About

Jenny Jones hosted her own nationally syndicated talk show but that was just one of many jobs that Jenny has held, including waitress, bookkeeper, author, comedian, musician, singer, songwriter, caterer and philanthropist. Born to Polish immigrant parents, Jenny grew up in London, Ontario. Her father was the cook in the family, sparking Jenny’s lifelong interest in cooking. The independent teenager left home at seventeen to go on the road as a drummer in a rock ’n’ roll band. “When you’re used to healthy home cooking, eating in restaurants, or at least the ones I could afford, was no fun,” says Jones. She would often ask the nightclub staff to boil a dozen eggs for her, which she made into meals in her travels.

Jenny’s musical talent led to jobs as a drummer in an all girl band in Las Vegas, a backup singer for Wayne Newton, and finally a stand up comic in Los Angeles. As a struggling comedian she supported herself by cooking for others out of her home. “When I created Janina’s Kitchen, I got so busy I couldn’t keep up and had to hire a friend to help,” recalls Jones. “I shopped for groceries at night, cooked all day, and then delivered orders on my bike.”

When offered a chance to open for Sammy Davis, Jr. she quit catering to tour with Sammy as well as Tony Bennett, Dionne Warwick, Glen Campbell, The Pointer Sisters, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Loggins, Andy Williams, and Engelbert Humperdinck. Jenny then developed a revolutionary comedy show for women only called "Girls’ Night Out" whose enormous success landed her in Time Magazine, on Larry King Live and “20/20.” The flood of offers that followed included a daytime talk show. Jenny relocated to Chicago but not before renegotiating her contract for what mattered most…a full kitchen in her dressing room.

Taping her daily show was stressful work but Jenny relaxed on weekends by cooking. “People were amazed at how I simply never got sick. I credit my healthy home cooking and baking,” says Jones. Staffers always anticipated the next time Jenny would bring in homemade sweets. “I've always loved sweets," says Jenny, "so I had to find ways to make them as healthy as possible, usually replacing butter with oils and reducing sugar. And I use whole grains whenever I can."

Jenny’s recipes have been published in various newspaper columns as well as Redbook Magazine, Woman’s World and TV Guide and her cookbook collection numbers over 300. Her cooking is simple and based on her continual health and nutrition research. “Diets don’t work,” she says. “What does work is to cook your own healthy meals and avoid fast food, processed food, and saturated fat.” That’s what I’ve always done and I have maintained my weight and never missed a day of work in my life.”

In 1997 Jenny's autobiography, Jenny Jones: My Story" was published with 100% of her proceeds going to breast cancer research. In 2006, her cookbook, “Look Good, Feel Great” was published with 100% of her proceeds going to breast cancer research at City of Hope. The cookbook earned rave reviews on www.Amazon.com and was so well received that it was translated into Chinese.

In 2013, Jenny requested and was given permission from her publisher to share all of the recipes in her cookbook for free at JennyCanCook.com. She is updating and simplifying some of those recipes to include with all of her new recipes and she has also made the entire cookbook available to anyone who wants it, as a free download.

Besides her philanthropy (Jenny has given millions of dollars to communities in need), Jenny also strives to make a difference by sharing her recipes and cooking videos. Her simple cooking has garnered millions of fans from all over the world on YouTube and on her website. Her healthy baking seems to be the most popular because she has developed delicious and healthy desserts, all made without butter. "With a family history of high cholesterol," she says, "baking without butter has become my specialty, and I'm here to prove you don't need butter to make delicious and decadent desserts."