10 Things You Didn't Know About Molly Yeh

Posted on August 30, 2018 by Brent Furdyk

Known for her award-winning food blog My Name Is Yeh, Molly Yeh brings her unique take on cuisine to Food Network Canada with Girl Meets Farm, premiering Sunday, August 2 at 10 am. For those not familiar with the star and her blog, here are 10 things you might not know about Molly and her fascinating life cooking up sumptuous culinary creations on her North Dakota farm.

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Yay, Molly!

Molly Yeh (her last name is pronounced "Yay") lives on a sugar-beet farm in Grand Forks, North Dakota with her husband (aka "eggboy").
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She's a Musician!

“I graduated from Juilliard with a degree in percussion,” <a href="http://mynameisyeh.com/about/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">she writes on her blog</a>, adding that it was during her time in New York City that she truly fell in love with food. The Juilliard School is also where Yeh met her husband, a fifth-generation North Dakota farmer and trombonist who was likewise studying music at the famed performing arts college. These days, Yeh still performs occasionally, and even writes music reviews for classical music radio station <a href="https://www.wqxr.org/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">WQXR</a>. Music is in Yeh's blood; <a href="https://cso.org/about/performers/chicago-symphony-orchestra/clarinet1/john-bruce-yeh/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">her father</a> is a clarinet player with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — and was the first Asian-American musician ever appointed to the orchestra.
Instagram/@mollyyeh

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She Baked Her Own Wedding Cake

When Yeh got married, guests enjoyed her signature <a href="http://mynameisyeh.com/mynameisyeh/2014/9/funfetti-cake" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Funfetti cake</a>, which served as the couple's wedding cake, while Yeh also created all the wedding desserts. "Our wedding dessert table was my baby," <a href="http://mynameisyeh.com/mynameisyeh/2015/3/our-wedding-desserts-tips-for-making-your-own-wedding-desserts" rel="noopener" target="_blank">she wrote</a>. Meanwhile, after the couple said "I do," wedding guests threw sprinkles instead of the traditional confetti.
Instagram/@mollyyeh

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She's an Author!

In 2016, Yeh published her first cookbook, <a href="http://mynameisyeh.com/cookbook" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Molly on the Range</a>, which she says never would have been produced had it not been for her mother and husband. <a href="https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/molly-yeh-cookbook-molly-on-the-range" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Speaking with Bon Appetit</a>, Yeh admitted that she would have been perfectly happy to have her recipes live online, but they encouraged her to create "this physical thing."
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Molly's Viral Breakthrough

After launching her food blog <a href="http://mynameisyeh.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">My Name Is Yeh</a> back in 2009, Yeh — who is half Chinese and half Jewish — explored recipes that meshed both sides of her heritage. One of these was her recipe for a <a href="http://mynameisyeh.com/mynameisyeh/2013/9/recipe-pretzel-challah" rel="noopener" target="_blank">pretzel challah</a> (pictured), which went viral after she posted it on her blog in 2013, and proved to be the recipe that put her on the map.
Instagram/@mollyyeh

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Her Gingerbread Farm

Yeh once <a href="http://mynameisyeh.com/mynameisyeh/2014/12/a-gingerbread-farm?rq=gingerbread" rel="noopener" target="_blank">recreated her North Dakota farm in gingerbread</a> "It's not totally to scale and it's actually a vision of what the future will look like because there is a hot tub and a few ponies romping around," wrote Yeh of her creation, "and with the exception of the pink tractor, it is all edible!"
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A Month of Schnitzel

Back in the day when she was living in NYC attending Juilliard, Yeh ate <a href="http://mynameisyeh.com/mynameisyeh/nameisyeh.com/2010/09/schnitzel-month-victory-lap.html?rq=schnitzel" rel="noopener" target="_blank">nothing but Schnitzel for an entire month</a> when she won a month's worth of schnitzel from a local food truck. In fact, Yeh has proclaimed her <a href="https://www.ofakind.com/stories/7439-The-Insider-Molly-Yeh" rel="noopener" target="_blank">favourite quote</a> to be, "If life gives you lemons, squeeze them on a schnitzel!"
Instagram/@mollyyeh

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Birthday Breakfasts

Yeh has made a vow to herself that she will eat nothing healthy on her birthday, and each year she kicks off her big day by treating herself to a "fatty breakfast sandwich." For her 2015 birthday, she whipped up a downright delicious, artery-clogging <a href="http://eatinmykitchen.meikepeters.com/meet-in-your-kitchen-molly-yehs-ricotta-bacon-egg-birthday-sandwich/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Ricotta, Bacon and Egg Sandwich</a>.
Global News

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Oh, Mandy

In <a href="https://www.ofakind.com/stories/7439-The-Insider-Molly-Yeh" rel="noopener" target="_blank">a 2014 interview</a>, Yeh revealed the one celebrity who would leave her starstruck: actor Mandy Patinkin, known for his roles in The Princess Bride and TV hit series Homeland.
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She Names Her Chickens

Among the many animals who live on her North Dakota farm, Yeh and her husband raise chickens — and she names them! And not just any name; as Yeh explains, she likes to name her chickens <a href="http://www.freshstylemag.com/sneak-peek-foodie-blogger-molly-yeh/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">after the male pen names of female authors</a>, resulting in chickens with such names as George Eliot (a.k.a. Mary Anne Evans), Curer Bell (Charlotte Bronte) and Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling). However, she refers to her chickens collectively as "Macaroni."
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