Molly Yeh (born May 22, 1989) is an American

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (food), course (appetize ...

author, television personality, restaurateur, and

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

ger. She is the host of the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

cooking show A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in British English) is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a Television studio, studio set, or at the host's p ...

'' Girl Meets Farm''. She is trained as a musician and is a graduate of the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, but when she moved to her husband-to-be's family farm, she began devoting time to a food blog that evolved into her cooking show and subsequent cookbooks and a restaurant.

Early life

Yeh was born and raised in

Glenview, Illinois Glenview is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop. Per the 2020 census, the population was 48,705. The Village of Glenview is governed by New Trier and Northfield townships. According ...

, to Jody (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Shinbrod) and clarinetist

John Bruce Yeh John Bruce Yeh (born 1957) is an American clarinetist. He has been the assistant principal clarinetist and E-flat clarinetist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1977. Yeh is the founder and director of the chamber ensemble, Chicago Pro Mu ...

. Her mother is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and her father is

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

. She has an older sister, Jenna, who is a

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

, as well as a younger half sister, Mia. Yeh attended

Glenbrook South High School Glenbrook South High School, or GBS, is a public four-year high school located in Glenview, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago, in the United States. It is part of Northfield Township High School District, which also includes Glenbrook North H ...

and the

Midwest Young Artists Conservatory Midwest Young Artists Conservatory (MYAC) is a youth music and jazz organization based near Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest youth ensemble music program in the Midwest. MYAC was founded in 1993 in Evanston, Illinois, by Dr. Allan Dennis an ...

, where she was a member of two

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

ensembles—The Rattan Trio and Beat 3—that won consecutive gold medals (2004 and 2005) in the junior division of the

Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition The Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition is the largest and oldest continuous chamber music competition in the United States. In 1973, Joseph E. Fischoff and fellow members of the South Bend Chamber Music Society established a competition to ...

. She kept journals from a young age that she turned into her blog in 2009. After high school, she moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to attend the

, where she was editorial assistant and writer at ''The Juilliard Journal''; in 2011, she earned a

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

degree in percussion.

Career

After Yeh and her husband-to-be Nick Hagen moved to his family farm outside East Grand Forks near the North Dakota/Minnesota border in 2013, Yeh began devoting more time to her food blog, which included personal stories about her life on the farm. The blog gained attention in part due to Yeh's artistic food photography becoming popular on

Pinterest Pinterest is an American social media service for publishing and discovery of information in the form of digital Bulletin board, pinboards. This includes recipes, home, style, motivation, and inspiration on the Internet using image sharing. Pint ...

; in 2015 she was named "Food Blogger of the Year" by ''

Saveur ''Saveur'' is an online gourmet, food, wine, and travel magazine that publishes essays about various world cuisines. The publication was co-founded by Dorothy Kalins, Michael Grossman, Christopher Hirsheimer, and Colman Andrews. It was started ...

''. In October 2016, Yeh published her first book, ''Molly on the Range: Recipes and Stories from An Unlikely Life on a Farm'' (Rodale Books), for which she won the Judges' Choice

IACP Cookbook Award The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States–based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage. It was started in 19 ...

in 2017. Like her blog, the book combines Yeh's recipes and food photography with autobiographical stories. Yeh began hosting her cooking show '' Girl Meets Farm'' on Food Network, debuting on June 24, 2018. The series is recorded at Yeh's farm and features

Midwestern cuisine The cuisine of the American Midwest draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs an ...

as well as elements from her Chinese and Jewish heritage. Her show has been repeatedly renewed so, as of June 2025, there have been 15 seasons. In November 2018, she was a guest co-host on ''

From the Top From the Top is an independent nonprofit organization known best for its longstanding NPR radio and PBS television programs with the same name. Co-founded by Gerald Slavet and Jennifer Hurley-Wales in 1995, the organization showcases and devel ...

'', a podcast showcasing young classical musicians. Yeh had previously appeared on the show twice as a teenager, in 2004 and 2007. She hosted the Food Network competition shows ''Ben and Jerry's Clash of the Cones'' in 2021 and the eighth season of ''

Spring Baking Championship ''Spring Baking Championship'' is an American cooking reality competition television series that airs on Food Network. It was originally presented by chef Bobby Deen with fellow Food Network chefs Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pasca ...

'', which premiered on February 28, 2022. In 2022, Yeh opened Bernie's, a café restaurant in

East Grand Forks, Minnesota East Grand Forks (also known as EGF) is a city in Polk County, Minnesota, Polk County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 9,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Polk County's largest community. It is in the Red ...

specializing in Midwestern dishes with Scandinavian and Jewish influences.

Personal life

In 2014, Yeh married fellow Juilliard

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Nick Hagen a year after the couple moved to East Grand Forks, Minnesota where Hagen is a fifth-generation farmer. In November 2018, Yeh announced that she and her husband were expecting their first child. On March 30, 2019, Yeh gave birth to a daughter named after her husband's great-great-grandfather (who started the Hagen farm) and her own great-great-grandfather. In September 2021, Yeh announced she and her husband were expecting their second child in February 2022. Their second daughter was born on February 20, 2022. Her name was suggested by the

director of photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

for ''Girl Meets Farm''.

Bibliography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yeh, Molly 1989 births American people of Chinese descent 21st-century American businesspeople American cookbook writers American television chefs American women bloggers American bloggers Food Network chefs Juilliard School alumni Living people People from Glenview, Illinois American women chefs American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish bloggers Jewish women writers Chefs from Illinois American women percussionists Musicians from Chicago 21st-century American women writers International Association of Culinary Professionals award winners 21st-century American Jews