Cheese it!

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The best ricotta in the world? It’s made in Skowhegan, Maine.

(And by a Wheaton girl, no less)

People who live near Skowhegan may already know that some of the best ricotta comes from a small-batch creamery housed in the former county jail. 

Now, the rest of the world knows, too.

Crooked Face Creamery this month took home the Super Gold medal for its plain whole milk ricotta at the 37th annual World Cheese Awards, held Nov. 13 in Bern, Switzerland. The Skowhegan cheesemaker also took home a Bronze medal for its applewood smoked ricotta.

“For our small creamery in Skowhegan, Maine, to be recognized on the world stage, surrounded by centuries-old traditions, is a testament to the power of hard work and a deep love for this way of life,” Crooked Face’s founder Amy Rowbottom said in a statement announcing the awards.

“Being awarded Super Gold and Bronze at this year’s World Cheese Awards is a moment I will never forget. When I look at this award, I see not only the quality of our cheese and thousands of batches it’s taken to get here, but the quality of the people who make it all possible by continuing to support small businesses like mine here in rural Maine.”

The World Cheese Awards, put on by the British organization the Guild for Fine Food, claims to be the largest and most prestigious cheese competition in the world. Participating this year were 5,244 cheeses from 46 countries, according to organizers.

The Super Gold award designates a cheese as one of the best in the world, as decided by a “super jury” of international judges, making it a finalist for the title of “World Champion Cheese.” The plain whole milk ricotta from the Skowhegan creamery was one of 110 cheeses to receive the distinction, Rowbottom said.

Two other Maine cheesemakers, from Waldoboro and Whiting, also won medals at this year’s awards.

Rowbottom, who grew up on a dairy farm, is a self-taught cheesemaker who started experimenting with the craft 15 years ago. She received her English degree from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, and worked in marketing, sales and publishing before deciding to return to the dairy industry.

In 2019, with her business growing, Rowbottom moved production from her family’s farm in Norridgewock to the Somerset Grist Mill at 42 Court St. in Skowhegan. The downtown mill, formerly the Somerset County Jail built in 1897 and closed in 2008, also houses Maine Grains, a farm-to-table restaurant, a local radio station and a knitting shop.

Rowbottom now sells a variety of cheeses — not just ricottas — and other accoutrements at her storefront and to wholesale customers across New England, mostly in Maine. She said she makes 10,000 pounds of fresh ricotta per year.

The retail shop is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday to Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. It is also open special holiday hours this week: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. It is closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and regular hours resume Friday.

Rowbottom also sells her products online at crookedfacecreamery.com.

I love premium cheeses, but I can never justify paying for such an expensive indulgence when shopping just for myself. But giving it as a gift offers a chance to purchase it without guilt, and offers the additional bonus of the pleasure of gift-giving, so that’s what I plan to do. I’m also a big fan of small businesses, and this looks like a good one to support; I thought I’d give it a shout-out, because it occurs to me that a number of readers here might be intrigued.

Contract on Lake

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On Merry Lane, actually, way up Lake next to Whitby School. 979 Lake Avenue, currently priced at $2.595 million after starting off in February 2024 at $2.9. The Mickster and I had occasion to visit the previous iteration of this house with clients back in 2017. At the time, it was priced at a preposterous $1.995 million and we went no further. Eventually the house did sell, in 2021, for $910,000; had it been priced appropriately from the start, it probably would have fetched $1.250-$1.3ish, but the real estate gods are not kind to fools or their agents.

In any event, the current owners did a nice job renovating the place, so a happy ending has been accomplished, more or less.

Whoo boy, this actually sounds like it might be a true story; glad I’m not in Campbell’s PR department, ‘cause they’re going to be busy this week

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“True” as in the executive said what the claimant says he did. The actual authenticity of the meat used in the company’s products is another matter.

Found it on Legal Insurrection, a reliable, conservative law blog; the VP in question has been suspended; and there are tapes.

Fakes‑Giving: Campbell’s 3D ‘Meat’ Allegations May Sour Holiday Soup Sales

Campbell’s places rantish vice president on leave during an investigation related to secret video taken of him claiming soup contains bioengineered meat and is meant for poor people.

A Campbell Soup Company vice president, identified in reports as Martin Bally, was secretly recorded making derogatory remarks about Campbell’s products, the customers who buy them, and the ingredients used, including claims about “bioengineered meat” and “chicken from a 3‑D printer.”

These comments surfaced as part of an employment discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by former security analyst Robert Garza, who says he was fired after reporting the executive’s rant.

