Once upon a time I read a book. And that book was written by Seattle foodie native Molly Wizenberg. And that book was called A Homemade Life. Soon after finishing it, I was inspired to write a song. And that song is called Molly’s Cake.

I finally got around to recording the song. And here it is!

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The book is memoir-esque cookbook revolving around Molly’s life. She tells stories about her family, her boyfriends, traveling, school — all kinds of junk like that. She effortlessly intertwines them with tales of all the food she ate and cooked along the way. Inside each chapter Molly includes a recipe or two with explanations of what makes them special, always relating them back to a particular time in her life. It is very clear that food is a big deal to her. And it still is. Molly currently writes the most popular cooking blog in the universe.

I thought A Homemade Life was ok. I enjoyed a lot of it even though I wasn’t that into cooking (or memoirs) at the time. I did skip over all the recipes. I didn’t read a single one. My friend Kerry, whom loaned me the book (is it who or whom? I can never remember), however, IS into cooking and she read the shit out Molly’s recipes.  So there you have it.

My main inspiration for the song was Molly’s various relationships with the fellas as depicted in the book. In the song I imagine a scenario where Molly is being courted by a very handsome boy from Kent, WA who ultimately says something dumb and hearts proceed to get broken.

I performed the song with the Bushwick Book Club Seattle with Molly Wizenberg herself sitting in the audience. How cool is that! It was the first time I’ve ever performed a song inspired by a book in front of the person who actually wrote the book. It was a lot of fun. Molly said she liked the song. I remember her laughing a lot.

My Mom was also in the audience. I bought her a copy of A Homemade Life and Molly was nice enough to sign it for her.  I don’t think my Mom has read it yet. I will be sure to let you know when she has.

Here is a photo of my Dad and aforementioned Mom posing with the book.

I hope you like the song. Here are the words:

Molly’s Cake by Mike Votava

Molly you can sleep in my bed
I don’t speak French
I just pretend
I’m super impressed with your giant head
I feel bad for your turtle necks

Do you want to meet me for dinner?
I will make you a grilled cheese sandwich

Molly can cook while writing her book
fills up my plate
solving problems with cake
I know we just met but I’m willing to bet
that I’ll say something stupid
something really stupid

Don’t tell Molly you didn’t read the recipes
because you thought that they were boring

Is it too late to fill my heart with cake?
All of Molly’s cake