I need everyones opinion, especially if you do weddings-
I have prepared for SIX months for this wedding cake. It is my gift to a good friend THIS SATURDAY. I am so ready...but guess what? This week, my entire family, 3 sons and husband, are sick. yesterday my husband went and got antibiotics for his throat, and all my kids are coughing. The plan was to make this cake at my home, because I do not have a shop to do it in (hobby). I can not go elsewhere to do it because my youngest is two and not in day care, and I dont have a babysitter available for 2 entire days.
so, my dilema.....Do i go ahead and make the cake? I cant back out now... but i dont want to get 150 people sick either. My thought was to do the cake overnight, thursday and friday, when my family is sleeping long enough for me to sanitize the kitchen and do what i need to do, but then i get NO sleep (at least 8 hours each night), which lowers my immune system. I need to be at the wedding because she is a good friend and I want to be there, as well as my role at the reception with the cake.
what timing. i am so mad. its not like they chose to get sick NOW, but they are and there isnt much i can do about it. i am so totally stuck in between a rock and a hard place. help!!! what would you do? 
If you are not sick I would keep them all out of the kitchen and clean! Sanitize it top to bottom, keep yourself well hydrated and take lots of Vit. C. Decorate while they are out of the kitchen and take care of yourself. You can and should do it.
Good luck and I hope they are all feeling better soon.
Tracy
I think you should go ahead as planned. I don't think you are risking getting 150 people sick, that is unless you intend on letting your 2 year old lick the spoon 
my 2 and 4 year old LOVES to do that so I have to be very picky about what cakes i let them touch.
Good luck and I just hope you don't come down with anything
Talk to your friend, explain what's going on and see what she says. I'm a respiratory therapist. I say if the sick people aren't in direct contact with the cake then the risk of spreading it is really small.
Melysa,
I'm sorry this is happening to you, and for what it's worth, here's my two cents. I would bake the cake at night after your family goes to bed. Be sure to send them all very early 
. Tell them it's good for them to get LOTS OF REST , and it will also help you out in the long run. [I firmly believe it will help them, too, as their bodies need to rest so they can get well faster!].
Then, you can bake and freeze all your tiers now, and Thursday night you can ice them. Do you have a room you can close off so they don't come in? If so, that's where I would put the cake Thursday night. Work on it and then close the door. Lock it if you can. Definitely put a huge "X" of tape across the frame of the door so they get the idea -- "come in here and you wish you will be dead!"
If you can't work in a separate room that can be closed off, try to keep your cake stuff in the freezer until the last minute that you can. If you ice the cake Thursday nite and then decorate it Friday nite, you should be okay. I've done that many times over the last 32 years I've been doing this and never a problem.
Also, if you can get a friend or neighbor to take your little one for a day, you can get a huge jump on things while he/she is gone, with a little less stress for you.
Lastly, why not buy them all some surgical masks? You can make a game of it for the kids ("Let's see who can wear their mask the longest!"), and it will help to keep the germs down somewhat around your baking.
You're right, they didn't choose to be sick, but you still need to get your work done. And it you're smart, you can go about it without making yourself worn out and sick, too. Best of luck to you, dear. If I lived closer I would try to come and help out if I could. Don't worry, you'll survive this ... and years from now you'll laugh about your "creative solution" to this problem.
Keep smiling, it'll help. 
Happy Baking,
Odessa
i dont let them TOUCH anything, but my two year old (the one at home with me all day) is coughing. since he's young, he still doesnt cover his mouth or stay away like he should. if the kids were older, i think it would be easier to keep them out of the kitchen, but what do you do with a toddler? i dont have a babysitter available at all....
SIGH! this is too stressful.
Uggg-- its no fun being in a "sick house"-- that was me last week.
