$40.00 for a 9" undecorated cake--now you all know where to direct your customers who think $3/seving is too much.

I work for a HD in Michigan and know that "bake sales" are exempt from licensing. Also, you can get a temporary food license for a period of two weeks. She says 100 cakes in 10 days, so maybe she is covered. Hopefully for her sake it is because getting licensed is very expensive. Her website says "bake sale" but I'm thinking what she has going on is beyond the definition of a bake sale. JMO

I will pay $40.00 for the recipe.

It's not really about Karma IMO. She has been "promoted" on mass media. The way I see it the HD is between a rock and a hard place. They may sympathize with her situation but they cannot just let it ride. People will blast them for shutting her down but they don't have an option here. They have to enforce the requirements across the board.

It could be said that we all are fighting foreclosure. Isn't that why we work?

Don't get me wrong, I feel for her and her family. I also don't think the discussion here is bashing her or any poster deserves to be frowned upon. I sincerely hope she finds a way to sell her cakes without getting into trouble. As I said before, I hope they don't fine her. She will just have another mess on her hands to deal with and lose any money made from the cakes.

Karma? What about the woman's karma? Does breaking the law not beget "bad karma"? We all can feel for her, but none of us have turned her in. The ones who should be questioning their karma is the news media for outting her to the HD.

I think the OP was wondering how she did it so that maybe the loop hole could work for others too. So in all actuality, the karma would be good for her no?

So breaking the law gives one bad karma?

So I guess those minorities that drank from the "whites only" fountain illegally were horrible people with bad karma eh?

Or how about the thousands of dumb laws on the books that are unknowingly being broken daily? Oral sex for example is illegal in many states...I am sure there are many breaking that law.... And I really hope none of the women here from Michigan have ever received a haircut without getting her husband's permission first...heathens.

Or the fact that incest and beating ones wife is totally legal in some states.

Yes, laws made by flawed men are some sort of moral code to live by and breaking them makes one a bad person, lmao.

I don't know this woman. I don't know all the details of her story. But I like the fact that she is fighting to keep her home. A piece of paper saying she is legal will not make the cake taste better (and shame on the poster who said "it doesn't even look that good"). Yes, the law is there for a reason, but really, it's not like this woman is competition for "real" bakers. I hope it all works out for her.

There is a big difference in laws which are OBVIOUSLY outdated and not enforced, and modern health department laws which are there for a REASON.... to protect the consumer. It's a bit illogical to compare the two.

I hope you (the generic you) are teaching your children how to work within our system to change any laws that they think are bad .... and not teaching them that just because they believe a law is bad that it's ok to break it.

I don't think it would be illegal unless she does it long term...I mean churches all over the place have bake sales and stuff. Isn't that the same principle? The people who sell cookies and brownies at a fund raiser don't have to be licensed. Maybe they see her as "fund raising" for a month.

I am sure the Dept of Ag/Health will keep an eye on her in the future but I doubt right now.

I prefer to kinda mind my own business when it comes to that stuff. Let her be. Its my job to make sure I'm right, not everybody else. There are government workers paid to do that.

The difference between bake sales for schools and charities and bake sales for individuals is that the ones for schools and charities aren't going to profit an individual. It may be different in different states but here at least the bake sale has to be for a school or a charity...that's the way it's worded in the law. I looked it up because someone wanted me to join his volunteer fire department and then sell my cakes as a bake sale for the department, keeping part of the profits to cover my time and supplies. I didn't do it even though it seemed like it would be legal because I didn't want to find out the hard way that it wasn't legal. (and besides I was afraid I'd have to climb a pole or something to satisfy training requirements for the VFD and people shaped like a beach ball shouldn't climb poles)


Anyhow, I think it's a shame that all the news stations in that lady's area are running the story, because it seems like it will have to come to the health department's attention.

Just on a side note, can you imagine having to peel and chop apples for 100 cakes...I would never want to see an apple again when I got done.

I feel for this woman but come on. Hasn't she ever heard the words "LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS."

We raise two kids comfortably on $1500 per month (I am a stay-at-home-mom until both kids are in school then our income will go up again) because we planned ahead and have no mortgage payment, no credit cards, no car payment, etc. I am of the opinion that if you can't afford it then DON'T BUY IT.

I would love to be able to sell my cakes from home and be able to afford a bigger house too. Can I have a "bake sale?"

Maybe she should have tried going through a legitimate fundraising company and tried selling premade pizzas or something of that nature. This just isn't right.

I would love to own a home period! haha. But oh well! My cake money (legal) equals a small part time job and its just helping us provide for the four kiddos as a side job.

These are my thoughts:

We all know that baking from home is illegal etc because it's something we've decided to pursue seriously as a business or a hobby and have relationships with like minded people and are on forums such as this that give us that info. For the lay person who desperately needs money and is thinking how can I raise money legitimately and quickly, their thought process might just have gone as far as "what skills do I have, what can I sell that can make me money". And that's really as far as it goes. A LOT of people don't know that there are any legal issues about making cakes and selling them. How many "newbies" so to speak have expressed surprise when they found out on CC?

