Hello Reader,

When I first started Daen's Kitchen, one of my main goals was to go viral. In fairness, that was any content creator's dream. There was something about hitting 1 million views that made you feel worthy or like you had made it in your little corner of the internet.

And to be fair, this strategy worked.

I built an entire career from sharing viral recipes online. Millions of people watched me throw garlic cloves into bowls that were submerged in olive oil and then slow roasted until sweet and jammy. I showed you hundreds of way that you could use garlic confit because I had found a formula that worked.

And from this, I experienced huge success in my online career. For that, I will always be incredibly grateful.

But there was always this feeling deep inside me that grew stronger as the years went by. I had so much more to offer.

While I had brought millions of you to my page, I slowly discovered that my followers didn't truly know who I was. They knew me as the garlic girl. The olive oil girl. The person making beautiful pasta and crispy potatoes with ASMR sounds playing in the background.

But they didn’t know the deeper parts of me.

They didn’t know that so many of the recipes I cook are tied to memories of my Spanish mum and Italian nanna. They didn’t know how much food in my family was connected to storytelling, loud conversations around the dinner table and showing love through feeding people. They didn’t know that I care far more about creating recipes that make someone’s week easier than creating recipes designed purely for clicks.

And honestly, I think for a long time I hid behind the aesthetic side of food content because it felt safer and easier. I had two babies in the midst of my career and the thought of trying anything different or new just sounded utterly exhausting to an already exhausted person. So I kept with what was safe. What was easy.

Because it felt much easier to post another beautiful close up of pasta than it did to speak directly to camera and share pieces of myself. But when you aren’t being true to yourself, burn out becomes inevitable. And inevitably that happened to me.

Over the past year, something has changed. The more I have shared my real life, my family, a more authentic style of cooking and the stories connected to my recipes, the more connected I have felt to all of you.

And while going viral can absolutely bring people into your world who genuinely connect with you, it can also attract people who are only there for the performance of you. The quick hit. The perfectly aesthetic version of your life.

Now, I feel like I am finally attracting the right audience. The people who are here not just for a viral recipe, but because they genuinely connect with me, my cooking and the kind of space I am trying to create online.

And strangely enough, it made me fall back in love with cooking again.

And I think that’s why this next chapter of Daen’s Kitchen feels so exciting to me. It feels much more honest and much more authentic to who I am.

I still love creating beautiful recipes and I still get excited when a video performs well, but I no longer feel like I need to chase virality to prove my worth as a creator and a home cook.

These days, I care far more about connection. About building a space that feels warm, comforting and genuinely helpful. A space that feels like you are stepping into my kitchen and cooking alongside me. I no longer want to deny who I am or hide parts that define my cooking. I am a mum of two little girls who wants to share her Spanish and Italian heritage with them through food. I also want quick, easy and delicious dinners on the table in under 30 minutes.

And honestly, while this shift feels right, it has not been easy. I have doubted myself more than I ever have before and have had to readjust my thinking on what success looks like.

I would love to know if any of you are feeling the same way in your own lives right now. Have any of you found yourselves craving slower, more meaningful things lately? Are you also trying to move away from constant pressure, performance and perfection?

Or maybe you are someone who has followed me for years and noticed this shift in my content too.

Either way, I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts. I read every single reply to these emails and they genuinely mean so much to me. So hit reply and tell me… what kind of content, recipes or stories are you wanting more of these days?

I have a feeling this little corner of the internet is evolving into something really special and I’m so grateful you’re here for it. Please say hi!

xoxo Daen

✨ New Recipe of the Week ✨

Spanish Potato Salad (Patatas Aliñadas) This is the potato salad I grew up eating — no mayo, no dairy, just tender potatoes dressed in good olive oil and sharp red wine vinegar while still warm, then tossed with tuna, boiled egg, capsicum and fresh parsley. Light, refreshing and honestly better the next day.! RECIPE