With just a few months of retirement under her belt, Rosa Basile-Marrello found herself wondering how to maintain balance as the pandemic was kicking into high gear. As she spent more time in the kitchen creating meals for her family, she found that the activity of inventing new dishes kept her focused and helped her to remain positive.
She became motivated to create one new meal a day which helped to soften the stress of persistent lockdowns and daily news about COVID. Cooking and baking became her sanity.
Rosa wondered if sharing some of her creations might help to bring joy to others who were also too focused on the difficult news that COVID brought to the airwaves.
In August 2020, she launched RBM_Cooking on Instagram and she began to create daily dishes using local products. Her followers were inspired by her creations and by learning more about the local products she featured.
RBM_Cooking became her driving force.
With local businesses struggling, she helped by featuring their ingredients in her recipes with her growing base of Instagram followers. In time, businesses began to reach out to her directly and she was happy to jump in and help promote them.
Rosa believes that her background as an educator shows in her posts. She loves to educate others about the bounty of food we have around us in Windsor-Essex County and she relishes the opportunity to create something delicious for everyone to try.
Her goal is to show others how easy it is to create a healthy and delicious meal and, in turn, take care of themselves by eating well.
Today, Rosa continues to provide support to local businesses by promoting their products while educating and entertaining individuals with her step-by-step recipes that she shares online and in her weekly column “Taste of the County” in the Kingsville Times.
The Kingsville Times caught up with Rosa in her kitchen where she shared some business advice and insight for our readers.
Kingsville Times:
What advice would you give to others who want to start a business?
Rosa Basile-Marrello:
Remember the ‘Why.’ My ‘Why’ was to spread positivity in times of uncertainty.
Knowing that everyone needed to make a meal for their family, I decided to create healthy meals and traditional Italian meals for my family.
It’s a way to stay connected at the table and talk about what we were feeling and experiencing and we did that sharing food together.
My ‘Why’ is to help small businesses to continue to thrive and I do that through my contribution of recipes and hopes that others will try their products.
I hope that what I do inspires someone to start cooking in the kitchen with their family.
Kingsville Times:
Who are your target clients?
R B-M:
Anyone who would like to make a meal. Anyone who enjoys cooking. Anyone who needs a little inspiration. Anyone who needs help creating dishes for parties or just every day meal prep!
Right now I’m working on a number of collaborations and building social media content for local businesses. I work with small businesses, local farms, new restaurants who want help creating menus, and wineries who are interested in creating new and interesting food and wine pairings.
Kingsville Times:
How would you describe your services?
R B-M:
I create custom recipes specific to brand products. I create posts and reels to showcase products to inspire or influence followers to try and buy. I create custom recipes and menus for special business events. I also make and serve the food at the events once the menus have been finalized with the client. I host workshops and cooking classes at local businesses.
Kingsville Times:
What is your business motto?
R B-M:
‘TASTE THE COUNTY!”
There is so much great food and so many wonderful food products in the Windsor-Essex County area! I strongly believe that we are all connected and if we work together, we will succeed together. I am happy to contribute to help any local small business succeed.
Kingsville Times:
What do your clients say about your business?
R B-M:
I think my growing list of clients speaks for itself. 
Here are some of the businesses that I have worked with and some that I am currently working with:
Kingsville Times:
What are your plans for business growth?
R B-M:
I remain open for business collaborations. I love working with social media and am happy to help other businesses figure out how to make the most of it to spread the good news about their products.
I would also like to focus more on supporting local events achieve their vision with bespoke menus and recipes.
Contact Details:
Email
rosamarrello93@gmail.com
Phone
519-984-5863
(Monday – Friday)
Instagram
rbm_cooking
All photos provided by Rosa Basile-Marrello
Rosa is a master at her craft and her creativity with food is inspirational. She has incorporated Udderly Nuts All Natural Almond Milk in many of her original recipes, ranging from pasta dishes, desserts, fun beverages, and cold summer treats for the kids. Rosa’s dedication to supporting local and providing us all with delicious and healthy recipes is so admirable. Real, whole ingredients, mixed with a dash of love and zest for life elevates her recipes to the next level. Thank you, Rosa!!!!
~ Gina at Udderly Nuts Almond Milk
Gina your product is golden. Thank you so much for you beautiful words; they mean so much to me. I love working and creating with you. Can’t wait for our next delicious recipe. ❤️
We love to follow along with Rosa’s recipes. Rosa has been so great to work with. Very easy going and super friendly. She has given us a lot of helpful tips with our social media and has made so many inspirational recipes using mushrooms from our farm. She also makes the best cookies 🙂
Thank you Three C Farms! You kindness means a lot. Working with you has been nothing but pure fun. I look forward to our continued collaboration in the kitchen. ❤️
Amazing person and Amazing Recipes! Thank you Rosa for your passion and drive in promoting local, healthy and quality products. Look forward to continuing to work with you!
Thank you for always trusting me with your incredibly delicious olive oil. I look forward to our next creation with KRISTENAS extra virgin olive oil. ❤️
Rosa, your recipes are amazing! Congratulations! 👏👏♥️
Thank you. It means a lot you saying that. ❤️
We are beyond proud of what your accomplishing Rosa. I look forward to your Instagram posts and seeing what creative delicious ideas you being to fruition in the kitchen. Absolutely love what your doing !! Your simply amazing …
Thank you for always being there cheering me on. I appreciate you so much. ❤️🥰
Congratulations Rosa on your success with RBM cooking!
Thank you Kathy! ❤️
Fortunate to be your taste tester.
Love you Bella.
❤️
We are grateful to get the opportunity to work with Rosa! Creative and professional with wine and food experience. Looking forward to the new events with Rosa
Thank you so much for your kind words. It is such a privilege to be able to create pairings with your delicious wines.
It’s grateful to work with Rosa! Creative and professional with wine and food experience. Looking forward to the new events with Rosa at the winery.
Can’t wait for our next event! ❤️🍷
We loved working with Rosa. Professional, talented, sweet, & most importantly… authentic. Can’t wait to see where RBM Cooking goes.
Thank you! Working with you was so fun. Thank you for trusting me with your delicious spirits. Cheers! ❤️
Congratulations Rosa! I am so proud of you and what you have accomplished with RBM. Looking forward to many more delicious fantastic dishes you create.
Thank you Diana for always being such a good friend. ❤️