Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Last week in New York, we ate at one of the best restaurants in the world...Eight courses, Michelin star, the whole thing. And yet the meal I can't stop thinking about? A $5.00 bodega sandwich, eaten on an airport bench at midnight. Let me explain. 😄 Food, Food, Everywhere! We've been to New York several times over the years, and the city has always amazed us. But this time, it really showed us what it's about. Maybe it was summer. Maybe it was the World Cup. There...
23 days ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Last time, we invited you to a paid cook-along. But as Aric and I were prepping, something kept bugging us. We told you the Julia Child story, how she kept her phone number public so home cooks could just call her. She didn't send an invoice first. 😄 And here we were, asking you to pay $29 before we'd ever cooked together. That's backward. If what we're really offering is confidence, timing, and someone beside you...You should get to feel that first. So here's what...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Last time, I asked what would change how often you cook: a helpline, someone to show you, a cheerleader, a video library, or all of the above. Your answers confirmed something Aric and I have believed for a while: Most people don't need more recipes. You already have recipes.Google, Pinterest, Instagram, maybe AI too. But when it's actually time to cook? That's when the questions show up... "Is this onion cut too big?" "How do I know when this is done?" "Can I fix...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Last time, I asked: What makes you skip a recipe fastest? The Winner? 🏆 All of the Above. 😂Too many ingredients. 📝Too many steps. 🪜Too much time. ⏲️Too many dishes. 🧼Sound familiar? Yep, I get it. Your replies got Aric and me talking again, and we realized something...kinda big. Nobody Here Has A Recipe Problem! 🤯 You have Google. (and probably use an AI by now...) You have Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook Groups. You probably have 47 recipes saved on your phone...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Hello Hello Reader, It's Yukari! In the last email, I asked which vegetable you disliked most as a kid.And the clear winner was… The Most Hated Vegetable by Kids... Brussels sprouts. 😄As I suspected…A lot of us grew up with Brussels sprouts that were boiled too long, smelled way too strong, turned mushy, tasted bitter, or came with the classic dinner-table pressure of, “You can’t leave until you eat them.”Not exactly a recipe for falling in love with vegetables.But Aric and I have...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Many of us don’t actually hate vegetables. We hate the way they were cooked for us when we were kids. Our Experimental 30-day Short Video Challenge We recently made a video comparing frozen and fresh asparagus, and the comments stood out. One person remembered only soggy, overcooked asparagus from childhood, while another grew up with canned asparagus.And that makes sense.One bad texture or smell, repeated enough times, can stay with you for years. My Cauliflower...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Mother’s Day can bring up a lot of different feelings. For some people, it’s joyful. For others, it’s tender. And sometimes, it’s both. My Mom, Me, and Secret Sauce For me, one of the things Mother’s Day makes me think about is how love stays with us through food. My mom and I had a complicated relationship, and she wasn’t someone who taught me to cook. But one thing she made stayed with me. Her “Secret Sauce.” It was simple. It even makes me chuckle to think about...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, It's Yukari! I hope you had a beautiful Easter and got to enjoy a little spring sunshine. Food, Connections, and Memories Last Easter Sunday, Aric and I were invited to our clients’ Easter crab boil party, and it was one of those gatherings that reminded me why food matters so much. They went all out. There were inflatable unicorn and lobster costumes for the egg hunt, little eggs filled with chocolates and gifts, and a few hidden golden eggs with special surprises. And, of...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Do you meditate? Because I don’t. 😅But a few days ago in Muay Thai class, my coach said something that stuck with me:“This is your time. It’s a beautiful, quiet moment to have.”Muay Thai moves fast, but he meant we still needed to slow down, stay calm, and focus on the technique.And somehow, that made me think about cooking. Is Cooking Really Stressful or Just Not Worth the Effort? We hear messages all the time:You’re busy. 😫Cooking is hard. 🥺Let us do it for you....
5 months ago • 2 min read