The Cheese Guide 17
make cheese, and then she returned to do an internship in Cowgirl
Creamery's make room. Other apprenticeships followed, including
a season at Tricklemore Dairy in Devon, England, and another stint
with Steve Tate and Carrie Bradds at Goat Lady Dairy, whom she
regards as good friends as well as mentors. "They gave me a 360-
degree view of cheesemaking," she says. "When I got back from
Goat Lady, I told my husband we were going to move to Oregon."
It was the move to Oregon, where Marcus' husband, Jim
Hoffman, had family in the area, that made Marcus' dream of
opening her own creamery financially possible. She needed
property with zoning that allowed her to operate an agriculture-
based business, enough space to build the creamery, good Internet
access that allows her husband to telecommute, and a house that
was move-in ready so Marcus could devote her attention to
creamery construction. Local agritourism was part of the business
plan, so they needed a place with that as well. They understood that
northern California's real estate market wasn't going to provide all
that for them at a price they could afford. Their search for the right
place in Oregon took them 10 months, ending in time to let
Marcus open her business in 2010.
Almost a decade in, Marcus is still experimenting with new
cheeses, playing with ideas that she can try out in small-format
cheeses that age comparatively quickly. She finds creative
challenges in the business end of the creamery too, and she still
loves pairing her cheeses up with customers who will love them.
"There's no one who sells cheese better than I do – or my husband's
pretty good at it too," she says. "The most rewarding stuff is just
eating the cheese that you made. There's that moment where you
cut into it and get all the aromas, and you know it's going to be
good.... We make good cheese. I love everything we make."
