She gravitates toward simple but healthy recipes but says she'll cook anything and loves the creativity of plant-based meals. When she became a mom, she channeled that creativity into a food business and flexible way to earn money. She teamed up with Michelle Jones and founded Mamasita's Tamales in Riverwest.

Mamasita's Tamales aren't exactly traditional. Vegan and vegetarian options were the starting point for the business in 2008, and they remain the bestsellers. Black bean plantain tops the list, followed by coconut curry, jalapeño corn cheese and pinto sweet potato. Meatier versions are available, and the chicken poblano, chicken mole and locally made chorizo have their fan bases.

Moving away from wholesale operations, this year the women have shifted their focus to catering and special events.

Dettloff lives in Riverwest with her husband, Paul, and their children, Dominic and Olive.

I got into food because I went to art school. I went to the Art Institute of Chicago. You graduate and had this wonderful time making art, but you don't have skills for the real world. So I cooked.

I started out at a mom-and-pop restaurant with a lot of heart. ... I thought I'd go back to school for cooking, but it was so expensive. I thought well, I can learn what I need to know by cooking.

When I moved back to Milwaukee...I got a job to manage the cafe at Riverwest Co-op. There was so much creativity. ... I then had my first child and left that job. I started the tamale business a year (later).

Mamasita's Tamales has been going for seven years, and it has really changed. We were doing wholesale to Beans & Barley, Outpost.... In the last year we realized we really need a factory, but we don't have that monetary and time commitment. I have two kids now. So we've weaned away from the wholesale part. We're (only) doing festivals and catering for special events now.

I am a quarter Mexican. I did live in Mexico for a year when I was 8 years old. I don't have a grandmother who taught me to make tamales, and I don't have memories of making them there. What I do remember is the women raising kids and always doing things, like our neighbor selling tacos.

Lard is the tradition, but we pulled that out and used a different fat in the masa. We started with a vegan margarine ... and now we make it with coconut oil and vegetable oil. Fillings can be anything. We do a chorizo, and we use local Scardina's meats in Riverwest.

To make tamales is time-consuming and labor-intensive. I really enjoy it. We have people who come help and roll for three, four or five hours. It is like making a quilt, when people from different walks of life and different stories get together. To me that is what is special.