Baking Up A Business - NEW Series!

Hello everyone!

I know it's been a long time since I have posted - life always gets in the way doesn't it?  I have been working on a new series of blog posts called "Baking Up A Business".  In this series I will be discussing the "ingredients" you will need to have when starting up your cake or baking business.  

Here's the intro:

Baking Up A Business

"Building a business is like baking a cake.  It takes a combination of the right ingredients to make it perfect."

The business of cake is not unlike any other business - the key word is that it's a business.  Whether or not you have talent, skill, fabulous ideas, and amazing products - you still need the proper foundation to build your business.  Just like a cake, a business requires a combination of the right ingredients to produce a fabulous end result.  No two businesses are exactly alike - why?  Because it is YOU which makes it unique.  Your talent, your skills, your mindset - all make your business stand apart from the others.  However, just like a cake needs flour, sugar, butter, and eggs - all successful businesses do have the same common foundation which allow them to build and grow.

Want more?  Keep watching over the coming weeks!

Internships in Ontario - Know your rights

In our industry (as with many others) the offer of "working" as an unpaid intern comes up from time to time - especially during the busy wedding season.

As employers and "employees" it is important to know the law and your rights.

Here is the statement made by the Employment Standards Act of Ontario:

http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/is_unpaidintern.php

Internships in Ontario: What you need to know

• Issued: June 2011
• Content last reviewed: June 2011

There are no regulations pertaining to unpaid internships. The Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA)regulates paid employment relationships between employers and employees. Employees must be paid at least the Ontario minimum wage ($10.25 per hour for most employees).

An "employee" is defined under section 1 of the ESA to include a person who receives training from an employer. However, the definition excludes a trainee who is receiving training from an employer in the skills used by that employer's employees, if all of the conditions below are met:

1. The training is similar to that which is given in a vocational school.
2. The training is for the benefit of the individual.
3. The person providing the training derives little, if any, benefit from the activity of the individual while he or she is being trained.
4. The individual does not displace employees of the person providing the training.
5. The individual is not accorded a right to become an employee of the person providing the training.
6. The individual is advised that he or she will receive no remuneration for the time that he or she spends in training.

Section 3(5) of the ESA also excludes "an individual who performs work under a program approved by a college of applied arts and technology or a university" from the application of the Act.

This exclusion exists to encourage employers to provide the training that an individual enrolled in a college or university program seeks. If employers were responsible for providing ESA minimum standards for participants in these programs in the same way that they are for their employees, such placement opportunities may become limited. This could adversely affect both the students and the teaching institutions that currently benefit from these programs.

Section 3(5) of the ESA requires that a college or university approve the work to be performed under such a program, in order to help ensure that the school will give consideration to allowing placements where the learning provided is of benefit to the individual.

If someone performing work as part of an unpaid internship is unsure of whether they should be excluded from the ESA, he or she can call the Employment Standards Information Centre toll-free at 1-800-531-5551 for further information.

There are many interesting articles on the topic which you can read below:

http://www.yorku.ca/ddoorey/lawblog/?p=2169

http://www.kmblaw.com/news64.html

http://www.youthandwork.ca/2011/07/unpaid-internships-in-ontario.html

http://www.workopolis.com/content/advice/article/732-your-internship-a-gateway-to-great-experience-or-questionably-legal-unpaid-labour

http://www.charityvillage.com/cv/archive/acov/acov11/acov1150.asp

This One Time ... At Cake Camp ....

Well I'm back from Las Vegas and Cake Camp 2011 - what a blast! It's been 3 years since the last Cake Camp so I jumped at the chance to go back!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words - so let's go with that!

Get this plane going - Vegas is waiting!

Woot! Woot! We are here!

View from our room at the Green Valley Ranch Resort

As the sun sets ...

Time to take in the sites ...

Vegas has something for everyone!

It was a great weekend of spending time with friends .....

Me & Ruth Rickey

Me & Lauren Kitchens

Me & Ashleigh Phillips Foster

Oh ya and I took some classes too!

Beyond The Bridge with Ruth Rickey

Cocoa Painting with Marsha Winbeckler

Airbrushing with Roland Winbeckler

Sitting Dog Stand with Mike McCarey

Holiday Sweets & Treats Week - Canada AM

All week on Canada AM - Holiday Sweets & Treats! Today was shortbread....tomorrow is gingerbread....wonder what will be next? If you love to bake, tune in every morning!

Cake - The Essentials

For those of you who love baking, you really should have a copy of The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. And if you already have it, then a great addition is her new book Rose's Heavenly Cakes.
A great article about cake was recently written by Rose for the New York Times. To read this article, follow the link below:

Cake: The Essentials
By Rose Levy Beranbaum
Published: Monday, November 30, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/info/cake/