Starting Off On The Right Foot

Our first meeting of 2011 was a good one! All of the ladies who attended were full of energy and anticipation as to what the New Year will bring! We shared new recipes, like Judy's poured buttercream; pictures of recent cakes; a new project idea for Valentine's Day with Julia's frog prince; upcoming events, like the ICES Convention in North Carolina, and so much more! 2011 is going to be a great year!

We also had Cathy, a Wilton instructor, join us for the first time. If you read my post back in October, then you'll know she hosted a Halloween Cake Challenge for her students at the local JoAnn's. Well, she is back and is hosting another Cake Challenge for Valentine's Day, which will be judged by some of our Guild's members! It will be held on Saturday, February 5th, between 1pm and 4pm, at the JoAnn Fabric store at the St. Johns Town Center. Come out and support this fun event!

Thanks again to all the ladies that attended our meeting! Hope to see more of you next month!

Moving In The Right Direction!

I have posted several times about the Cottage Laws and Barbara Schmal. My latest email from her said this...

"As you know I have been working on getting a Cottage Food Act implemented in Florida so we can have our own Home Baking Business.  Well, yesterday I received an email from the Department of Agriculture telling me that they sent me a copy of the recommendations that former Commissioner Charles Bronson sent to the speaker of the house.  Unfortunately, this was for the other law Florida Freedom Food Act for the farmers of our state.  But, they also said that the Cottage Food Act is a huge topic within the Dept of Agriculture.  So I thought there was hope. 

When I heard about the Commissioner sending his recommendations to the Speaker of the House, I decided to send Speaker Dean Cannon an email too.  He did in fact email me back which I sent a copy of that email to all of you.  Than I sent everyone that is on his committee an email too.  Well, today I received a phone call from Teddy Cramer who is on the committee for the Speaker of the House.  Teddy called me because she wanted to verify exactly what we were wanting.  I explained that we wanted to be able to have a small business from our homes selling baked goods to the consumer.  If we have to be inspected and licensed than that is what we will do, but, requiring a separate kitchen from our living quarters and a 3 compartment sink was a bit much.  Well, she told me that the committee and the speaker are going to submit to the senate that we are exempt from all requirements.  Meaning we can bake from home and won't need to be licensed or inspected.  Teddy was so excited that I brought this to Speaker Dean Cannons attention because no one on the committee knew it was illegal to bake from home and sell to the public and that bake sales would be illegal.  I told her we have a House Rep working on this for us but, was trying to find another State Rep to sponsor the bill and she said that this wasn't necessary because this is being submitted by the Speaker of the House to the senate.  Once the Senate reviews the Speakers recommendations and approves it than it goes to the Govenor to sign into law.

I asked her when will Legislation go back into session and she said in March.  She said she will call me with updates and if I don't hear from her in the next couple of weeks to call here anytime."

How exciting is this for home bakers? I'd say VERY!!! Can't wait to hear more updates in the future! If I do, I will post about it here.

Happy 2011!

I hope everyone made it through the holidays and the new year...because we have a meeting coming up on Thursday, the 27th! I know it took my family a while to get back on track after the holidays (not to mention almost a month of pneumonia) and now January is almost over!

But January is still the start of the New Year, so Judy will be demonstrating something new (at least to me) for our meeting...poured buttercream icing! Sounds intriguing and yummy, doesn't it?! And look how cute! Can't wait, Judy (I got it right this time)!

If we have time, we'll also be throwing in something special for Valentine's Day!

We'll also do some "show and tell"! Come prepared to tell what cake toys Santa may have brought you! And maybe some pictures of your latest and greatest cakes (or other goodies)! 

Another reminder....if you are looking for something fun to do this weekend, take a trip down to Boca Raton and watch our talented SAGNFL member, Patrice, demonstrate her gorgeous masks at a Day of Sharing! That is something you don't want to miss! Check out our events page for all the other fun activities that will be taking place in 2011!

Hope to see everyone Thursday!