Camping & backpacking
Family trips meant loading packs, reading topo maps, and teaching kids to leave no trace. Nights under stars and mornings with coffee over a camp stove became a way of life.
About
A life measured in miles, meals, and meaningful making.
A brief introduction
Endurance, craft, and a deep curiosity for the world.
Jennifer Dusenbery grew up as a long-distance runner, learning early that progress comes from steady repetition, patience, and showing up again the next day. That discipline carried her through NCAA competition, across North American coastlines on a surfboard, and into a life of rigorous, joyful making.
She raised children while training for half marathons and high-altitude long-distance races, built a home around organic gardening and from-scratch baking, and spent years exploring national parks, backcountry trails, and countries far from home. Along the way, she became a volunteer equestrian trail guide, a pack-out chef, a personal chef for destination weddings and celebrations, and a menu designer for private clients and institutions.
Her formal training — a BS in Nutrition and a BA in Graphic Design — sits alongside decades of hands-on practice. The result is a uncommon blend: someone who can design a brand, plan a season of menus, and navigate a mountain trail with equal calm.
Athlete
Built by long miles and early mornings.
Running came first. Jennifer grew up logging miles before school, learning pacing, breath, and the quiet confidence that arrives after the hardest part of a run. In college, she competed for the NCAA, racing distances that demanded both physical and mental discipline.
Later, while raising children, she returned to racing — half marathons on the coast, high-altitude mountain races above the tree line, and trail runs that tested stamina as much as navigation. The training was never about speed alone; it was about presence, self-reliance, and the capacity to keep moving forward.
Pacific & beyond
Surfing North American beaches.
Between road trips and relocations, Jennifer learned to read the ocean the same way she read a trail: by watching shape, timing, and weather. Surfing became a second language — early sessions in cold water, longboards on point breaks, and a respect for the rhythm of tides and swell.
The coast has always been a home base. Whether in California, Mexico, or the Pacific Northwest, the water taught her to wait, to commit, and to find joy in the attempt even when conditions were imperfect.
Family
Raising children while chasing start lines.
Motherhood added a new dimension to endurance. Jennifer raised her children while continuing to race — fitting training into school schedules, packing snacks for trailheads, and teaching by example that strength and care can coexist.
High-altitude long-distance races became a particular focus: thin air, exposed ridges, and descents that required as much judgment as fitness. The same qualities applied at home — patience, planning, and the ability to adapt when the day did not go to plan.
Home & hearth
Organic gardens, from-scratch baking, and a small barnyard.
At home, Jennifer built a kitchen and garden rooted in seasonality. She grew vegetables from seed, kept sourdough starters alive through winters, and raised animals that taught the family where food really comes from.
From-scratch baking became a daily ritual — berry pies in summer, galettes when stone fruit arrived, and loaves that filled the house before sunrise. The garden dictated the menu long before she cooked professionally; it simply became the foundation of her approach to food.
Organic gardeningSourdoughSeasonal menusFarm-raised eggs
Exploration
National parks, world travel, and backcountry nights.
National parks
From desert canyons to alpine lakes, Jennifer explored the American park system with the same curiosity she brought to foreign cities — always on foot, always early, always paying attention.
World travel
Travel stretched the palate. Markets in Europe, street food in Asia, and coastal kitchens in Latin America all added techniques and flavors that now appear in her menus and designs.
On the trail
Volunteer equestrian trail guide and pack-out chef.
Jennifer volunteered as an equestrian trail guide along the Pacific Crest Trail, leading horseback trips through rugged terrain and teaching others to read the land. The work required horsemanship, navigation, and the calm to handle weather, wildlife, and long days in the saddle.
As a pack-out chef, she learned to cook real meals far from electricity — planning by weight, cooking over fire, and making food that restored tired bodies at the end of a hard day. That experience became the seed of her on-location catering philosophy: the setting is part of the menu.
Chef & designer
Personal chef at destination weddings and celebrations.
Jennifer brings the kitchen to extraordinary places: islands, forests, piers, cliffs, ships, and backcountry camps. As a personal chef for destination weddings and private celebrations, she designs menus that honor the location, the season, and the people gathered around the table.
Her menu design work extends beyond private events to institutions and brands that need thoughtful, season-driven food programs. Whether it is a one-night dinner or a year-long seasonal menu, the approach is the same: real ingredients, clear intention, and a sense of place.
Destination weddingsPrivate celebrationsMenu designOn-location
Education
Formal training, practical application.
BS Nutrition
A science-based foundation in human nutrition, metabolism, and food systems. The degree informs every menu Jennifer designs — not as a rigid rule, but as a lens for balance, nourishment, and performance.
BA Graphic Design
Training in typography, composition, visual identity, and communication design. The degree underpins her brand, web, and logo work — the same sense of proportion and restraint that appears in her food and her trail sense.
Connect
Let's make something meaningful.
Whether you are planning a destination celebration, designing a brand, or looking for a ski lesson, Jennifer brings the same steady attention to every project.