Eureka entrepreneurs Marie Janisse-Wilkins and her husband and business partner Chris Wilkins have another notch to add to their ever-elongating belt.

The pair, who own Bless My Soul Café in Eureka, won six first-place ribbons and a second-place for their Cajun-inspired sauces and dressings at the Humboldt County Fair earlier this month.

Janisse-Wilkins, the mastermind behind Sticky Love Sauce mustard and Soul-Q barbecue sauce, said she was elated to take home so many prizes in a competition she considered to be quite competitive.

“My face wasn’t big enough to smile, I was so happy,” she said. “I believe in my sauces, but when you get them judged, it really makes you feel good when you come out with those kinds of awards.”

Six blue ribbons were given to Bless My Soul sauces, including the creatively named Mint to Love Sauce, Soy Gin Sauce, Chili Pepper Paste, Sticky Love Sauce, Soul-Q-Sauce and Louisiana Green Salad Dressing. Second place was awarded to a new member of the Bless My Soul family: a spread called Spread Me Please.

Bless My Soul’s Soul-Q-Sauce also won top honors for the second year in a row as Best Sauce in Humboldt County.

This may only be the second year Bless My Soul has entered products in the Humboldt County Fair, but Janisse-Wilkins and her husband are not new to the industry.

Janisse-Wilkins, who was born in Louisiana and also goes by the name “Sweet Mama Janisse,” learned to cook for her entire family from her grandmother by the time she was 7. She and Wilkins met in Topanga Canyon, near Los Angeles, through mutual friends after Wilkins moved to Southern California, and in 1978, the duo decided to invest everything they had into a catering business specializing in Southern, Cajun cuisine.

For 18 years, they operated Bless My Soul in Topanga Canyon, literally catering to music and movie stars through film industry events. In 1995, they decided to delve into the food manufacturing business and on a whim moved to Humboldt County, where they created Bless My Soul sauces through the Food Works in Valley West.

The group folded, but that didn’t stop Bless My Soul.

In 2001, Janisse-Wilkins and Wilkins decided to open a restaurant on Fifth Street in Eureka and have been concurrently operating Bless My Soul Café and manufacturing its signature sauces.

Today, the café boasts an extensive menu of traditional and non-traditional Southern foods — such as hush puppies, jambalaya, fried pickles, Cajun meatloaf, Creole pork and more — and continues to attract customers of all ages.

At the same time, Janisse-Wilkins works diligently to create new sauces. Most recently, she released the business’s newest product, Spread Me Please, into local markets.

Wilkins said it has been a struggle running both businesses side by side and that the undying support of the community has helped “tremendously.” To see the local community embrace Bless My Soul products has been heartwarming, Janisse-Wilkins added.

But it’s not just North Coast residents who have fallen in love with Janisse-Wilkins’ uniquely flavored and named sauces — people from all over the world purchase Bless My Soul products online through the business’s Web site.

And to add fuel to its fire, the café’s Sticky Love Sauce won a bronze medal at the Worldwide Mustard Competition in Napa several years ago — an event that draws hundreds of mustard products from national and international companies — and the sauce now occupies a spot at the national Mustard Museum in Mount Horeb, Wis.

Up next for Bless My Soul is a slightly unusual endeavor with a celebrity twist. The business is teaming up with recent Baseball Hall of Fame inductee and longtime San Diego Padres right fielder Tony Gwynn to produce several sauces for his baseball-themed restaurants and personal sauce line.

Janisse-Wilkins specially created several new mustard and barbecue sauce products for Gwynn, who will sell them under his new label.

But despite their celebrity connection, Janisse-Wilkins and Wilkins say the most rewarding aspects of being local business owners have been getting to know the people and giving back to the community that has supported them through the years.

For more information about Bless My Soul, visit www.blessmysoulcafe.com.