By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
PEMBERVILLE—For Beeker’s General Store owner Todd Sheets, Super Bowl Sunday is about more than the game and the ads.
For several years, he has kicked off Super Bowl Sunday preparation by offering Sampling Saturday two weeks ahead of the “big game.” The one-day event, this year held on Jan. 25, offered visitors a chance to taste-test a wide array of menu ideas using products available at the store.
In addition to many of the traditional vendors, Sheets invited “community chefs” to participate by creating a recipe and sharing samples during the event.
This year, eight community chefs competed for the coveted People’s Choice Award.
Kylie Johnson, a 2023 Eastwood High School graduate and Owens Community College culinary student, won top honors with her Sweet Potato Butter Muffins. Her recipe featured the store’s Amish Wedding Sweet Potato Butter.
The seven other chefs and their recipes included Ruth Phillips, Cheerwine Brownies; Jenny Sheets, Creamy Mushroom Soup; Brent Neff, Modern Cuban; Trevor Shultz, No Cheese Dip; Kathy Panning, Seafood Pinwheels; Rhea Hernandez, Smokey Bourbon Sloppy Joe Sauce; and Julie Carle, Hot Pepper BLT Roll-ups.
Johnson was surprised but happy with the People’s Choice award.
“It felt good to win, but it was even better just being there and getting to know the community,” she said. “I wasn’t going to participate, just because I’m busy with school and working at Nazareth Hall as a training sous chef. But then I realized it was a good opportunity, a good steppingstone, to get into the community with what I do.”
She has been cooking and baking for many years, spending time in the kitchen with her mother, Heather Borsos, who owns Eden Rose Inspirations in Bowling Green.
“She always told me to do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life,” Johnson said. “I love cooking, so why not go to school for it?”
She is halfway through her Applied Science of Culinary Arts program at Owens with a focus on baking and pastries.
Johnson admitted her interest in cooking also was fueled by playing the video game Cooking Mama when she was younger.
“There were plenty of lessons I learned from the game,” she said. Additionally, her schooling has taught her the art of knowing what goes well together, so she can throw ingredients together for recipes that turn out tasty.
The Sweet Potato Butter Muffins proved a good example of that skill, she said. The ingredients in the jar of sweet potato butter were more savory than sweet.
“I decided to play into the sweetness, so the recipe is a combination of sweet and savory,” she said. “Instead of trying to make it something it’s not, I added to the sweetness factor.
Johnson based the recipe off of a pumpkin butter muffin recipe she found. After two experimental batches, she nailed down the recipe she used for the event.
She has learned at school and in her chef jobs that sometimes it takes several tries before finding the right combination of ingredients.
“It can make you feel bad if you worked hard and it’s not what you wanted it to be,” she said. “I’ve learned you have to adjust your mindset: it’s not bad; it just needs more love.”
Her final muffin recipe appeared to have found that love. In addition to the People’s Choice award, she heard many compliments throughout her time at the sampling event. One woman came back to let her know, “I tried everything, and you have my vote.”
Anniversary Cookbook in the works
Sheets also used the event to promote his plans for a “sweet memories” cookbook that will debut at the Jan. 24, 2026, Sampling Saturday (also planned for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.).
The cookbook will be one of many celebrations Sheets is planning for Beeker’s 150th birthday next year. Categories will include appetizers, desserts, main dishes, soups and salads, and others.
He is currently asking area residents and others with ties to the community to submit recipes for the cookbook. Recipes must be submitted to info@beekersgeneralstore.com by June 1, 2025. Submissions should include name, address, email, phone number and the recipe. Wood County native Jan Welling Sarver is helping to compile the community cookbook.
Sampling Saturday recipes
As part of Sampling Saturday, Beeker’s provides the recipes entered by the community chefs. The recipes follow. The ingredients that are available at Beeker’s are in bold and highlighted with an asterisk.
SWEET POTATO BUTTER MUFFINS / People’s Choice Award–Recipe by Kylie Johnson
INGREDIENTS
Muffins
115 g. unsalted butter
100 g. granulated sugar
165 g. brown sugar
12 oz. Amish Wedding Sweet Potato Butter*
2 large eggs 2
2 oz. milk
210 g. all purpose flour
7 g. baking powder
1.5 g. salt
5 g. vanilla
Crumble Topping
43 g. unsalted butter
60 g. all purpose flour
90 g. brown sugar
3 g. cinnamon
100 g. chopped pecans (optional)
Instructions:
1. Make crumble: Stir together flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
2. Brown butter in a small sauce pan. Add to flour sugar mixture. Mix together with a fork. Set aside
3. For muffins: brown butter in a sauce pan
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add warm browned butter, sugar, and browned sugar. Whisk until fully combined.
5. Crack in eggs and mix until batter is smooth. Add milk and vanilla, whisk until well incorporated.
6. Using a spatula, manually and gently fold in sweet potato butter.
7. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt)
8. Gradually fold the dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Ensure you do not over-mix the batter.
9. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with papers and evenly scoop batter.
10. Add a generous amount of crumble topping to the scooped muffin batter.
11. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes. Once done, a toothpick should be able to come out clean once inserted into the muffin.
