Monger Musings 020

Operation "seize the summer" is in full effect!

Hello cheese lovers! I blinked and we’re halfway through July. We’ve officially entered the sticky, sandy, sun-soaked season known on Martha’s Vineyard as “peak summer.” The temperatures are rising and so is the bumper-to-bumper parade of visitors. Here’s a little tidbit I’ll never get over: there isn’t a single traffic light on this island. Not one! Yet somehow, in July and August, approximately 150,000 humans gracefully (or not) navigate our two-lane roads armed only with stop signs, polite hand waves, and something locals call “island right of way.” It’s charming. It’s chaotic. It’s sort of miraculous.

We’re embracing the charming chaos and merging into the mix with our two (!!!) kids in tow. We’re not letting this sweet summer season pass us by! To that end, we’ve enacted what we’re calling operation seize the summer. Consider it a bucket list of sorts:

☀️ Dinners on the back deck

☀️ Late afternoon dips at Bend-in-the-Road Beach

☀️ Pool parties with friends

☀️ Pre-nap boat outings

☀️ Post-nap boat outings

☀️ Checking off farm stand visits on the MV Farm Passport

☀️ Testing every playground on the island

☀️ Rainy days spent at the libraries

☀️ Catching a fish!

☀️ Riding the Flying Horses Carousel

☀️ Clamming in Katama and making “stuffies” with our haul

☀️ Prolonging bedtime to catch a sunset

☀️ Making a wildflower bouquet

☀️ Petting the animals at MV Ag Society and the FARM Institute

☀️ Going for walks, ticks be damned!

Phew! It’s an ambitious list, but I think we can do it! I’ll report on our progress come October. As it turns out, I love an assignment. I hope you’ll take some time to seize the summer, too!

While I’ve got you, here are a few cheese-world happenings that I’d like to link out:

🧀 The Cheesemonger Invitational (CMI) happened at the end of June and it had me feeling all sorts of nostalgic. Congrats to the 2025 champ, Max Lazary! I attended my first CMI in 2022 and it was truly life-affirming. It confirmed my inkling that I wanted to build a career in the cheese industry. It’s a one-of-a-kind event that really captures the spirit of not only the cheesemonger profession, but dives deep into the entire cheesy supply chain. There are days of education and revelry before the competition even begins. I looked back at my notebook from June 2022 and here are some of the notable quotables that I wrote down:

• “Mongers are the last stop on the supply chain before the mouth; they are the ambassadors of cheese” - Adam Moskowitz aka Mr. Moo

• “Mongers are the gatekeepers of quality” - Molly Browne aka Dean of Mongers at Cheese State University

• Flavor = Taste + Aroma - Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin

• “Affinage is the art and science of aging cheese” - Josh Windsor

• “The commodity milk market does not incentivize small dairy operations” - Jasper Hill team

• “Cheese is the true reflection of a place” - Dave Gremmels, Rogue Creamery

🧀 My pal and certified cheese jester, Carrie Stenerson, sat down with Cheese Connoisseur’s Hannah Howard to talk all things brie: what it is, what it definitely isn’t, how it came to be, and where it’s headed. There’s a long-running joke in the cheese world that the most common customer question is “is this a brie?”. People usually know the name, but not much beyond that! This article sets the record straight, with facts and opinions, and plenty of ooey-gooey, bloomy-rinded wisdom.

🧀 Two news tidbits about the intersection of climate change and cheese caught my attention recently. First, big bad billionaire Bezos’s Earth Fund has committed millions to a research project that aims to develop low-methane-producing livestock through selective breeding, since cow burps are responsible for a large portion of global methane production. Second, ScienceNews warns that heat and drought brought on by climate change can affect what cows eat, which in turn impacts milk quality, which in turn impacts cheese deliciousness.

🧀 I was the recipient of two packages from cheese friends that happened to arrive on the same day. Michelle aka @columbuscurdnerd sent me a Parmageddon shirt and

Anne-Marie Pietersma

sent me her book (and some SUPER CUTE pics that her boo Adam took of Alex and Aurora while we were galavanting in the Northern Kingdom for Jasper Hill Cheese Camp last September. Squee!).

These sweet packages had me cryin’ in the clurb (my front porch)