Good morning, afternoon, or evening!
My name is Katherine Jones and I am the author of The Royal View. Here I will share my thoughts on various aspects of my life; family, cooking, recipes, travels, my food experiences, retirement, and being a business owner.
I was born and raised on the North side of Columbus, OH and come from a large family, whom I am very close with. We enjoy family gatherings and like all other families, we LOVE to eat! I am the second oldest of four children and have a whole slew of nieces and nephews. This is just immediate family, not to mention aunts, uncles, and cousins. I mention my family because I will make many references to them in future articles. They are my absolute inspiration and the reason for everything that I do.
I am recently retired following many years in corrections and law enforcement. While my career was very rewarding, it also drained me emotionally. I loved what I did and working with people, however I needed to make a change for my own well-being.
I always held a love for cooking. Probably because of all the practice I had growing up in a large family! :-) My family and I would spend summers in Southern Ohio in a very small town called Roxabell. This is where my maternal grandmother was raised and where I first learned to make apple butter. My great aunt Louise made THE BEST apple butter! When she passed away her recipes were lost and we were never able to replicate this delicious treat. Through many attempts over the years, I was able to create my own version of her spread, which I must admit is very close. ;-) It’s called Auntie Kat’s Apple Butter and was the first in my line of products at Royal Cottage.
Royal Cottage is the business I opened in early 2019 just prior to my retirement. We are a small cottage food operation and create unique flavors of fruit chutneys, jams, and butters. This post-retirement venture has been one of the most difficult, time consuming, yet one of the most fun, exciting, and rewarding chapters in my life. The inception of RC required a multitude of research and countless hours in the kitchen. In future articles I will talk about some of my hiccups and just outright mistakes I’ve made in my journey, but also share some of my successes and what I have learned along the way.
One thing I promised myself when I decided to retire was to travel more. So this summer I traveled to Tennessee and New Orleans. I had some amazing food and customer service, but on the flip side I experienced some disappointment. I will share some of my most memorable experiences from this trip and others.
I look forward to sharing my adventures, experiences,recipes, and yes...MY VIEW with you! Look for my newest article on the 1st of every month.
