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The Luckiest

(There’s a video in this post. Click the link to see the video.) Read the rest of this entry »

Not-so-great

I probably should not have made all this hype about my cake class before actually taking it, because as it turns out it’s been sort of a disappointment.  I’m not talking about the actual lessons or material covered in class.  I am still definitely excited about making cakes and I plan to keep pursuing it.  Here are my two major concerns:

• The instructor basically reads out of the book during class.  I could do that.  So far she has not shown me anything I couldn’t have figured out myself.
• The cost of the class is way higher than what they advertise.  The initial class fee was $45 for four weeks.  (Each level is four weeks and there are four levels.)  But I did get the 40% off discount so the price was near $27.  Then you have to buy the student kit for each level.  This costs around $25 and again I used the discount which brought it to $15.  So I’m thinking- around $42 for the class and the supplies…not too bad right?
  Wrong.  What they don’t tell you is that the stuff that comes in the student kit is the bare minimum you need.  And by that I mean that if you don’t purchase all the extra stuff in the book you basically can’t do any of the projects.  So in addition to the normal cost I have already spent over $50 on supplies (and keep in mind I am only taking level 1 right now).

So needless to say I am quite frustrated with this class right now.  I can’t be mad at Michael’s per se, because it’s really an independent company that contracts the teachers.  I also feel bad for others taking the class because like me most of them are just doing this as a hobby.  Now I do hope to sell my cakes one day…but not as a full time profession.  I think a professional baker would expect to invest a lot of money in stuff they need, but not someone just doing it for fun.  What they really need to do is include everything you need for the class in each kit.  And if they have to charge $100 then so be it, but at least you would know what you’re getting in to.

Well now that I am done talking about the bad part, here is the good part:

My first cake!

It really has been a lot of fun learning new things and trying different design techniques.  This is obviously a very simple design.  I can’t wait to get to the hard stuff !
So what I’ve decided to do is that I am still going to follow through with these method books.  But instead of taking the next 3 levels I will just buy the books and learn how to do it myself.  After all I think I’m a pretty good teacher

Quick update

Hello all, sorry for the lack of posting but it has been a very busy week and I have another one ahead of me.  I am half way through my Orff music class and it has been really great.  I am learning so much but I’m also exhausted at the same time.  I’m even more tired than when I was teaching!  Anyways, when it is over I will have a lot more time to write.  And my cake class was postponed last week, so I will officially start this Tuesday.  Have a good week and we’ll catch up soon!