Best Recipes of 2021

Talk about a roller coaster! Last year was filled with so many ups and downs, and so many curveballs. It seemed like “normal” changed every couple of months, making it hard for me to keep up with life and stay motivated. 2021 was a quieter year here on Books n’ Cooks, but it was still delicious.

It’s always fun to look back on the year to see both reader favorites as well as my personal favorites. It’s also fun to compare to social media. None of my reader’s favorite dishes were in my top 9 Instagram posts! So come along with me and check out the top 10 recipes published on Books n’ Cooks in 2021, as well as the top 3 reader favorites overall. 

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Best Books of 2020

Earlier this week, I shared reader’s favorite recipes from 2020. Today, it’s time to recap last year’s reading, highlighting some of my favorite and reader favorite books. 

My goal for 2020 was to read 24 books. If you follow me on Goodreads, you’ll see that I blew past that with 50, but it’s a bit misleading – over a dozen of those books were novellas that accompanied a couple of young adult series I got into. I’ll leave it to you to decide whether that should count, but needless to say, I met my goal! I did read a bit more that usual because of COVID. My family was under a stay-at-home order for about 6 weeks and there were multiple weeks when I was not working. While we had some normalcy for a few months, life was never really normal, as we continued to avoid shopping in stores and didn’t see quite as many friends and family as usual… 

3 shelves of a bookshelf filled with books

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Reader Favorite Recipes of 2020

Happy 2021! Never have I been so happy to welcome in a new year, filled with optimism about what the future holds. 

This week, I’m celebrating the end of 2020. While I can’t yet say goodbye to the pandemic, nor put my kids on a school bus and send them off to a more patient teacher than myself…. I can look back on the good from 2020. More family time. A Disney World trip that we snuck in just before the pandemic hit, that the kids talked about all year. More time outside and exploring local treasures. Getting a puppy who is adorable when she’s not driving me crazy. And more time doing things I enjoy, like reading, cooking, and crafting. 

photo of Miss Hazelnut, the dog, and Mr Nutternbutter in front of our christmas tree

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12 Lunch Recipes to Inspire You

12 Lunch Recipes to Inspire You - pictured is a Chicken Caesar Lettuce Wrap on a Plate, Pizza Pasta Salad in a Bowl, BBQ Chicken & Veggie Pasta Salad in a Bowl, and Meat, Cheese and Veggie Kabobs on toothpicks

August is usually Back to School time for us. While this year is going to look a little different, some things don’t change. I’ll still be packing my lunchbox and going to work, although maybe a little less frequently than in the past. And the kids will still need to be fed lunch – not at a school cafeteria this year but at home in our kitchen. 

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Best Recipes of 2019

Today I’m looking back on 2019 – some of your favorite recipes that I’ve posted. This is always a fun post to write. I enjoy looking back on what I shared over the year, delight in seeing some of my personal favorites among my most popular posts as well as a few surprises, recipes that I enjoyed (of course I enjoyed them, otherwise I wouldn’t have shared them!) but that I didn’t realize how much you enjoyed them as well! 

Books n' Cooks Best Recipes of 2019

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