I'd be more paranoid if it was the flu or some kind of stomach bug. But like you said, you can't back out now--and I'd say you are safe as long as nobody is coughing directly onto the cake :O) -- I'm sure you're sanitizing like crazy. Good luck!
i also say go ahead a make the cakes. those kiddy gates were made for just such a thing...to keep kids aways from places you don't want them to go. i think as long as you sanitize everything you should be fine. if you were the one who was sick, then i might think differently. good luck
Keep your family our of the kitchen while you are working. Put everything away before they are allowed in the kitchen after each step. ( Baking the cake, torting and filling etc.)
Then make yourself a bucket of warm bleach water and wash every surface in the kitchen after they leave and you begin to work again.
Honestly, a cold virus would have trouble being passed in cake since it is baked, frozen etc.
Icing is another story, and when you get to that step in your process, make absolutely sure your kids are nowhere hear your cake.
Talk to your friend, explain what's going on and see what she says. I'm a respiratory therapist. I say if the sick people aren't in direct contact with the cake then the risk of spreading it is really small.
Hey!! I'm a Respiratory Therapist too Are you going to the High Sierra Critical Care Conference in Reno that's coming up in a couple of days?? I'm going!! Woo Hoo!!!
About your dilema, it will be just fine if you clean your kitchen well and use what we in the Hosp. Biz call "Standard Precautions". Which simply means to make sure you wash your hands really well after coming in contact with the infected people.
Lazy_Susan
I too have a 2 year old who was sickly when I had to do 2 cheesecakes decorated, and 4 dozen decorated nfsc for my 13 year old's school to do! Boy was it difficult. I ended up doing all the baking in one day and into the night. Then decorated in 2 nights to keep the little one from coughing all around everything. Get yourself some good caffiene and some vit. c and make it a few late nights but spread it out so you are not whooping it up all night in 2 nights. You still need your rest and sanity too. Take a deep breath and do what you know you can!!! 6 months prep is standing behind you. You got this!
Melysa,
Then, you can bake and freeze all your tiers now, and Thursday night you can ice them. Do you have a room you can close off so they don't come in? If so, that's where I would put the cake Thursday night. Work on it and then close the door. Lock it if you can. Definitely put a huge "X" of tape across the frame of the door so they get the idea -- "come in here and you wish you will be dead!"
If you can't work in a separate room that can be closed off, try to keep your cake stuff in the freezer until the last minute that you can. If you ice the cake Thursday nite and then decorate it Friday nite, you should be okay. I've done that many times over the last 32 years I've been doing this and never a problem.
Also, if you can get a friend or neighbor to take your little one for a day, you can get a huge jump on things while he/she is gone, with a little less stress for you.
I agree that the best option would be to bake at night. i really would get no sleep though. i am baking 2 of each....4-6-8-10-12 plus an 8-12 grooms cake...and because i dont do this often, i only have one set of pans. the cakes are five different variations of flavors and fillings, and it will have fondant, gumpaste and royal icing. soooo....baking will definately be an ALL nighter. i could cover and decorate all night friday, but then at the wedding saturday afternoon, i'll have the darkest bags under my eyes, gross!
unfortunately, i have one of those, wide open floorplan homes. the kitchen soooooooo open. we dont use the dining room often though so i may decorate in there since its likely to have the least germs lurking. the only room i have that can be closed off is the laundry room.
i wish i had a babysitter who would be willing to sit with a sick child, but the only people i know available have two young ones of their own and do not want them to be sick. plus, they will be at the wedding, so even though she is a friend, i dont want her assuming or talking to others that its my fault if anyone catches a cold anytime remotely close after the wedding. i just dont want to mention to anyone that my kids are sick. it makes me feel so un proffessional. now i know why there are regulations against home baking for a profit!
I too have a 2 year old who was sickly when I had to do 2 cheesecakes decorated, and 4 dozen decorated nfsc for my 13 year old's school to do! Boy was it difficult. I ended up doing all the baking in one day and into the night. Then decorated in 2 nights to keep the little one from coughing all around everything. Get yourself some good caffiene and some vit. c and make it a few late nights but spread it out so you are not whooping it up all night in 2 nights. You still need your rest and sanity too. Take a deep breath and do what you know you can!!! 6 months prep is standing behind you. You got this!
good point to spread it out at night. i didnt want to freeze the cakes but i guess its better, if it allows me some sleep by breaking it up. if i start tonight, maybe i'll be able to do 4 hours a night instead of 8 or more.
