide.  We had Thanksgiving here with extended family and served a turkey.  Rare take-out meals are fair game for meat in the house too.

My 3-year-old understands that we're vegetarians, and I've told him that "our family our doesn't eat meat."  It's not entirely true, because of his dad, but I think that's the best explanation right now when the world is so black and white.  I'm wondering at what age I'll feel like he's old enough to choose to eat meat.  I'll be fine with him making the choice once he's old enough to really understand what meat is.  I was 9 when I truly got it and chose to be a vegetarian, so by around then I'll definitely be comfortable with him choosing.

My goal is not necessarily to raise vegetarian kids, but to raise kids who respect vegetarianism and make thoughtful choices about how we affect our environment.

After we'd been together for a while I became vegetarian.  He had never pressured me and I didn't think it was a big deal until he said, "Okay, now all you have to do is convert to Judaism and we'll be all set!"

I have already taught DS that the big mistake people make in relationships is thinking they're going to "fix" each other.