NEGAUNEE, Mich. (WJMN) – Rosemary “Rosie” Pietila has always loved gardening and canning. In the year 2000, she created a relish and salsa combination, which she calls RelSa.

“RelSa is a gourmet pepper blend,” said Pietila, the owner of Rozie’s Foods. “It consists of all different types of peppers. Am I going to tell you? No, I’m not. It’s a secret! But you can guess some of them, of course. There are different vegetables. There are carrots, there is celery and there are leek and garlic and other things.”

Pietila began selling her product in stores across the Upper Peninsula one year ago. There is currently a mild and hot version of the RelSa, but extremely hot and medium spice levels will be released sometime in the winter.

Pietila’s RelSa helped her win a 2020 Michigan Celebrates Small Business – Michigan SBDC Best Small Businesses Award.

“To have something you created, and the public doesn’t only buy it once but many times, and I’m also online and I ship it all over the United States. So, I mean to have something you’ve created, it’s your baby and everybody thinks your baby’s cute. I mean it’s just unbelievable.”

For recipes and information on Rozie’s Foods, you can visit her Facebook and website.

Below is a web exclusive with Rosie Pietila on ways RelSa can be used:

Latest stories