Local baker connects with Paula Deen

FINDLAY — Becky Antoun takes the cake when it comes to making monster cookies. The oatmeal and peanut butter cookies — studded with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and coated chocolate candies — are among the home baker's most requested treats at farmers markets and craft shows. She may have found another customer this summer. Antoun got the chance to meet American chef, cookbook author and TV personality Paula Deen and gave her a cookie. She later learned that Deen ate the baked good. "I was in awe," she said. Antoun owns and operates Sweets on the EDG out of her home. The three letters, she explained, represent three of her grandchildren's first names. She credits her grandmother with teaching her about baking and cooking. "Back when you were little, when you were told to do something, you didn't have a choice," Antoun said. Her job was to help her grandma in the kitchen on their farm between Findlay and Arlington. "Honestly I wasn't thrilled about it," Antoun said. "I wanted to be outside with everybody else. But growing up side by side with my grandma taught me some valuable tools that I would later be very appreciative of." Antoun was her eldest grandchild, and she got to see her start the business. "She passed away last summer, but she got to see me bring some of it to light," Antoun said. She learned a lot of the family recipes and has used them as the bases for her own creations. "I sell a lot of banana bread. Her cinnamon rolls, up here," she said, tapping her head. "I don't do quite as many of those. They're just time consuming, but I do make them." The business began after one of her husband's co-workers asked for some zucchini bread. That led to a request for blueberry bread. "When he asked if that was something I could do, I said, yeah. I could but I just never did anything with it. Raising kids, you don't have time. And then they asked for more and that led to the whole big thing," she said. Antoun works out of her home, taking orders through her Facebook page. She also sells her cookies at Jac & Do's. Another of her creations is called blueberry bumpy cake which is a combination of a coffee cake and cobbler. Blueberries, she said, give the top its unusual lumpy look. "I like doing this because I like to see people smile," she said. Antoun and her husband, Joe, have been married 10 years. She has three children and Joe has one. Over the July 4 weekend, the couple took a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She said someone suggested they eat at Paula Deen's Family Kitchen while they were there. They went for dinner and their server told them that Deen would be doing a meet and greet there in September. "In that moment in my mind, I'm like, I've got to make that happen," Antoun said. Even though there was a lot happening at home, she was determined. She booked a hotel and flight package and went by herself. A cousin who lives in Virginia met her for one day of the trip. The event was held on Saturday. The limit was 200 people and they didn't take reservations. "I got there at 5 a.m. and was the second one in line," she said. Antoun spent five hours outside but made friends with the woman ahead of her. Once the door of the restaurant opened, you had to make a purchase in the gift shop to a wristband, guaranteeing you a spot, she said. Her purchase was a purple tumbler with Deen's name on it. "I was so nervous because I'm like, I'm really going to see this lady in person," she recalled. "And when she first came in, I was star struck and was jumping up and down." When it was her turn, Antoun walked up to Deen. "She was talking to me and she was asking about my business because she signed some menus," Antoun said. "I get emotional because this is huge. I'm standing here next to Paula Deen, talking about my business. Deen told her how she got started, catering out of her home. The two women talked for almost five minutes. "She also gave me some advice. She says, I think you have the heart and the grit. She also asked my age, which is 51. And she said, it's never too late," Antoun said. "She said, in my heart I can feel your passion from being around you. My advice to you is I think you have the heart, and I think you have the integrity. And the biggest thing is you have to stay humble," added Antoun. Deen also revealed that she'd once been through Findlay and had visited an ice cream shop. "She didn't say Dietsch's, but they have a picture of her on their wall," Antoun said. Deen will be doing another event in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee in November. "I'm going to make it a personal goal to get back down there," Antoun said. She's also hoping to do a video clip with Deen. At the September event, Deen did a video with the owner of Ginger Snaps bakery from North Carolina. "Even if she does a 20-second clip with me, that's huge," Antoun said.