Garza alleges that Campbell’s executive Martin Bally made the offensive remarks during a meeting in November 2024, which was intended to discuss his salary. According to the lawsuit, Bally made several comments about Indian workers and said that Campbell’s is “highly [processed] food” for “poor people.”

Garza said he informed his manager, J.D. Aupperle, about the comments on Jan. 10 and claims Aupperle did not encourage him to report the incident to human resources.

Garza was then “abruptly terminated from employment” just weeks later, the lawsuit says. The discussion between Garza and Bally was recorded, according to Detroit television station WDIV.

James Regan, a Campbell’s spokesperson, said the company was not aware of the recording before it aired on WDIV on Thursday and doesn’t know if it’s legitimate.

Bally’s description of the soup and the work environment was…spicy.

“We have s–t for f–king poor people. Who buys our s–t? I don’t buy Campbell’s products barely anymore. It’s not healthy now that I know what the f—‘s in it,” Bally allegedly said in the recording. “Bioengineered meat — I don’t wanna eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3-D printer.”

The rant didn’t stop there. According to the lawsuit, Bally made several derogatory comments about Indian employees, calling them “idiots” and saying they “couldn’t think for their f—ing selves.”

Garza also alleges in the filing that Bally admitted to regularly coming to work high from marijuana edibles.

Furthermore, the company has put the vice president on leave during the investigation.

The company also confirmed that Bally has been placed on leave during an internal investigation into the alleged comments.

“He has no filter,” Garza said of Bally. “He thinks he’s a C-level executive at a Fortune 500 company and he can do whatever he wants because he’s an executive.”

Garza said he recorded an hour-long rant by the top Campbell Soup Company executive because he said he trusted his “instinct that something wasn’t right with Martin,” when he went to meet with him to discuss his salary. Instead, he said he sat at a restaurant and listened to an explosive, hour-long tirade. He recorded all of it.

Garza is now suing the company — alleging racist remarks, admissions of drug use at work and retaliation after he tried to report it. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Wayne County Circuit Court and names Campbell Soup Company, vice president and chief information security officer Martin Bally, and supervisor J.D. Aupperle as defendants.

“But the problem isn’t confined to Michigan. Florida’s attorney general said he will “shut down” violators of the state’s law on lab-grown meat and indicated he is launching an investigation into Campbell’s about the recorded claims.”

“We don’t do the fake, lab grown meat here in Florida. We’ll enforce the law and shut down!” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said on X.

Uthmeier said the state’s Consumer Protection division is launching an investigation into the company.

Federal rules for labeling lab‑grown or “cell‑cultivated” meat are still being finalized. Still, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) jointly regulate these products. The USDA requires truthful, non‑misleading labels, and is moving toward standardized terms like “cell‑cultivated” or “cell‑cultured” in the product name.

If Campbell’s Soup were using bioengineered meat in its products without clearly indicating its presence, the company would face serious problems. Several states have their own branding requirements and will likely move to join Florida in their own investigations, especially if it looks like the allegations may be true.

At the very least, some Campbell’s VP is in for an unpleasant holiday season, as is, possibly Campbell’s legal counsel. You know that the plaintiff and his lawyer didn’t show up in a television studio until after settlement negotiations had broken down — or that would be my supposition, anyway. Depending on what their final demand number was, someone on the defense team may right now be explaining to his bosses why, exactly, he’d advised Campbell’s to reject it.

But wait, there's more! (Update — and still more!)

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Remember that Democrat running for the Nashville congressional seat who, an unearthed podcast showed, had unkind things to say about the city she hopes to represent?

Full quote: “I hate the city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music, I hate all of the things that make Nashville. I hate it."

Now, more has been revealed. Personally, I think this whack-job will fit in perfectly with her peers currently infesting the capital, and I imagine Democrat voters will agree.

UPDATE: She was already a shoo-in, but this will clinch it:

Ooh! And this.

"A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes". Of course, that was said in the pre-internet era; today, it spreads faster, and farther

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OH, THE HUMANITY1

His post has over 23 million views. How many see the ones below?

Minnesota Fraud, Part Two: protect the base

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Who’d ever have expected this?

Minnesota Democrats Defend Somalis amid Massive Fraud Investigations

Minnesota Democrats have sided with the state’s Somali community despite evidence of widespread Somali fraud of taxpayers’ healthcare programs.

Numerous investigations have uncovered billions in fraud among several of Minnesota’s overly generous welfare schemes. The cases of fraud are astounding. In one case, a group called “Feeding Our Future,” run by Somalis, bilked $250 million from the state. In another case, tens of millions were stolen from the state’s autism treatment program, again by Somalis. And in a third situation, more than $550 million was stolen from Minnesota’s coronavirus pandemic relief program. And these are just a few of the investigations finding massive fraud, much of it tied directly to the state’s large Somali community.

