WINCHENDON — Allie Catlin and her husband, Jake, left their nine-to-five jobs to become cheese farmers about five years ago.

When the couple heard that Dave Smith was selling his family farm, they gave him a call and he showed them the ropes.

“We called him out of the blue,” said Allie. “And about a year and a half later after working weekends and learning how to make cheese and care for the animals here, the purchase went through and we left our jobs, sold our house and moved to the farm.”

Prior to becoming a farmer, Allie managed a martial arts school, a fitness center and also worked as a personal trainer. Jake worked in federal law enforcement.

Now the couple manage Smith’s Country Cheese – located at 20 Otter River Road – where they sell their specialty cheese out of a quaint country store complete with penny candy, candles, craft beer and meat.

The meat they sell includes ground beef, hot dogs and “Farmstead Beef Cuts.” According to the store’s website, if you call ahead at (978) 939-5738, customers can request special cuts of beef, such as: rib eye, steak tips, short ribs, stew beef, and marrow bones.

Some new cheese offerings this year are ghost pepper gouda, which Allie describes as “spicy, but balanced out by creaminess” and cheese sticks, which are growing in popularity.

“They are various flavors of our cheddars, cut into one-ounce sticks, which are snack size,” explained Allie. Adding, “Our most popular cheeses are sharp cheddar, smoked gouda and now our everything bagel gouda, which is a traditional gouda coated in the everything bagel seasoning that so many people like.”

According to Allie, most of their sales are a combination of retail and wholesale purchases.

“Wholesale is our biggest customer base. We will sell to farm stands, wineries, even some grocery stores like Whole Foods, but our retail customers are very supportive. People come to the farm, we have a spot at the Worcester Public Market where we sell cheese and this is farmer’s market season, too, so we will take our cheese into the city and sell it there,” said Allie.

In addition to their food products, the couple also sell loam and organic certified compost, which is manure mixed with woodchips and organic ash.

Smith’s Country Cheese is an active dairy farm with 200 Holstein Friesian cows behind their shop that are milked twice a day. Allie said that their manure could be a difficult biproduct to deal with, but she’s learned to manage it by turning it into compost in an Earth-friendly way.

“We have a state grant to install a heat recovery program,” said Allie. “The manure piles make a lot of heat and it would just go off and not be used, but we are able to capture it now and generate more heat to heat other piles that would take longer to age. So, we are harvesting that heat and using it elsewhere.”

And for those who now have a hankering for cheese now, Allie offered a “Smith’s Gourmet Macaroni & Cheese” recipe:

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 45-60 minutes

Serves: 6-8 people

Ingredients:

16 ounces pasta

3 cups cream sauce (recipe follows)

Buttered bread crumbs (recipe follows)

For the sauce:

6 tbsp butter

6 tbsp flour

3 cups milk

½ pound Smith’s Farmstead Gouda, shredded (we prefer smoked or garlic)

1/2 pound Smith’s Farmstead Sharp Cheddar, shredded

Salt and pepper to taste

For the buttered bread crumbs:

2 tbsp melted butter

½ cup bread crumbs or panko

 

If you are interested in seeing what Smith’s Country Cheese has to offer you can see their online shop here: https://smithscountrycheese.com/shop/ and/or follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SmithsCountryCheese.