Hola, my name is Rossana Figueroa. I know, I know, you may be wondering where Villa comes from; it is my maiden name. My husband, Nelson, and I have been married for over seven years and started this cooking blog adventure together.
I was born in my beautiful Michoacán, Mexico, where I was raised to love and learn our culture, cuisine and family values. I spent most of my early childhood years in Michoacán where my parents made the decision to teach us all about the every day life in Mexico, including the “Rancho life”. Believe it or not, I did wash clothes and dishes by the river with my mom. During this time, I experienced first hand what the ranch life is really about. This was a turning point in my life because I can now speak from lived experiences.
My family and I moved to the United States when I was 10 years old. That’s how I was able to learn and speak English and I can now communicate my wonderful culture and recipes to you.
After graduating from High School, I attended Le Cordon Blue College of Culinary Arts here in Atlanta, Georgia where I currently reside and graduated with an associates degree. With over 6 years of experience in the industry, I decided to take a break and try the office work life. After 3 years, the idea of merging my culinary experience and cultural background came about. Thanks to the support of my husband I was able to fulfill my dream of cooking and baking again through my Youtube channel, Villa Cocina. We love this project more and more every day. Nelson and I are deeply inspired by the support, stories and testimonials from all of you, our wonderful audience.
We are blessed to have the opportunity to work at our church and be part of the worship team, where we lead worship. My husband plays the guitar, drums and sings (not all at once of course). As for me, I sing and can play some piano (still in the learning stage). We could NEVER repay God for all his blessing, we receive so much more than we deserve.
Colossians 3:23-24 is our work inspiration.
In this blog we share family recipes in combination with my work experience.
I come up with recipes, test them and edit the videos. My husband is the official camera man, photographer, smile trainer (yes, I was embarrassed of my smile but he gave me the confidence to embrace it), taste tester, assistant and whatever else is needed person, including setting up the kitchen for recording days. A round of applause for Nelson, he supports this project with so much commitment and love while still having a full time job! I don’t know how he does it.
We hope our recipes and stories inspire your creativity in the kitchen.