Worse, millions of dollars of this stolen funding appear to have been redirected by Minnesota Somalians into the hands of the African terror group Al-Shabaab.

But as the fraud, investigations, and indictments continue to pile up, many Minnesota Democrats are rushing to support the state’s Somali community.

House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson, for instance, attacked President Donald Trump for suggesting that temporary protected status (TPS) for Somalians should be ended.

“Last night’s announcement illustrates the worst of what Donald Trump does best. His policies are driving up the cost of everything from food to health care and he knows it,” Stephenson railed on Saturday. “But instead of actually trying to solve these problems, Trump tries to change the subject by pitting Minnesotans against one another. Scapegoating our Somali neighbors won’t bring down the cost of groceries. Minnesotans know that the Somali community is part of the fabric of our state. We’ll always stand with our Somali neighbors when shameless politicians like Donald Trump try to use them for their political purposes.”

State Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy also weighed in on Trump’s plans.

“Donald Trump is villainizing a small number of residents of Minnesota who came to this country seeking refuge from armed conflict and famine,” Murphy bloviated. “They are the victims of violence and worthy of our protection and compassion. Ending their protected status would not make Minnesotans safer, but it would return these families to the danger they fled. This is a cruel, illegal order from a corrupt and vindictive President. We must reject his impulses to divide neighbors with hate and fear.”

Minnesota House DFL Floor Leader Jamie Long also defended the crime-wracked Somali community with a post on X, accusing the president of trying to “scapegoat” Minnesota’s Somali migrants.

For their part, some Somali leaders in Minneapolis are demanding that Christians come to their support to show solidarity with them against Trump’s attempts to end their protected status.

Several hundred Somalis descended on Karmel Mall in Minneapolis on Sunday to hold a rally to denounce the president after Trump called Minnesota a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”

“We know what our president has done. It is an attack on our community,” said Somali activist Khalid Omar. “He decided to also pit our communities against each other and attack our community,” he added.

And not just politicians; judges too

Hennepin County Judge Has Overturned a $7.2M Medicaid Fraud Conviction

The jury heard that Yusuf and his wife were charged and the jury learned his "home health company" was operated out of a mailbox at an address where multiple other "home health companies" als operated. The state showed they spent tens of thousands of dollars on luxury items.

The jury quickly found the couple guilty. Now, a judge in Hennepin County, Sarah West, has overturned that verdict.

Minnesota Welfare Fraud: it’s not just Minnesota, and it’s not just Somalians, and it's not limited to welfare, but together, they’re putting on a pretty good show

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For instance, these young entrepreneurs also run “multi-state sex-trafficking rings”

Here are some snippets from a lengthy article on what’s been going on (and continues to go on) up in the Gopher State:

City Journal

Minnesota is drowning in fraud. Billions in taxpayer dollars have been stolen during the administration of Governor Tim Walz alone. Democratic state officials, overseeing one of the most generous welfare regimes in the country, are asleep at the switch. And the media, duty-bound by progressive pieties, refuse to connect the dots.

In many cases, the fraud has allegedly been perpetrated by members of Minnesota’s sizeable Somali community. Federal counterterrorism sources confirm that millions of dollars in stolen funds have been sent back to Somalia, where they ultimately landed in the hands of the terror group Al-Shabaab. As one confidential source put it: “The largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer.

  • If you were to design a welfare program to facilitate fraud, it would probably look a lot like Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services program. The HSS program, the first of its kind in the country, was launched with a noble goal: to help seniors, addicts, the disabled, and the mentally ill secure housing. It was designed with “low barriers to entry” and “minimal requirements for reimbursement.” Nonetheless, before the program went live in 2020, officials pegged its annual estimated price tag at $2.6 million.

Costs quickly spiraled out of control. In 2021, the program paid out more than $21 million in claims. In the following years, annual costs shot up to $42 million, then $74 million, then $104 million. During the first six months of 2025, payouts totaled $61 million.

  • On September 18, the same day that the HSS fraud charges were announced, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that a man named Abdullahe Nur Jesow had become the 56th defendant to plead guilty in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme.

Founded in 2016, Feeding Our Future was a small Minnesota nonprofit that sponsored daycares and after-school programs to enroll in the Federal Child Nutrition Program. The organizations that Feeding Our Future sponsored were primarily owned and operated by members of Minnesota’s Somali community, according to two former state officials with connections to law enforcement.

