Come learn the basics of cheesemaking using what you have in your kitchen. In this class, participants will learn the hands-on process of making Ricotta, Paneer, and Caso Rexo (Buttermilk Farmer's cheese). We will go through the processes of culturing (using buttermilk), setting the curd, cutting the curd, cooking the curd, and draining and salting to produce squeaky cheese curds.

Presented by mother-daughter team Jean and Linnea Koons, Jean is the owner/cheesemaker at Kennebec Cheesery in Sidney, Maine. She grew up on a sheep farm in New Zealand but discovered the startling variety of cheeses in existence while living in Switzerland in the 1980s. After moving back to New Zealand’s South Island, Jean worked for Evansdale Cheese, the first artisanal cheese producer in New Zealand. In 2001 the family moved to Maine and started Kennebec Cheesery which was licensed in 2008. Jean is a founding and active member of the Maine Cheese Guild, set up in 2003. Linnea was born in NZ and worked at Kennebec Cheesery for 3 years expanding their cheese varieties.