As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Garden State Cake Show was held on February 4th and 5th at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Burlington, NJ.   If you missed it this year you can already mark your calendar (like me) for next year.  The show will be March 9th and 10th of 2012!  I can't wait to hear the theme so I can start planning my entry :)

This year I was so impressed with all of the cakes at the show and I took a TON of pictures.  Let's start with the competition entries.  I apologize in advance for not knowing the category and division of each cake or if they placed.  After taking these pictures cakes were moved around and not all of the ribbons were on the tables.





This was an Intermediate Adult, Show Theme entry.  The contestant is a Police Sargent in real life.



I love this cake.  It was my favorite in the whole show.  The picture doesn't do it justice because the amount of detail in this cake is insane.



Professional, Show Theme entry.  Not only did this win 1st but it won best in show!  Again, the detail work is crazy!


This was such a cute idea for a cake.  I think those are handmade chocolates.



All of these cakes, except for the white one, were in the Advanced Adult Tier/Novelty Category.  The one to the left won 1st, 2nd is not shown and the yellow/orange cake (mine!) won 3rd.  The flags on the back cake spun around...very cool.



Another Intermediate Adult, Show Theme entry.  I know this cake placed but I'm not sure which.  I want to say 3rd but I could be wrong.  Next time I'm writing all of this down :)


The food on this cake looked so real.  One of my favorites for sure.


I know this one placed as well.  I believe it was also in the Intermediate Adult, Show Theme category.  I still can't figure out how they did that with the top tier :)













The show also had all kinds of classes that I unfortunately was unable to sign up for but I was able to attend a free demo on how to use the Cricut Cake.  I learned a few tips that are really going to help me in the future.  Keep an eye out for a post.  In the mean time, here is a sample cake the instructors provided.






The last portion of the show was dedicated to a live challenge.  It was really cool to watch professionals at work but I have to admit, it can get a little boring if you are used to the fast paced drama found on Food Network's Challenge.  However, it was still a great experience and I learned a lot when they let us walk on stage.  In fact, some of the techniques I saw helped me with my son's cake last week!  Here are a few pictures...



There were 4 teams and they had 3 hours to create a cake that fits the show's theme, A Childhood Wish or Dream/What I Want to be When I Grow Up.








Halfway through they let us walk on stage.  This was the team that helped me with my son's cake :)  It was great being able to see a figure made from PVC and cereal treats...

This next group gave me a better understanding of large cake figures.


Team 3 used wire to give the effect of a draped fondant flag.  The pipes on the left will be added to cake on the right and the copper wiring in between is what will support the flag. (You'll understand when you see the finished cake.)  I'm going to use this trick someday.


I couldn't believe how fast team 4 banged out that car!


Once the judging was over we were allowed to go on stage one last time to see the finished cakes...



Ultimately Team 1 was the winner!

















I felt so bad about this cake...all that work and the hand fell off :(









See the flag :)  I remember watching them make this cake thinking they weren't going to finish because for the longest time they just had boots on the cake. Then, in what seemed like the last 10 minutes, they pulled out a pole, hat and flag!



You can't see it in the picture but this cake had flashing lights and to the left is a 5 point star that was supposed to be on top (they told me it didn't dry in time).











That was pretty much my day at the Garden State Cake Show but out of all these memories, there is one for me that tops them all...


...getting my 1st place ribbon in my very first cake show!

Last weekend I entered my first cake competition.  The Garden State Cake Show was held at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Burlington, NJ on February 4th and 5th.  Anyone from ages 5 and up could enter.  I decided to enter cakes in the Advanced Adult Competition; one tier and one show themed cake (What I Want to be When I Grow Up).  I was a little nervous...OK a lot nervous :)  since this was my first official cake competion and definitely my first time being judged by professional decorators.  The entire show was great with demos, vendors, classes and even a live cake competition but I'll post more on that later.  For now, here are my contributions to the show.

The first cake entered was in the tier/novelty category and I was up against some really great cakes.  Here is my entry...




I knew it wasn't perfect and the judges called me on all the mistakes I already knew of but being one of two cakes, I was happy with the end result. I managed to sneak a pic of my cake being judged :) The one in the front was the winner of the category. Gorgeous! This entry was a tribute to my husband and had I known ANYTHING about cake decorating when we got married, this would have been our wedding cake.  I particularly love the bold colors and airbrush fading on the cake.  Apparently so did the judges because...








