🦐 Back from New Orleans and Full of Flavor (and Ideas!) Hello Reader, It's Yukari! We just got back from our anniversary trip to New Orleans, and wow, our hearts (and bellies) are still full. 💛 This isn’t our usual Saturday Kitchen Table newsletter. It's just a quick hello to share some tasty highlights from the trip, and a little sneak peek at what’s cooking next... 🎷New Orleans: Creole Cuisine, Culture & Community Honestly? I wasn’t sure I’d love New Orleans. My first impression was that it...
13 days ago • 1 min read
✈️ Before We Head to NOLA… Got a Sec? Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Have you grabbed your copy of our $100 grocery challenge shopping list yet? If not, you can still get it here: 👉 [Download $100 Grocery Challenge Shopping List!] 💬 I'd Love Your Input! We’ve been sharing our journey, meal by meal, showing how we stretched $100 into a week’s worth of real, flexible dinners. So far, we’ve posted the first two videos, with more to come. But before I send the rest…Would you like to keep watching the...
28 days ago • 1 min read
Salt, Hands, and a Japanese Potato Salad Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Salt and your hands can change everything you cook.(Stick around for Aric’s 1-minute chef’s tip!👨🏻🍳) But first, I want to take you back to a little Japanese kitchen, where I learned the real magic of cooking… “The Potato Salad That Changed My Perspective” I visited Terumi and enjoyed her warm "Omotenashi" until I moved to the US. I still call it "Terumi's Potato Salad" 💖 One evening, she made classic Japanese potato salad. I...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
One Spoon, Big Change Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Today I’m thinking about the tiniest tool in the kitchen... a spoon, and how one taste can change everything you cook and share. It’s the thread that ties generosity to good food, the first nudge toward real hospitality. (Stick around for Aric’s chef tip at the end! 👨🏻🍳) But first… come with me to the kitchen where “Taste this” became the lesson I didn’t know I needed. “Taste This” Remember the Chawanmushi incident? That’s how I met Terumi, the...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
A Whisper That Changed My Cooking. Plus Our $100 Grocery Challenge. Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Today, I want to rediscover what happened when Aric and I did $100 Grocery Challenge back in January 2025. (Remember? 🤣) Aric and I had fun doing it, and we learned some lessons along the way. I saved many things Aric talked about cooking during the time, and I can't wait to share his wisdom, too. But first... let me take you back to the kitchen that woke me up, kicked me out of bed, and taught me...
2 months ago • 3 min read
How Bento Making Burned Me Out (And What I Do Now Instead) Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Today, I want to show you how we do “batch cooking," inspired by our Mix & Match Meal Planner. It’s easy, flexible, and packed with flavor. 🥳But first... let me take you back to the kitchen that started it all. Cooking? That's for Adults...Right? A little after my grandma passed away, my mom was admitted to the hospital for testing. Suddenly, all the things I thought were for grown-ups, like cooking, landed...
3 months ago • 2 min read
I Didn’t Grow Up Cooking, But Look What We’re Building Now! Hello Reader, It's Yukari! You helped shape the feel of The Kitchen Table, and we’re so excited to show you what’s next. 🧡But before we dig in... a quick story time! My mom didn’t teach me to cook. Actually… she didn’t cook much at all. I never learned how to sew, cook, or garden from my mom, and for that, I’m forever grateful to Aric’s mom, who generously shared many of those skills with me. My mom was strictly a working mom. She...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Too Hot to Cook? Try This Cool Dinner Prep Trick! Hello Reader, It's Yukari! We’re deep into grilling season here, and when it’s hot? We skip full meal prep and go for easy food prep instead. ☀️🍴But before we dig in... a quick (re)introduction! 👋 Quick Re-Intro (In Case You’re New Here!) Hi, I'm Yukari!A self-taught, forever student and home cook living with a professionally trained chef (my husband, Aric!). Before we started U & I Personal Chef Services here in Colorado, I spent over nine...
4 months ago • 2 min read
You Helped Name it… Now Help Us Shape It! 🍳 Hello Reader,It's Yukari! We're officially setting the table, and YOU get first dibs. Since pausing the blog, things have heated up behind the scenes (and not just because Ka-En, our fiery kitten sous-chef, nearly tripped us weaving figure-8s between our feet! (True story! 🤣). The Kitchen Table with Aric & Yukari is officially here! It's all about easy, smart, simple cooking, cultural flavors with stories, and a community at the heart. And here's...
4 months ago • 2 min read