A roundup of my top lifestyle and recipe posts from 2016. From buying a house to experimenting in the kitchen, it was a busy year!
Hi, friends! I hope you’ve had a wonderful week. Any fun plans for New Year’s? 2016 marks year two for this little blog and I worked hard to try and post more regularly and be more creative. It’s not always easy with an often hectic career in news, but I love being able to share my passion for cooking here. Thanks so much for reading!
As we get ready to head into 2017, here are the top Broadcasting Baker posts from 2016.
1. Review: Cravings Cookbook
I wrote this review back in May and I’ve probably cooked something from Cravings at least once a week since then. I love this cookbook more and more each time I try a new recipe. The coconut rice, chili and pad grapow have become staples in our house.
2. Our House: Inside These Walls
Buying our first house was definitely the highlight of 2016. Thanks to Facebook, we connected with some previous residents and learned more about the history of the home. We still exchange emails back and forth and even sent each other Christmas cards. It’s pretty amazing how technology can connect us.
3. Campside Crockpot Carnitas
What’s better than beer and tacos? Beer IN tacos! I made these carnitas using Upland’s Campside Sesssion IPA in honor of Bloomington Craft Beer Week. This was one of my favorite recipes of 2016!
4. Summertime Sangria
You cannot beat this authentic recipe for sangria that my mom snagged while she was in Spain. I always double the recipe because it disappears almost instantly every time we make a pitcher!
5. Our House: A Peek Inside
Looking back at this peek inside our house from back in September is so fun because we’ve already made lots of changes to our little bungalow! James and his dad have spearheaded several home improvement projects. I’ll have to update you on some of the changes soon!
6. The First Year
2016 was pretty special because James and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. It was fun to look back on everything we did in our first 365 days as a married couple: traveled to Italy, logged several miles cycling, discovered new breweries. It’s so cliche, but life with your best friend by your side is pretty amazing.
7. Buying Our First Home
Are you starting to notice a theme here? It’s crazy how much the house hunt seemed to dominate this year for us. We learned a lot along the way and this post features some lessons from the process.
8. Bloomington Craft Beer Fest
This was one of my favorite experiences of 2016. Indiana is lucky to have some of the best beer in the Midwest and being able to sample so many unique brews at one place was a blast. I did learn one very valuable lesson: eat lunch before embarking on a quest to sample every beer at the festival!
9. Cookie Butter Scones
I think this is one of my best recipes of all time, but that’s probably just because it involves cookie butter. These are addicting!
10. Apple Pie Sangria
Looking at these pictures has me lusting after fall. Indiana falls are absolutely beautiful and I think I made this sangria at least five times. It’s that good!
What were your favorite moments of 2016? Tell me in the comments!