Lindsey Aparicio, also known as The Goat Cheese Lady, strains fresh goat milk.
/ FOX21: Aly Myles
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Hidden 'just behind the rocks,' there's a small farm ran by two local food enthusiasts.
"We really value knowing where our food comes from and raising our kids knowing where their food comes from, and knowing the whole process," Lindsey Aparicio said. "Not just that chicken comes in cellophane at King Soopers, but it was actually alive and that ours have a good life and get slaughtered, and we eat them."
The Aparicios' used to have what Lindsey refers to as 'normal' jobs. She worked as an occupational therapist; her husband, Herbert, worked as a social worker. After leaving those jobs, they got involved with real estate.
"We thought we'd be the fix'n'flipper people, bought a variety of homes and fixed them up and put them in our rent-to-own program, so we were self-employed in that," Lindsey said. "But when real estate changed, we needed another source of income. I was looking to go back to work, and I did not want to."
Since it's illegal to sell goat cheese or milk without multiple licenses, Lindsey said she liked the idea of teaching how to make cheese instead.
For $50 to $75 a class, four to six people join Lindsey, deemed The Goat Cheese Lady, every Saturday and Sunday, and even a rare Friday, to come make everything from mozzarella to a basic hard white cheese. But, she wants people to get more from the class than just cheese knowledge.
"I want people to know that they can raise their own food in their backyard," Lindsey said. "It certainly takes a little extra work, but you can buy and shop as locally as possible, and that's what's going to support our local economy and help all of us in the local community."
Although Herbert said he was slightly wary of the idea at first, he said his wife has proven him wrong with sold out classes every weekend, teaching more than 350 students so far.
"She gets an idea, she gets it to work, finds out what she needs to do, and studies up, and pretty soon she's doing it," Herbert said.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKXRM