milkslinger

April 4, 2024

Two years ago I started a YouTube Channel. Last month, I registered to be an LLC (official business name: JJ Murch LLC). I opened a business bank account, got a debit card, and attended a local business class. And I finally, finally, FINALLY settled on a brand name. 

a surprise gift from my older daughter

My daughter-in-law helped me set up a spreadsheet for tracking business expenses. My brother is helping me set up a website. I’ve hired someone to turn my videos into written recipes which I plan to sell as PDFs . . . once I get my online store up and running, pant-pant. I got a subscription to Brevo, am learning all about email marketing, and launched Splashed!, a weekly newsletter. Tomorrow I’m setting up a PO box so I can receive correspondence from viewers and readers.

And I’m working on developing a logo.

I was the guinea pig for a graphic design college class (the students were fantastic and the process helped me clarify what I want), have done lots of doodling (a family gathering is a perfect time to bring out the paper and pencils, especially when there’s an artist in the mix), and am now consulting one-on-one with a graphic designer, a gift from my son and daughter-in-law. 

It’s kinda wild, this whole “starting a business” deal. Three years ago I was just beginning to make cheese in earnest and now here I am making mountains of cheese each week, dreaming of a cheese cave, and chatting with cheesemakers, both amateurs and professionals, all over the world (Spain! Mexico! South Africa!). For the longest time, I didn’t talk about my goals for this project, this business, but I’m feeling much more settled now. I know what I’m doing. The expected and hoped-for growth is happening. I can see where I’m headed. 

So what do I do?

Well, yesterday I got up at 4:30 (because I couldn’t sleep, not because I’m noble) and edited videos. I made and filmed a new cheese. I opened, tasted, and filmed a Manchego. I went to kickboxing and showered. I ordered some cheesemaking supplies and scheduled a couple meetings. I played Ultimate and showered (again), ate supper on the rug in front of the fire with my husband, played our NY Times games, and watched some Netflix.

Today, I’ve responded to emails, edited videos, (mostly) finalized the next newsletter, filmed some cheese maintenance, scheduled a community post, made a coffee cake, attempted to nap, munched twizzlers, photographed a random snow squall, mixed up a batch of focaccia, made some business calls, and worked on this post. 

Tomorrow I’m making (and probably filming) another cheese, as well as editing video. (The video editing is endless.) I’ll make sourdough. I’ll go for a run in the morning if it’s not raining (just this afternoon it rained, hailed, snowed, blew, and shone; welcome to Virginia!), and maybe I’ll walk with a girlfriend in the afternoon. 

So! To sum up: there’s a lot of list making and crossings-off, thinking and thumb twiddling, plus there’s goodly amount of plain old Sitting My Butt Down, followed by endless squirming, with a few bursts of productivity sprinkled throughout.

It’s all very mundane and non-glamorous, but also equal parts hectic and blissful. 

This same time, years previous: the quotidian (4.3.23), the quotidian (4.4.22), ground beef chili with chocolate and peanut butter, instead of a walk, kickboxing, caribbean milk cake, a trick for cooking pasta, the quotidian (4.4.16), red raspberry pie.

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19 Comments

  • Heather N Ogden

    February 19, 2026 at 10:13 am Reply

    Oh my goodness!! I made my first ever cheese and I tried your Fat Cow. I think my husband is more excited to see the cheeses air drying than I am lol. He has a ton of pics on his phone and he is bragging to all his friends (and now HE is watching your videos to see how to make me a decent cheese press instead of the improvised one we have now.)
    It is only 2 weeks old and there is a lot of whey in the bag. I didn’t want them to get slimy and mushy so I took them out, dried them off and then snuck a taste HOLY COW!!! So good, creamy and delish!
    Makes me feel good to know that following your recipe and videos even if things don’t go “exactly” as planned it can be recovered and still taste wonderful!
    Totally builds confidence to have the first cheese succeed and I can only think it will taste better in a couple of weeks when it’s done aging.
    Thank you so much for being you and letting us see all the successes, mistakes and the real life that happens in your home while you film. Let’s me know that not everything has to be perfect to get a wonderful result!

  • Sandra Wood

    January 26, 2026 at 8:18 am Reply

    Love your videos. You have inspired us. We can’t get unpasteurized milk (we don’t have a farm and in Canada you cannot buy it), but we can get non-homogenized. We make yogurt and from that yogurt cheese. I’ve also made ricotta. But you have shown us that it’s possible to do so much more. You are so real and down to earth, thoroughly enjoy watching your adventures in cheesemaking!

  • Judith Schwartz

    January 26, 2026 at 6:44 am Reply

    I was so happy to find you. Will be signing up for your class. I live in a rural part of Virginia. In fact in a dairy farming area but can’t buy raw milk. I can however buy Cream line milk. Can I clabber that milk?

  • Susie Eagleton

    August 11, 2025 at 3:50 pm Reply

    This sounds so exciting and lovely 🙂 I made my first cheeses this week, granted it was only cream cheese and a queso Blanco but I was so happy and bouncing around the kitchen. I wouldn’t even have tried before watching your channel so thank you for this so much xx

  • Simon Jones

    April 11, 2025 at 12:57 pm Reply

    Thanks for the you tube channel , I am now on my 3cheese and loving it . I’ve not tasted any yet but that comes in 4 weeks fingers crossed .

  • renee johnson

    September 15, 2024 at 3:46 pm Reply

    I found your you tube when I was searching for information on clabber milk. I love your site an am learning a lot on cheese making. I am self taught cheese maker for two years. The family isn’t so sure if they want to try it but I am starting to eat it and it is good. I watched one of your you tubes and saw that you used clabber milk which I just discoverered. I am wondering if you need to put clabber into the fresh milk then some of that milk for the culture that will go into the cheese.

  • Jennifer

    April 5, 2024 at 8:52 pm Reply

    SO EXCITING! I am also just starting a small business (farmstand with eggs and veggies, maybe breads and flowers). I have an LLC, a business account, a lawyer, and an accountant (who is quite up our butts these days with tax season upon us). We have a website but haven’t developed it yet. And an Instagram and fb and YouTube. And Nextdoor. And logo ideas. All waiting for attention. It’s soooo much work. And the SPREADSHEETS. GRRR. Wanna screenshot yours or something? My accountant wants us to get quick books. But it’s *yet another expense* that gives me angst. Can i just grow veggies please and magically make money? And watch your YouTube channel in my downtime?
    So happy that your whirlwind is coming together. It’s a beautiful thing to watch.

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