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...
19 days 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...
about 1 month 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...
about 2 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...
2 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....
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, It's Yukari! It’s March in Colorado, and somehow it’s already hot and dry. Our dish pit pup, Senna, is hiding inside, but our sous chef kitten, Ka-En the firecracker, is living his best life in the sunny window.Last Saturday, I attended a Muay Thai seminar to improve my timekeeping responsibility. I brought extra coffee and a notebook. I came home with a fried brain and one big reminder: You Learn by Doing It You don’t learn just by watching. You learn by doing.And that’s...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Colorado finally did it! Snow…after 40 days of absolutely nothing! ❄️Our Dish-Pit Pup, Senna, is thrilled… and also refusing to come inside unless I’m holding a dental chew like it’s a VIP pass. 🙃 That same stubborn joy reminds me of something I want to share today. 😱 A Small “I Panicked” Story (and Why It Matters for Cooking) Last weekend, I was a Muay Thai tournament timekeeper for the second year in a row. (If you’re curious what Muay Thai has to do with food,...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Hope you had a fabulous Valentine’s Day weekend. 🧡 Aric and I took a little break from work and had a “date day” we actually love...Pedicures together, happy hour…then he cooked me a full 3-course dinner at home. (Full transparency: this was Aric in chef-mode 😂 Our normal weeknights are much simpler.) How to make staying in feel like a treat (not a chore) We avoided crowded restaurants, loud music, and a prix fixe menu, and traded it for quality time, no...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Traveling, Food, and Connection. Hello Reader, It's Yukari! We’re back from Mexico, and before jumping straight into what’s next, we wanted to pause for a moment. This trip wasn’t about doing everything. It was peaceful, grounding, and full of small moments that stayed with us. 🇲🇽 What Mexico Reminded Us... We surprised our Spanish teacher and his wife by showing up at their school (a little tears were involved 🥹), reunited with a bar owner we’ve known since his 10-seat pop-up days, and...
4 months ago • 1 min read