OMG!!! I started doing this about 1yr ago, getting into decorating, didnt push it until just 2mos ago...been making for friends, family, others that hear about my cakes and are buying them. Booking small time weddings of 200, and quincnenera's.
Work just asked me to put a bid in, they want me to do there cakes from now on...over 300plus cakes for events. Walmart,Sams and Krogers do them for them.
I made cards with a company name I liked, wanted to get more work around here. AND NOW I READ THIS!!!!!! I bake out of my home. Im just outside Houston Texas.
HELP...so Im illegal? Do I need a food permit? Health? WHAT????

Yeah, you're illegal!! And right now there's no way to do it legally out of your home in Texas. Sorry.

Haha-you sound just like me when I first found out. I had two kids, thought awesome! A way to make money from home! I found CC, and it was a huge surprise.

Oh, and Kelley, I saw your cake at the show this weekend. (I think it was yours). It was so pretty!

Thanks Summer! It's in my photos. It didn't place, the other cakes in my category were phenomenal. But I did get 2nd for my cookies in the tasting competition . I'm sorry I didn't get to see you there!

I just faxed over the signatures gathered at the show to Sen. Ogden and Rep. Gattis. I'm just dying over here, waiting to hear from one of them.

Anybody reading this who hasn't contacted your state senator and rep-- please do it, today!! Tell them about the issue, that Rep. Gattis has ordered draft legislation. Go to www.TexasCottageFoodLaw.com and click on 'How to Help' to find out more.

Kelley, don't feel bad. The two I brought didn't place either. Competition was fierce! My favorite was the Koi Fish one. Couldn't believe that one didn't place.

Ok, I just researched the cities within those 2 counties that are of concern at the moment. If I got one wrong please let me know so I can change it. If you know anyone that lives in these cities, see if you can get them to send their representative a letter so that we can get this to become a bill. I am getting my husband to send customers he has in these cities a letter, I am going to send them a pre-paid envelope to make it easier for them to follow through. These are the following cities:

Austin
Bartlett
Brushy Creek
Buckholts
Cameron
Cedar Park
Florence
Georgetown
Granger
Leander
Liberty Hill
Milano
Rockdale
Round Rock (part of) Thanks Kelley!
Serenada
Thorndale
Weir

To piggyback on that, here is a district map, because Williamson County is carved up kind of oddly (ie: it looks like not all of Round Rock is in the district).
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/pdf/districts/20.pdf

Anyone can go here and enter their address to find out for sure which district they are in:
http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/

Julie-that's terrible! It must have happened before judging, because the cake did not place. At least that makes sense now, though. I could not figure out why it didn't.

Kelley, I am sure you have posted it on here before, but do you have a "form" letter that people could adapt to send to their representatives & senators? Some may not feel confident to compose such a letter themselves, and that might help if all they had to do was change a few thing to make it theirs, but still effectively get the point across.

EMERGENCY

You may recall that last Monday, Patrick in Rep. Gattis office told me that the filing dealine was March 31?

Well, I'm trying to walk a fine line between persistence and PITA, and since I hadn't heard anything, I decided to give him a ringy-dingy today to see how things were going.

He said "oh, and I saw on your web site the deadline said March 31...that's my fault, I told you wrong, it's actually March 13."



Ok, guys, this is it...it's do or die time. If a bill is not filed by next Friday, it will take a vote of 4/5 of the House to introduce a bill (ie: impossible). So if it's not introduced by next Friday, that means we are waiting two years to try again.

I requested (begged) for a meeting with Rep. Gattis next week so I could explain to him how important it was, but the scheduler was out, Rep. Gattis has the flu, blah blah blah. Someone will call me Monday.

You, and everyone you know, needs to get on the phone today and call your state Representative and 1) tell them about the issue, 2) ask them to introduce or co-sponsor the bill, and 3) get them to call Patrick in Rep. Gattis office (512) 463-0309.

We have 7 days to find someone willing to introduce this.

I've got a pretty bad case of laryngitis with my head cold, so I'm probably not easy to understand over the phone, but I'll put my email and fax machine to good use!

Off to type!

Patrick should push the bill just for messing up like that.
I'm on it! My first reaction was HOLY CRAP!

Any ideas on what my non baking, but very supportive friends can do? What should their position be?

I just got on and saw this! (I'm in the little, unknown town of Simonton in Ft.Bend County)

I'm in a constant struggle as a new baker about weather or not to keep "pushing the envelope"- baking cakes from home and worrying about getting caught!

I am not gifted in many other things, but recently found that I have a bit of a knack with decorating baked goods. I would love to build on this and take classes to get better. Sure would be great motivation if I knew that the investment in classes, equip., etc. would be worth it!

I will do what I can and write/call my rep asap to help the Great State of Texas have the right to bake from our home kitchens!

For anyone in or near the Austin area, I am hosting an informational/educational meeting so we can devise a game plan for the upcoming week. It will be this Sunday, 3/8 at 4:00 at La Madeline on N. Lamar in Austin. Please email me or PM if you would like to attend.

We have never had a guarantee of him (or anyone else) introducing it. He has never said for sure that he will. Of course, he is the one who ordered the legislation, so he obviously is not opposed to the idea. But we have to ensure that this gets filed. That is why we are having the emergency meeting.

I for one will not be taking the approach of lobbying against anything else to get this through. I will be pushing hard for the merits of our argument, and the cause of truth, justice, and the American way.

The time for writing letters is over (unless you have laryngitis) . We need to switch to phone calls and in-person meetings. And persistence.

Thanks everyone! The planning meeting today went great! The plan for this week is as follows:

On Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday everybody (yes, you! everybody!)needs to call their state senator and representative and educate them about the issue, tell them that the legislation is drafted and in Representative Gattis office, and ask them to either introduce or co-sponsor it. If you are in the Austin area, try to get a meeting with the legislator or their staff. If you want me to come with you, I will make every effort (fair warning: I may have a baby with me!).

The time for writing letters and signing the petition has passed. We have only 5 days to go, we need to get these peoples attention.

If the bill is not filed by Wednesday, then we are going to get as big a group together as we can, and, wearing matching cake show shirts, go down to the Capitol and go from office to office, giving cupcakes and making as many legislators as possible aware of this issue. This will definitely be a last ditch attempt, but we can invite the media and make some noise.

Find out who your state senator and representative are,and start calling tomorrow! Call every day until Friday! We do NOT want to have to wait until 2011 to try again.

The bad economy is in our favor. We need to get this done now.

I just got off the phone with Patrick in Representative Gattis's office.

1. I asked if there was anything more I could do to help get this filed. He said no.

2. He said he will be meeting with Rep. Gattis in the "next couple of days" and a decision will be made. He promises I will be his first call when it is made.

3. He says that other Representatives' offices have been calling them for more information! He said "it looks like you might have some legislative support out there".

Signs of legislative support may be what tips this thing in our favor. The single most important thing you can do now is call your state Representative, make them aware of the issue, and how important it is to you, and ask (beg, plead, bribe ) them to call Patrick in Rep. Gattis office for more information. (512) 463-0309.

See!!!! We ARE doing something! Way to go CAKERS! I am going to call again tomorrow just to make sure that they understood that I want this very badly!

WHY AM I NOT GETTING EMAIL UPDATES?!? I nearly missed this! I will call my rep tomorrow!!!

I just contacted my Representatives again. If they don't help us out with this...they've only just begun to hear from me! I will hound them every week for the next two years!

I sent some emails via the texas representative website. I will also try to fax a letter today.

Thanks

Felicia