In 2019, Feeding Our Future received $3.4 million in federal funding disbursed by the state. In the months after the Covid-19 pandemic began, however, the nonprofit rapidly increased its number of sponsored sites. Using fake meal counts, doctored attendance records, and fabricated invoices, the perpetrators of the fraud ring claimed to be serving thousands of meals a day, seven days a week, to underprivileged children. In 2021, Feeding Our Future received nearly $200 million in funding.

In reality, the money was being used to fund lavish lifestyles, purchase luxury vehicles, and buy real estate in the United States, Turkey, and Kenya. In 2020, Minnesota officials raised concerns about the nonprofit’s rapid expansion. In response, the group filed a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination related to outstanding site applications, noting that Feeding Our Future “caters to . . . foreign nationals.”

  • Just days later, on September 24, U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson announced his office’s first indictment in yet another fraud case. This time, the scheme involved federally funded autism services for children.

…. In a press release announcing the indictment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office made clear that the alleged autism fraud scheme extended to a wide network of people. “To drive up enrollment, Hassan and her partners paid monthly cash kickback payments to the parents of children who enrolled,” the release reads. “These kickback payments ranged from approximately $300 to $1500 per month, per child. The amount of these payments was contingent on the services DHS authorized a child to receive—the higher the authorization amount, the higher the kickback. Often, parents threatened to leave . . . and take their children to other autism centers if they did not get paid higher kickbacks.”

Much like with the HSS program, autism claims to Medicaid in Minnesota have skyrocketed in recent years—from $3 million in 2018 to $54 million in 2019, $77 million in 2020, $183 million 2021, $279 million in 2022, and $399 million in 2023. Meantime, the number of autism providers in the state spiked from 41 to 328 over the same period, with many in the Somali community establishing their own autism treatment centers, citing the need for “culturally appropriate programming.” By the time the fraud scheme was exposed, one in 16 Somali four-year-olds in the state had reportedly been diagnosed with autism—a rate more than triple the state average.

“This is not an isolated scheme,” Thompson, the U.S. attorney, said in a press release. “From Feeding Our Future to Housing Stabilization Services and now Autism Services, these massive fraud schemes form a web that has stolen billions of dollars in taxpayer money. Each case we bring exposes another strand of this network.”

…. . The Feeding Our Future, HSS, and autism-services cases are far from the only examples. At least 28 fraud scandals have surfaced since Walz was elected governor in 2019. Most of the large-scale fraud rings, according to two former FBI officials who spoke with City Journal, have been perpetrated by members of the Somali community.

  • …. According to multiple law-enforcement sources, Minnesota’s Somali community has sent untold millions through a network of “hawalas,” informal clan-based money-traders, that have wound up in the coffers of Al-Shabaab.

….

“Every scrap of economic activity, in the Twin Cities, in America, throughout Western Europe, anywhere Somalis are concentrated, every cent that is sent back to Somalia benefits Al-Shabaab in some way,” the former official said. “For every dollar that is transferred from the Twin Cities back to Somalia, Al-Shabaab is . . . taking a cut of it.”

….

Gaither, the former state senator, said … that if you talk to law-enforcement officials and others close to the probes, “they will tell you off the record that we aren’t even close to being halfway there” in understanding the true scale of the fraud.

Mind you, these fine people do have their defenders:

Ilhan Omar: 'Somalis Have Always Been the Fabric of This Nation

First he bought Twitter and introduced Community Notes to give readers a chance to add context. Now he's revealing the country of origin of these "American" posters. No wonder the Left hates him.

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Glenn Reynolds:

MY NEW YORK POST COLUMN: Elon Musk’s zeal for truth reveals the online frauds aiming to divide us. Key bit:

We’ve heard a lot in recent years about “misinformation” and “disinformation” on the Internet, which officials in both the United States and the increasingly totalitarian European Union have used as an excuse to censor ideas they don’t like.

Inevitably, the ideas they dislike are those coming from their political opponents.

But Musk on Friday didn’t censor people for lying. He revealed them as liars.

Rather than repression, he chose illumination. . . .

Musk chose transparency over “security,” and in so doing he ripped the masks off tens (hundreds?) of thousands of fake accounts that have been doing real harm to America’s political discourse — without silencing anyone.

More effectively, too: Censoring deliberately divisive accounts makes it look like you’re hiding something.

Exposing fake ones makes clear who’s doing the hiding.

Learn from Elon. He’s a smart guy.

I took Reynolds up on his invitation to read the full article and so should you; it’s excellent.