Raised in Northern Saskatchewan by a little lake, berry picking was one of Jenni’s favourite activities. With no TV reception and long before the Internet, she spent her time cooking and baking with the bounty of the forest and dreaming of one day opening a “fancy” restaurant with food and art and live music.

Her first food business was operating a hamburger stand called Flight Delight at the La Ronge Airport with two friends the summer before ninth grade.

Several years in the Rocky Mountains expanded her horizons and allowed her to taste Canadian cuisine at its finest.

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In 2005, Jenni opened New Ground Cafe’ in the small farming community of Birch Hills, Saskatchewan as chef, owner, hostess and server. It was one part Fair Trade coffee shop with Red River Cinnamon Buns as a nod to her Métis heritage, one part bustling lunch stop with hearty soups and bannock and one part fine dining with fixed price evening meals, live music and rotating art displays.

Flax, hemp hearts, barley, red fife wheat and Saskatoon berries joined her beloved Northern ingredients to create a menu featuring Saskatchewan’s best from Canadian Shield to Prairie Field.

Jenni balanced her long days in the kitchen walks past fragrant caraway fields and vibrant borage crops. Colours, scents and the wide open sky renewed her spirit to cook another day.

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After nearly 8 years of restaurant life, Jenni sold the 100 year old brick building that had housed so much laughter, music and feasting and headed to Saskatoon. Catering, speaking and teaching all over the province created a following of clients eager for Jenni’s unique blend of cooking and storytelling.

As Chef in Residence at the Saskatoon Farmer’s Market from 2013 to 2016 she found new and exciting recipes to highlight vendor’s products, from pickled beef to edible flower butter.

In 2019 Jenni closed the catering arm of her business to become the first female and Métis Executive Chef at Wanuskewin Heritage Park, a world renowned Indigenous Interpretive Centre, where she’s still involved as the culinary consultant and chef for the Han Wi dinner series.