Food and I have had a long, incredibly complicated love story.
For years, I chased the elusive “how to get skinny” dream, getting completely lost in punishing crash diets that left me exhausted and uninspired. I viewed the kitchen as a place of restriction rather than a place of joy.
Today, Cafe Delites represents my personal liberation from that mindset. Here, we celebrate the absolute joy of eating.
The Story Behind the Screen
Cafe Delites didn’t begin in a boardroom or with a polished plan. It started on my kitchen floor, in the middle of a kind of physical and emotional pain I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
For years, movement was my oxygen. I was a dance and Zumba instructor who loved what I did with everything in me, until life shifted in the hardest way. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma after two long years of searching for answers. Zumba became more than a career then. It was my lifeline, the thing that reminded me I was still here, still fighting. But just as I began finding my way back, endometriosis arrived and forced me to give up dancing completely. Losing that part of myself, especially alongside a history of trauma, felt like everything was slowly being stripped away.
I turned to cooking and food photography as a way to cope, something to hold onto when everything else felt quiet and heavy. As a mother, a wife, and someone trying to keep going, I built Cafe Delites from the ground up, working up to 22 hours a day, 7 days a week, for years. I was relentless. There were days I filmed recipes for millions, then collapsed on the floor in pain between takes. As the site grew, so did the disconnect. To the world, I was creating beautiful, full flavoured recipes. Behind the scenes, I was disappearing.
I was trying to be everything for everyone else, while quietly losing myself. My weight reached 125 kilograms, and I got to a point where I avoided mirrors because I didn’t recognise the person looking back. I had built something incredible, but I had lost who I was in the process.
Now, this journey is about more than recipes or milestones. It’s about finding my way back, piece by piece, and learning that I can’t keep feeding the world if I’m still starving myself.
Experience and Recognition
I am incredibly humbled to see my creations traveling so far. From being featured on platforms like Country Living, Delish, Buzzfeed, Cosmopolitan, Huffpost, BRIT + CO, Australia Best Recipes, Food Network and Epicurious to chatting about my passion for Zumba on Channel 7’s Today Tonight. It’s been such a whirlwind!
One of my absolute favorite moments was winning the Best Recipes Home Cook Hero Competition. My Lamington French Toast with Raspberry Jam Syrup holds such a special place in my heart.
Beyond the kitchen, I’ve had the joy of partnering with brands like Natvia and supporting causes like the Lymphoma Coalition.
The Comeback
Life is Too Short Not to Enjoy Good Food
Realizing I was fading away, I made the terrifying decision to step back from the cameras. Over a three year hiatus, I went to war for my own physical and mental health. I lost 55 kilograms, but more importantly, I found the woman I had abandoned. I learned to love myself again.
Surviving stage four cancer and overcoming immense trauma lit a permanent fire inside of me. It taught me one undeniable truth. Life is entirely too short not to enjoy good food.
I am so incredibly grateful you are here. Whether you are here for the famous Deviled Potatoes, the Tomato Soup Mac and Cheese, or just a safe space to connect over our shared journeys, you are welcome at my table.
As a woman I think u can do all this without having to show so much skin …. u are still lovable and respected
I am extremely grateful I found your site while exploring recipes for grilled flank steak. My wife has been battling NHDLBC since 2017 and your recipes are definitely going to be followed closely in my arsenal to keep her eating healthy!
TY!
great mushroom soup! made it for the first time with 2% milk and I agree with my wife’s comment: “ I think this is the best mushroom soup I’ve ever had!”
You rock! Can’t wait to try your scampi recipe, my shrimp are deveined & ready! Do u have any simple ready-made sauces that are perfect for “filleted” shrimp??? 😘
Hi Jill, I love the garlic butter sauces, or pesto! Enjoy Xx
Wow ! You are an incredible woman. Thanks for sharing your story. Very inspirational.
Thanks for the great recipes.
I enjoyed reading your story! How inspiring! Thank you!
Thank you for having a pulled pork recipie. Many people are enduring food allergies and I find that there are tamales for people with gluten sensitivity. Many dishes, though omitting an allergen as an ingredient due to seasonal/regional availability, are staples and comfor foods. Thank you for your recipie. I have it saved as a bookmark.
I would like more of yr recipies please sometimes i dont cook well but love to try yr recipes thank you Raine
U are as beautiful as ur recipes.
I wondered if you were Australian when I heard you narrate a video but then you pronounced oregano in the North American way and I got confused 🙂