Finally!! I'm A Legal Home Bakery!!!
Business By KittisKakes Updated 29 Apr 2007 , 2:03am by Jessica1817
I'm a legal home bakery
now. The VA Dept. of Agriculture called on Friday
afternoon to set up an inspection for today at 11 am.
Geez, not much time to prepare and on a holiday
weekend!! Well, we didn't have much planned for this
weekend anyway. They
showed up about 20 minutes early, but I was ready.
They were very impressed with how I had everything set
up and organized. He said the bathroom should be a
shrine it was so clean. (Gotta give props to DH for
that one.) So anyway, it went well!! I need to take a
pic of the kitchen now so I can remind myself of how
it's supposed to look all the time!
I want to thank VACake Lady, MrsMissey and APCakes for the leg work they did. I just followed pretty much anything they posted in the past for getting inspected, and it made everything easy for me! I plan on going tomorrow to register my business and am looking into insurance also. So, YEA!!!!
Congratulation!!!!!! I wish you continued success! 
Congrats!! Isn't it a good feeling?? I just got through with my 2nd bridal tasting for the day, and booked them both!! No better feeling than money in hand!! I'm so glad you had such a smooth time. It really isn't that bad.
congratulations! i love success stories, gives me hope! lol
Congrats!!! Must be a great feeling! I'm in VA too and working on getting my stuff together for the Dept of Ag. Any suggestions/tips? And what do they do at the inspection? I feel I will be like you and clean my butt off and then take pics of how it SHOULD look. I will have to tape them all over the place to remind certain people in the house! lol...Anyways, like I said, I'm just starting out and really kind of feeling over my head so any help would be appreciated! 
congratulations.. you must post pics so we can all see your legal kitchen. Yeah for you! 
jenbakescakes - I'm in Pittsylvania County, so depending where you are, some rules may be a little different. But, generally they're really looking for cleanliness. Have paper towels in the nearest bathroom since that is where you are supposed to wash your hands. If you can, have a cupboard specifically for your materials. I went out and bought a stand up unit and was able to put all my pans and ingredients in it. He really liked that I had it separate, but you are not required too. Just have it all in one area, if that's possible. They make sure you have running water. That sounds silly, but he said they've actually gone to houses without any water. Needless to say, that won't pass. If you have well water, it will be tested. Also, I actually changed the bulbs in my ceiling fan that sat above my work surface with shatter proof ones. I don't think he was expecting that. Have a thermometer in the fridge. You don't have to have a separate fridge if it's just to store eggs and butter, but if you're doing lots of foods that require refrigeration, then you will need another refrigerator. I only have a 2 compartment sink, but I sanitize with 1/8 tsp of bleach to 1 gallon of hot water. That was sufficient to pass. If you have indoor pets, they cannot be in the area when you are baking or decorating.
That's really about it. It really was painless, but like I said, I made sure everything was clean. We did go over labeling, so make sure you list all ingredients and any allergens. He said inspections are usually every 12 to 18 months and since this is a private residence, they will call ahead to make sure someone is home. But I like my kitchen clean, so I wouldn't really worry about a surprise inspection.
So, that's it in a nutshell. I do have to go register my business name at the courthouse tomorrow. And I may report as a LLC or Corporation, just for liability purposes. I'm doing a little more research on that. I'm also calling my home owner's insurance tomorrow to see if I can add it on to my policy or if I need to get separate liabilty insurance. I don't want to take any chances. But, the hard part is over!!
So, good luck with yours. It was a lot easier to do than I thought!!
CONGRATS TO YOU! I'm in VA too and was thinking about trying to become legal. All my friends and family try to get me to go outside of them, but I've been afraid since I'm not legal. I'm most worried about my well water. Not that it's not safe... I just figured that would be an issue. We mainly use bottled water though. Hmmm you just may have been my inspiration! Best of luck to you!!
Thanks so much kittiskakes! I also live in Pittsylvania Co. near Gretna. Maybe we'll have to form a cake club or something! We moved here almost a year ago. I'm new to cake decorating but am really into it and am at the stage of my life right now that if I don't do it now, I'll be kicking myself later. Anyways, Thanks again for the info!
I'm in Blairs, between Danville and Chatham. That's cool that you are so close!! We just may have to get together!!
Well, the inspection really was a lot easier than I thought, so don't give up with yours!! Good luck with it and let me know if I can help in any other way.
I'm also in Virginia - my inspector looked under my kitchen sink and in the back of the cabinets with a flashlight. He started to test the temp of the water in the dishwasher, until I pulled out the sanitizing tablets and test strips.. he checked for covers over all lightbulbs (especially over work areas) and asked about fridge/freezer temps...
it really was a breeze - in and out in just a few minutes.[/center]
CONGRATULATIONS...WHEN I GOT MY PACKET I WAS A LITTLE CONFUSED ON THE LABELS PART. DO I HAVE TO HAVE PREPRINTED LABELS FOR EVERYTHING I SELL? DOES EVERYONE WHO IS LEGAL ONLY SELL A SMALL AMOUNT OF ITEMS IF THIS IS THE CASE? I KNOW THAT I WAS TOLD THAT IF THE DISHES DON'T FIT ALL THE WAY IN THE SINK YOU HAVE TO HAVE A WORKING DISHWASHER...IS THIS TRUE? I HAVE A DISHWASHER AND HAVE NEVER USED IT SO I'M NOT SURE IF IT WORKS(I RENT SO I REALLY NEVER CARED...LOL).
Here's pics of the area. Now remember, this is just my home kitchen. We have a "breakfast nook" that has always been used for storage, so I turned that into my area for cake supplies and stuff. The first one just shows my work area. The second one is where I keep my tips, cookie cutters, etc. The third one is the main storage unit. I was able to put everything I need for the cakes in this area.
CONGRATULATIONS...WHEN I GOT MY PACKET I WAS A LITTLE CONFUSED ON THE LABELS PART. DO I HAVE TO HAVE PREPRINTED LABELS FOR EVERYTHING I SELL? DOES EVERYONE WHO IS LEGAL ONLY SELL A SMALL AMOUNT OF ITEMS IF THIS IS THE CASE? I KNOW THAT I WAS TOLD THAT IF THE DISHES DON'T FIT ALL THE WAY IN THE SINK YOU HAVE TO HAVE A WORKING DISHWASHER...IS THIS TRUE? I HAVE A DISHWASHER AND HAVE NEVER USED IT SO I'M NOT SURE IF IT WORKS(I RENT SO I REALLY NEVER CARED...LOL).
For the labels, I pretty much followed exactly how their example was. I sent in "mock" labels just printed out on paper. So, no, you do not have to send in pre-printed labels.
So first was the product description, (Dark Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Icing)
Then the product weight. I just looked at what Wal-Mart had for a 1/4 sheet cake. I did just buy a scale, so I will have the right weights when I put on the actual labels.
Then I put the allergens, like wheat, milk, eggs, soy
Then I listed the cake ingredients followed by the icing ingredients. It was just easier to keep them separate.
Then the business name and address followed.
As for the dishwasher, some of my pans are not supposed to go in there. So I sanitize in the sink. It was enough for me to pass.
It will all depend on what county you are in and who the inspector is too.
HTH!!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%