It's a cheesy business: Crooked Face Creamery moves to Skowhegan

Amy Rowbottom grew up in the Skowhegan area working on her parents' farm in Norridgewock.

That's where she discovered her love for cheese making.

Rowbottom says, "I just started nights and weekends and leaning as I went and fell in love with the process."

In September, she moved her business, Crooked Face Creamery, from her parents' farm to Court Street in Skowhegan where she makes, packages, and sells cheese.

She adds, "It is one of those things where you can't be half in. It brings me a lot of joy. I love this line of work."

It has been a decade since she first starting making cheese, and she credits her parents for teaching her to work hard.

Rowbottom says, "They're the hardest working people I know and so learned a lot about how to work hard and the values they taught me growing up for sure. It seems almost like a lifestyle. It's not like I wake up and I have to work today. It's my life, and I feel like that is farming."

Rowbottom says after graduating high school, she went to college out of state and earned a degree in English, but she says it wasn't her calling.

She says, "A few years later, after college and the working world, I felt a pull to come back to Maine and the farming lifestyle. After you leave and see other things you realize how special it is."

While she says owning a small business and making cheese isn't always easy, it is her passion.

She adds, "I love the cheese-making aspect of it. I also love the one on one with customers and just seeing them smile when they eat cheese. I love the chemistry and the art of it. I love taking this raw product and turning it into something totally different. It feels pretty magical."

If you would like to stop by and pick up some cheese, the hours are Thursday through Saturday from 10-2.