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Sunday, August 9, 2009
What i know
I know that there are some people that have too many irons in the fire and handle it just perfectly and gracefully. I know there must be something terribly off with folks like that!
I know...I have too many irons in the fire.
I know...I have too many irons in the fire.
- I have a full-time job in the medical transcription field working 40+ hours a week.
- I have a small business, Sugar Beez, making custom cookies that takes up 20+ hours a week.
- I have 5 daughters that take up every moment of time I can give them.
- I have a 22-year marriage to a man who lives and works in CA that we see 4 times a year if we are really fortunate.
- I live with my 5 daughters in IL.
- I have an irrational desire to become a full-time cake artist when I know damn good and well I make much more money in medical transcription.
- I volunteer at my daughters' schools.
- Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that I have 1-1/2 grandchildren...Riley who is 4 months old and Ruby who is due 9/19/09 (explains the 1/2 a grandchild, right?).
I do very well at the medical transcription part of my life, and I do a dern good job at the childrearing part of my life, so someone please explain to me my totally irration drive to do something with cakes and cookies and pies and gelatins and all that sweet stuff? I drive my 21-year-old daughter crazy because she thinks I should just focus on cookies. I am good at them, but I want to be good a cakes and cupcakes and gelatins too...am I wrong? Or am I just nuts?
The jury is still out.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
What the heck do I do with this?!
I'm not a cake artist. I rarely do cakes, but I love to lurk on several cake art message boards and wistfully look through all the posts and their pictures. Once in a while I will see something that I think I can duplicate on a cookie and so I will hunt down the tool that was used, such as a gumpaste cutter, patchwork cutter, etc. Then off to my favorite cake art supply website to order the newly discovered tool.
A few days later the package will arrive and I gleefully rip it open to find the tool and nothing else...no instructions, no pictures, no clue! GGGrrrr! After the package arrives (and I've stopped throwing a tantrum over the lack of instructions) I search and search the web for tutorials. Sometimes I find them, lots of times I don't. The next few days (okay, weeks) are spent dedicating an hour or 2 (okay my 4 or 5) to figuring out the tool.
One day it occurred to me…maybe I’m not the only one struggling to learn these tools? And frustrated by the lack of tutorials on the web. Here’s an idea…why don’t I detail my efforts to learn these tools and create a tutorial and voila! my blog was transformed from my mindless blogging to blogging with a purpose! Yay! I love having a purpose, makes me feel so useful!
Beginning next week I will post my first tutorial on a tool. The tool I have decided to do first is the pasta machine. I bought one of these to use with fondant and man, did it take me some time to figure out how to keep the fondant from sticking, and even what I needed to do to the fondant before putting it through the machine.
So keep checking back! If you have suggestions for a tool you would like to see featured, or even a technique, please e-mail me and let me know – tracy@sugarbeez.com.
Sweet Wishes from Tracy @ Sugar Beez
I'm not a cake artist. I rarely do cakes, but I love to lurk on several cake art message boards and wistfully look through all the posts and their pictures. Once in a while I will see something that I think I can duplicate on a cookie and so I will hunt down the tool that was used, such as a gumpaste cutter, patchwork cutter, etc. Then off to my favorite cake art supply website to order the newly discovered tool.
A few days later the package will arrive and I gleefully rip it open to find the tool and nothing else...no instructions, no pictures, no clue! GGGrrrr! After the package arrives (and I've stopped throwing a tantrum over the lack of instructions) I search and search the web for tutorials. Sometimes I find them, lots of times I don't. The next few days (okay, weeks) are spent dedicating an hour or 2 (okay my 4 or 5) to figuring out the tool.
One day it occurred to me…maybe I’m not the only one struggling to learn these tools? And frustrated by the lack of tutorials on the web. Here’s an idea…why don’t I detail my efforts to learn these tools and create a tutorial and voila! my blog was transformed from my mindless blogging to blogging with a purpose! Yay! I love having a purpose, makes me feel so useful!
Beginning next week I will post my first tutorial on a tool. The tool I have decided to do first is the pasta machine. I bought one of these to use with fondant and man, did it take me some time to figure out how to keep the fondant from sticking, and even what I needed to do to the fondant before putting it through the machine.
So keep checking back! If you have suggestions for a tool you would like to see featured, or even a technique, please e-mail me and let me know – tracy@sugarbeez.com.
Sweet Wishes from Tracy @ Sugar Beez
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Scurd....
So the economy has even me shaking in my boots. It is always one of those things that doesn't really bother you until it starts hitting close to home. I havent had much in the way of orders lately so I have been working extra hard at my "real" 9-to-5 job as a manager for a national medical transcription service. Some of our clients are being effected by the economy in that people are just not coming to the hospital for little things. The volume of work is much lower right now that we traditionally see, which means our transcriptionists are running out of work. Transcriptionists work on production, so if they run out of work, they don't earn money.
I have been tightening my budget by cutting down my services on my phone, cable, internet, everything. I'm sure lots of American are doing the same thing, but doesn't that perpetuate the problem? We spend less and this trickles down and shows up as loss of jobs? Sort of a catch-22.
One of my daughters' friends, her father is a physician. They have always been very financially stable, live in a big beautiful house...yeah, I envy them, but they are really down-to-earth friendly people, and face it, they earned what they have. But I found out yesterday that he was laidoff! A doctor, laidoff! What the hacken!
My company did some layoffs in December (how nice, right before the holidays) and now there is rumor that there may be more to come. I sure do hope that help comes soon for our economy.
I have been tightening my budget by cutting down my services on my phone, cable, internet, everything. I'm sure lots of American are doing the same thing, but doesn't that perpetuate the problem? We spend less and this trickles down and shows up as loss of jobs? Sort of a catch-22.
One of my daughters' friends, her father is a physician. They have always been very financially stable, live in a big beautiful house...yeah, I envy them, but they are really down-to-earth friendly people, and face it, they earned what they have. But I found out yesterday that he was laidoff! A doctor, laidoff! What the hacken!
My company did some layoffs in December (how nice, right before the holidays) and now there is rumor that there may be more to come. I sure do hope that help comes soon for our economy.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Day one
So, I'm going to try blogging....forgive me for my boringness and my errors, oh blogging community! I am very new to blogging, but I figure I am just supposed to speak my piece about what I know, right? So, what do I know?
I know how to make cookies. I have a cookie business called Sugar Beez that has been in business for a year. http://www.sugarbeez.com/ Right now I'm only selling online because I dont have my own kitchen (legal that is). I rent kitchen time from a chef friend of mine and my business is growing. Yay me!
My daughter is a student at a culinary school in Chicago, taking baking and pastry so the little twerp is going to know way more than me! Okay, she already knows more than me because I'm just a house fraus who has a really good cookie recipe (and some killer decorating skils). So, soon she and I will work together to expand the business and its offerings...stay tuned and buckle in, it's bound to be a bumpy ride!
I know how to make cookies. I have a cookie business called Sugar Beez that has been in business for a year. http://www.sugarbeez.com/ Right now I'm only selling online because I dont have my own kitchen (legal that is). I rent kitchen time from a chef friend of mine and my business is growing. Yay me!
My daughter is a student at a culinary school in Chicago, taking baking and pastry so the little twerp is going to know way more than me! Okay, she already knows more than me because I'm just a house fraus who has a really good cookie recipe (and some killer decorating skils). So, soon she and I will work together to expand the business and its offerings...stay tuned and buckle in, it's bound to be a bumpy ride!
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