The fact that she even allowed such publicity to me really means she has no idea she is breaking the law. If she knew she would have kept everything low key and relied on word of mouth.

And to jimandmollie, I notice you live in West Virginia. You do know that different parts of the country have wildly different costs of living? A $2,600 mortgage in Northern NJ does not at all mean you're living in a mansion that you cant afford. I really dont think that a person going through foreclosure is necessary an irresponsible person. We all know things have changed a lot recently, people lose jobs or their employers cuts salaries or hours to keep afloat etc. Circumstances change. There are many, many families that did everything right but have still been driven into poverty by circumstances beyond their control. I cant believe you dont know a single family who has gone through something like this. If you havent been affected, count yourself lucky, but dont berate someone whose exact circumstances you know nothing about (this is not regarding the illegal home baking, but the self-righteous "live within your means").

Its true...one reason we still don't own a home here in Philly suburbs is because a regular old single family home with a small yard in a regular neighborhood around here is $250,000-$300,000, plus out the rear end taxes, betweeen $4500-$7000 and more per year! Its similar in NJ. Anyplace I lived before (lived here 7 years) that amount of money would buy a mansion!!!!!

Yes there are odd laws on the books... but health regs aren't odd laws. Certainly you don't equate health regulations with passing horses on the highway?? And I think a huge point is being missed here. No one here is saying turn her in or burn her at the stake... no one here brought this to the masses... it was already brought by the media before it came here. The purpose of this thread was to ask if there was someway that what she is doing is legal. If it was, maybe others could benefit from finding out how. In a state where you can't bake from your home kitchen, when you hear that someone is (especially having it be on TV) you get excited at the thought. Someone asked a question... is this legal. She got an answer. Why berate people for answering truthfully. I certainly don't care what she does either way. I wouldn't berate her for trying to help her family out.

I am not a perfect person, I don't even believe in karma... but why would people have bad karma for asking a question?

You're not kidding Suzy... The north east is one of the most expensive areas to live. Houses are crazy expensive up here. When my husband and I watch those real estate shows on HGTV we are so often floored by what you can get for the money in other areas. This couple bought a beautiful 3 bedroom home for $180K somewhere in the midwest... you could get a double wide for that up here (if you're lucky).

Shoot, my DH and I just went to see a house here in El Paso (don't know the sq. ft). Had 6 bedrooms, master suite with a detached "rainshower" and jacuzzi. Family room with a fireplace, formal living and diningroom with fireplace, a COURTYARD with fireplace and fountain, a 3 car garage, a HUGE kitchen with brand new Viking appliances, a laundry room and pantry, an OUTDOOR kitchen, a pool with a fountain and some water shooty thingies (came out of the fishes mouths) a hot tub and an outdoor wood-burning oven. PLUS 3 more acres of land behind the landscaped patio! All for $385,000 and she wanted to negotiate because we were military so she wanted to give us a break...I wish I had the money, I'd be moving in tomorrow.

jimandmollie, I think the remark was fair. Your tone has now changed - now it's the banks' fault and it's not fair to the families and you feel bad when things like that happen to other people because you've been there. If that had been your original post, I wouldn't have had boo to say. Previously your comment was mocking - "has she never heard of living within her means". Given that you don't know her exact circumstances, that comment struck me as judgmental and self-righteous when it was followed by all the things you consider to be the reason you are better than her. You don't even know but assume her house is bigger than yours. If you take out a mortgage which includes renovations you have budgeted for and those mortgage payments are well within your means and you are not stretching yourself at the time you make the commitment, that's reasonable right? Isn't that how most people buy their homes? I don't personally know of any average family that had enough money to buy a home upfront without taking a loan. If the contractor leaves you with an additional $50k tab that you had not counted on, and your income stream is suddenly changed, that would throw you for a loop. $50k IS A LOT OF MONEY. The article also says "her agent went out of business and never paid her thousands she was owed." Basically those few lines at the end of the article that are kind of vague are all we have to go on to figure out how she ended up where she was. From that you decided she wasn't living within her means and bought a big ole house she couldn't afford. That is what I read into your comment.

I don't dispute that a lack of control over credit is a reality in America and that yes, some people in foreclosure definitely fall into the category of people wanting more than they can afford. I agree with you. But I also know that a lot of hard-working families that have done everything right (went to college, saved for a decent down payment, took a fixed mortgage they could afford comfortably, had enough savings to cover at least 6 month's expenses for emergencies, saved for retirement and for their children's college etc) have lost their homes because of one thing or another and people out there assume they were irresponsible with their finances or whatever. The article seems to be more focussed on the cake making and all the hoopla than on the why. I'm sorry you were offended, but I do think the statement was fair from what I read into your post. Even if you are scared and careful - you have still been lucky because you do still have that $1,500 income coming in every month and that is not something you can take entire credit for. Also as I mentioned before, what you get in West Virginia for $1,500 won't get you nearly as much in Northern NJ.