When most people her age are starting to think about retirement, 61 year old Jean Mackenzie embarked upon a second career as a goat cheese maker.  There’s only one other licensed producer in Ohio. Despite the fact that she’s a relative newcomer to the field, Mackenzie’s fresh chevre just won five awards at the National Cheese Competition sponsored by The American Dairy Goat Association. Local chefs are lining up to buy all she can produce, including her flavored varieties: bleu, Tuscan herb, porcini mushroom, and a raspberry chipotle version she named Sweet Fire.

It began four years ago when she purchased a 30 acre farm in Hiram Ohio. The property, she says, looked like a little piece of Provence dropped into the countryside about 35 miles south of Cleveland. It was love at first sight. Without a very clear idea of exactly what she’d do with it, Mackenzie bought the place, hoping to gradually transition out of her 9-5 job as an administrator for a non-profit and into something farm-based. But when she was unexpectedly down-sized, her long range seven year vision turned into what she laughingly refers to as “a seven day plan.” She took a class in cheese making, discovered she had a natural feel for it, came up with a formulation that seemed right and had herself a new business venture. To drum up customers, she visited restaurants toting a cooler filled with her chevre and the chefs liked what they tasted. She also sells her stuff at some area farmers markets and select grocery stores.

MacKenzie’s cheese begins with milk purchased from a neighbor three miles down the road who has a herd of 200 goats. It takes 87 gallons to make 100 pounds of cheese, and she’s producing more than 300 pounds a week. Last year she invested in a pasteurizing machine and a 20 quart Hobart mixer but she still shapes every round and log of cheese by hand.

So far the most challenging part of the whole undertaking is getting the milk home. "I transport it in my station wagon, and am careful not to jostle it," she explains, "I put on my flashers and drive very very slowly, annoying everyone else on the road." And, she always plays classical music... "to keep the milk happy."

"This has been an amazing adventure," Mackenzie says "and I’m having the most wonderful time of my life.