The room doesn't need to be physically closed off. Your family just needs to be kept further than spitting distance from all of your work surfaces. This includes the two year old, since he is the most likely to touch things.
In fact, get yourself a spray bottle with some bleach water in it for quick sanitation.
Icing is another story, and when you get to that step in your process, make absolutely sure your kids are nowhere hear your cake.
thats my main concern...the fondant that i have to roll out and touch. i'll be wearing gloves but still....
guess i better restock my bleach!
ditto - keep them away from breathing on the stuff-wash well- wear gloves too !!! and go for it( that so sounds like my life!!!)
good luck you can do it and it will be fine!!!
txkat,
if i use a spray bottle with diluted bleach, what is the right ratio (1 tsp per gallon water?) so that it kills germs, but do i also need to rinse it? i am doing a large cake for the bottom so i'll need to roll my fondant out directly on the granite counter (too big for a rolling mat).
what type of sanitizer is food safe?
God's gift to mothers everywhere is Tylenol Cold and Flu, and a long nap time. I'm assuming you mix, bake and cool on your countertop, so the toddler shouldn't be able to get into your stuff as long as you don't pick him up. If he's in need of attention, and let's face it, he's a sick baby, make sure you give it to him in a different room. The going will be slow, but you can do it. It also might mean that your husband helps out by taking them to McDonalds for supper and then a long drive (no playplace, just an hour out of your hair. It will be fine. If this was that wretched stomach flu that won't even die with your douse your hands in pure bleach, I'd understand (that thing hurt worse than child birth), but this is a respiratory thing. Bake on.
In spray bottles at the restaurant, we use 1 T bleach in 1 qt water. That is higher than when we wash with a bucket, because you are spritzing very little on the surface, and you want goo coverage.
Bleach is safe to use on food preparation surfaces. It is very volatile and evaporates into the air quickly so it won't contaminate your food.
If you watch alton brown, he even rinses his herbs in very dilute bleach water.
lanaC,
WISH my son still napped, he weened from it early...he may be tired though. thank god its not a stomach bug, they had that last month and it SUCKED!!!
txkat, thanks for the info on bleach. i'll do that. just to clarify...i can spray it on my rolling surface (for the fondant) and i let it airdry? or do i wipe it off? this will be ok to roll out the fondant on it without rinsing with water before?
sorry for the repetitive Q's, i just really want to have all my bases covered.
thank you everyone for your help.
Yeah I just had a HUGE cake weekend and my family decided to get a stomach bug! I just kept them out of the kitchen and used Lysol and washed my hands ALOT. I had already baked the cakes, and I always decorate in the kitchen with the gate up so they stay out. I think it would take alot of germs to get 150 people sick from a cake! It is much worse to back out on somebody's important event I think.
The last cake I made, the next day I got sick. So I assume I was contagious when I made that last cake (just a sheet cake) but hopefully having clean hands and everything kept the cake safe.
Just spritz the surface. You can let it air dry, or wipe it dry with paper towels. ( Don't use a kitchen towel that someone has used to wipe dishes or their hands.)
Clean and sanitize, eat extra fruits and veggies, and go get some Airborne from the local drugstore/pharmacy. It's OTC and really helps preventing colds/ clearing them up faster.
here it is:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=allby&uname=melysa&cat=0&pos=0
didnt sleep for 36 hours straight! had a sitter friday, left the other kids in afterschool care, so i worked on it during the day, went to the rehearsal dinner, came home, worked all night into the next day. wedding was at 2....got it finished, but wished i could have put more detail into the gumpaste blossoms. oh well, that was a HUGE project!!! i may think twice again about doing that for free!
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