CREAMY MUSHROOM SOUP / Recipe by Jenny Sheets
NOTE: Several taste testers commented about the flavor and creaminess of the soup. One person said, “I came for the mushroom soup and stayed for the samples.”
INGREDIENTS
1 pkg. Amish Wedding Foods Creamy Mushroom Mix*
2 T. butter
5 C. water
2 C. heavy cream
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Bring water to a rolling boil
2. Whisk in Creamy Mushroom Soup Mix
3. Add heavy cream; stir well
4. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently until soup has thickened.
5. Let stand five minutes, stir and enjoy!
CHEERWINE BROWNIES / Recipe by Ruth Phillips
INGREDIENTS
1 box brownie mix
½ C. Cheerwine*
1 t. almond extract
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Prepare brownie mix as directed on the package, substituting Cheerwine for water
2. Add almond extract and stir
3. Pour into greased 9” x 13” pan and bake as directed
4. Frosting, optional
MODERN CUBAN / Recipe by Brent Neff
INGREDIENTS
2-3 lbs. pork tenderloin
1 T. brown sugar
2 t. salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ C. orange juice
¼ C. lime juice
1 t. ground cumin
1 T. dried oregano
1 t. black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine juice and seasonings in a one-gallon zip lock bag; add tenderloin and marinate for 2-3 hours
2. Preheat oven to 225 degrees
3. Remove tenderloin from bag and place on foil-lined pan; bake for 90 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees
4. Remove from oven and wrap tenderloin in the foil underneath
5. Place in refrigerator for about an hour or until internal temperature is below 40 degrees
6. Slice thin
Sandwich Spread
INGREDIENTS
3 T. Pecan Honey Mustard*
1 t. favorite hot sauce
2 t. salt
¼ C. sour cream
2 T. pickle juice
1 T. lime juice.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a small mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk until combined and smooth.
NO CHEESE DIP / Recipe by Trevor Shultz
INGREDIENTS
1 jar Pickled Dilly Corn*
2 ½ C. diced onion
8 cloves garlic
4 oz. butter
5 oz. light miso paste
1 T. gochujang
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Dice the corn (saving pickling liquid)
2. Sautee corn, onion and garlic in butter until caramelized
3. Add miso paste and gochujang and toast for 2-3 minutes
4. Blend mixture adding water until it is the consistency of cake batter
5. Add 2 T. pickling liquid, blend until as smooth as possible
6. Sieve the dip to remove lumps; salt to taste
SEAFOOD PINWHEELS / Recipe by Kathy Panning
INGREDIENTS
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ C. crumbled crispy bacon
1 C. shredded cheddar cheese
¼ t. onion powder
¼ t. garlic powder
¼ t. pepper
½ C. Amish Wedding old Fashioned Peach Jalapeno Jam
1 C. finely chopped imitation crab or cooked shrimp
4-6 10” flour tortillas
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine the first eight ingredients in a bowl; spread mixture on one side of each tortilla and roll up tightly
2. Wrap in foil and refrigerate for at least one hour; slice into 1” pieces, place on serving plate and enjoy!
SMOKEY BOURBON SLOPPY JOE SAUCE / Recipe by Rhea Hernandez
INGREDIENTS (for approx. 2 lbs. meat)
80 g. onion
60 g. apple
30 g. red bell pepper
½ C. bourbon
1-14 oz. bottle Brownwood Farms Bacon Ketchup with Bourbon*
1-14.5 oz can tomatoes
2 T. molasses
1 ½ t. Worcestershire
1 T. apple cider vinegar
14 g. beef base
16 g. brown sugar
14 g. kosher salt
1 g. pepper
1 t. smoked paprika
¼ t. red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
Oil for browning
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Small dice apple and vegetables; sauté with oil until they become translucent
2. In a separate bowl, combine Brownwood Farms Ketchup with remaining ingredients (EXCEPT BOURBON and BAY LEAF) and whisk thoroughly
3. Add bourbon to apple/vegetable mixture and cook until alcohol is just burned off
4. Add ketchup mixture and bay leaf to bourbon veggies and heat on medium-low
5. Bring sauce to 160 degrees and reduce to desired thickness
6. Taste sauce before use and adjust seasoning to personal preference
7. Sauce is ready for instant use, or cool and store in fridge for up to three days.
NOTE: Remove bay leaf before serving
HOT PEPPER BLT ROLL-UPS / Recipe by Julie Carle
INGREDIENTS
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ C. Greek yogurt or mayonnaise
¼ C. Terrapin Ridge Farms Hot Pepper Bacon Grill & Wing Squeeze*
¼ c. finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained
6 slices peppered bacon, cooked and crumbled
½ C. cheddar cheese, grated
1 C. Italian plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 C. Romaine lettuce, shredded
3-9” flour tortillas (spinach or tomato tortillas for variety)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In small bowl, mix cream cheese, yogurt, wing squeeze, and sun-dried tomatoes
2. Add bacon (be careful not to crumble too much) and cheddar cheese
3. Spread cream cheese mixture over tortillas and top each with tomatoes and lettuce
4. Roll tightly and secure in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least one hour until they are firm
5. Use a serrated knife and slice into 1” rounds
NOTE: Wing squeeze can be used as a dipping sauce