...3rd place!














The other cake I entered took most of my time and energy.  It was based on the show's theme, What I Want to be When I Grow Up.  My children and their imagination was my inspiration.  It depicts a child (my oldest) playing in his room and dreaming of his future.



I was REALLY nervous about this cake.  If you saw the cake I was up against, you would be too.  But the judges just loved my cake...especially the fondant work, wood grain, and little details.  They loved it so much that...




...I managed to grab 1st place!  I was floored by this win and almost a week later, I'm still on a winner's high.  I can't wait for the next show...maybe I'll enter 3 cakes :)






I took a ton of pictures of the event and will be sharing all of the amazing work I saw that day.  So stay tuned..

A lot has happened since I last posted about the NJ Cottage Food Law.  I'll start with the great news first!

As a reminder, back in 2009 a bill for a Cottage Food Law was introduced to the committee and given the number S2908.  Below is an update from Grace...

"I received an e-mail today from Senator Bateman's office and he's reintroducing S2908!!! Once it's reintroduced in Senate it will receive a new number and be given to a committee (probably the same one as before: Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens). Once in committee then it's time to make a lot of noise and bring a lot of attention to this issue. I'll let you know when this happens.

Right now I'm in the midst of making calls to our Assemblypeople and trying to find out who will sponsor a bill for us in the House. I was told by a reliable source to try to concentrate on the members of the Health and Senior Services Committee (this is the committee likely to get the bill after it's been introduced in the House) so I'll be giving them calls throughout the week. Also, I've already been in contact with Asw. Coyle (the one who wrote back to me) and spoke with her Chief of Staff who told me she'd be including the folder I sent into the Asw's packet of files that she'll be reviewing soon. Again, this is good news even though Asw. Coyle isn't on the Health & S.S. Committee."

The important thing to remember now is that the last time this bill was introduced, it died in committee.   That means we need to keep writing our representatives, sending e-mails and making phone calls (Find your written letter here).  The more who know about the bill, the better chance we have at getting it passed!  More info on how you can help can be found here.

I also want to add that Grace didn't get this response by just sending letters (although this is important).  She put together a packet/presentation containing a two page letter paper clipped to the front cover of a blue double pocket folder. The folders contained three sections: Presentation, Petition and Articles. The Presentation section contained a PowerPoint presentation that Kelley Masters of Texas had originally put together and was kind enough to share with Grace (in 2009) who tailored all 20 pages of it for New Jersey. The Petition section had the cover sheet/letter to the Legislators (as seen at the online petition) followed by 25 pages of signatures (at the time it was printed there were 1,115 signatures but as of today there is 1148!). The final section contained some articles found online (if you'd like to see them you can Google them. They are as follows: CNN.com Apple cakes save home from foreclosure; www.lansingonlinenews.com why we need a cottage food law; www.heritage.com Granholm signs cottage food operations bill (Michigan's Governor signed a Cottage Food Bill into Law on July 12, 2010); article entitled Woman hopes state will enact Cottage Food Act to help Floridians..... at www.abcactionnews.com; and at www.sellingcakes.com/?p=492 Are You Too Scared to Sell Your Cakes?

To do all this Grace used her own money to purchase the following items...

2 boxes of copy paper
2 boxes of 10x13 envelopes
1 box of business letter paper
1 package of address labels
5 packages black ink cartridges
2 packages color ink cartridges
12 packages of 10 twin pocket/3 hole fastener folders
11 packages of tabbed dividers
Copies made by Staples (2,141 petition pages copied and 645 article pages copied (some double-sided))

All of this totaled $763.58 ($207.76 of this was just the cost of copies made by Staples).  The cost for the postage came to $589.50 (she mailed all 129 representatives), so the grand total was $1,353.08!

I have a strong feeling that all of Grace's hard work and money will not go to waste this year but if you would like to thank her, I will be collecting PayPal donations here and sending them to her at the end of every month.





Grace is very grateful for any financial help received but more importantly loves hearing about the letters, phone calls, and e-mails sent so keep us updated on your progress.

Here are more ways to help support this cause.