Coreen Beaulieu in North Monmouth, Maine

I live with my husband Bill in North Monmouth. Bill is a retired firefighter and I work as a frontline supervisor for L.L.Bean in Freeport at the Order Fulfillment Center.

The best part about where we live is that we are close to the coast as well as inland activities.

We have two grown daughters – Darcey and Moe and 11-year-old twin granddaughters – Zoey and Annica.

As our daughters grew older, Bill and I enjoyed riding motorcycles. I commuted to an L.L.Bean Customer Contact Center in Waterville for 10 years and would ride my motorcycle to work from spring to fall, saving plenty of gas!

After our grandchildren arrived, we spent less and less time riding motorcycles, so we replaced them in the garage with a John Deere tractor for Bill to clear the snow in the yard during the winter.

Zoey and Annica both love to help in the kitchen but only Zoey is interested in making cheese.

Annica will eat the homemade cheese but interestingly Zoey doesn’t like cheese; she only wants to make it!

How I learned:

I had wanted to make cheese for a long time but never really dared to try on my own. In 2008, I took a beginner class offered by a local cheesemaker but didn’t find it overly helpful, so I didn’t continue to try.

A few years ago, I somehow stumbled on the New England Cheesemaking Supply Co. site and after giving it some thought, I ordered a beginner kit. Even though my first few attempts weren’t great, I continued to make cheese.

Basically, I love the process of taking milk and transforming it into something wonderful!

In 2019, I traveled to Williamsburg, MA to attend the Cheese Making Workshop 101 with Sarah and Mark. It was very helpful and gave me the incentive to try pressed cheese.

The following year I had signed up for the Cheese Making Workshop 201 with Jim Wallace, however due to the pandemic, that was postponed. I was able to attend this workshop in September of 2021.

I found this workshop extremely helpful, Jim has so much knowledge that he freely shares in an easy-to-understand way. He is also a fantastic wine and cider maker!

Part of Jim’s workshop involved bringing some of my own cheese for him and the class to try and critique. This made me very nervous as I was the only participant to bring cheese.

I received some positive feedback and great tips, such as using a little less salt on my Gorgonzola and aging it a little longer. I tried this and made my best Gorgonzola yet!

Jim also suggested that aging my Colby longer will make it even better.

My milk source:

I first started buying my milk from a local health food store and had good success but now I buy raw organic Jersey milk from the Milkhouse Farm and Creamery, just a few miles from my home. I have clearly noticed a difference in not only the color of my cheese, but the flavor is much better.

The owners of the farm, Caitlin and Andy do a lot for the community and supply yogurt to our local schools. I love the fact that I can go directly to the farm to buy milk. They also have vegetables, beef, pork, and lamb. They have the best bacon!

I also buy raw cream from Bisson’s in Topsham, Maine to use when I make triple crème cheese. They also have a farm store and sell their own meats and sausages.

Challenges along the whey:

I would have to say my biggest challenge was knowing when the curds have released enough moisture. Although I find the instructions on cheesemaking.com to be clear and descriptive, finding the right texture of the curd was difficult for me.

I’m also not the most patient person and sometimes having to wait up to a couple of months to see if I was successful wasn’t easy for me. The cheese making process has taught me to have patience!

Aging continues to be a struggle for me.

I do well with waxed cheeses, but still find natural rind cheeses to be a challenge – controlling the humidity and keeping mold off the cheese.

My other hobbies:

I’ve had many other hobbies over the years, but one that has been consistent for almost 20 years is glass work. I started out working in stained glass and now that has transformed to warm glass work that involves fusing layers of glass in a kiln and then slumping it on ceramic molds into different shapes and dishes.

I also knit mittens and hats for the Preble Teen Center (a place for homeless teens in Portland) where Moe volunteers.