The author and Food Network star stopped in Tempe on her book tour for “Sweet Farm!” and spoke to 12News about the book, her journey and what’s next.
TEMPE, Ariz. — Who doesn’t like dessert?
If you are a sweets lover, a whiz in the kitchen, or simply want to learn more about baking, Molly Yeh’s latest book “Sweet Farm!” should be in your “to-be-read” pile.
“I, of course, love sweets,” Yeh said. “Sugar is my favorite food group.”
When she stopped in Tempe at local bookstore Changing Hands for her Sweet Farm! book tour, the bestselling author sat down with 12News to talk about all things sugar, her journey, and writing her “only sweets” cookbook.
Yeh has authored three books, writes on her blog “my name is yeh,” is an Emmy award-winning and James Beard Foundation award-nominated star of Food Network’s series “Girl Meets Farm,” and is the co-owner of Bernie’s, a bakery and cafe in East Grand Forks, Minnesota.
As if that didn’t make Yeh busy enough, she was also named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list and the Forward 50, was a Glamour Woman of the Year in Food, and is a Julliard-trained classical percussionist outside the kitchen.
But her success didn’t happen overnight.
Yeh said that when she was living in New York City, training at Julliard, and playing in ensembles, she often found the most joy in her kitchen, creating recipes and in the New York food scene.
“I was just fascinated by the food scene in New York, and it started to become apparent that I was more looking forward to the restaurants and what I would eat after concerts and after my long day of practicing than I was actually practicing,” Yeh said.
It was this experience that led to the creation of her food blog in 2009 and, later, her cookbooks and Food Network show.
Her most recent book came out in early March, and Yeh said it is inspired by her husband’s roots as a fifth-generation sugarbeet farmer. His family immigrated to the United States from Norway almost 150 years ago.
“This book is for them,” Yeh said. “It is an ode to farming families everywhere.”
What Yeh didn’t know before she met and married her husband was just how much sugar comes from the harvest of sugarbeets — something she thinks many others may not know either.
“It’s so special living on a farm where I can see wheat and sugar being grown before my very eyes, and then I get to bring them inside to my kitchen and make sweets,” Yeh said. “It’s farm-to-cake here.”
Her favorite recipe in the book is the potato chocolate chip cookies, Yeh said.
“Who doesn’t love a chocolate chip cookie? Who doesn’t love a potato chip?” Yeh said. “Just put them together.”
In her latest book, Yeh said she hopes readers come away with joy after reading “Sweet Farm!”
“Sweets are joy. They’re pure joy,” Yeh said. “I’ll be the first one to say sugar is not a nutritious ingredient, but that’s OK because I think that the kind of joy that a cake brings to a special celebration is as nutritious for the soul as a vegetable.”
To purchase Yeh’s book, head to your local bookstore or online retailer.
If you’re interested in more events at Changing Hands, head to the bookstore’s event page.
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