Good Bye 2013 ~ Top Viewed 10 Blog Posts —-> A Toast to Past & Future!

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take a while. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

― Ira Glass

2013 has been a sweet year for Cook By Book! I feel super-ecstatic as I type. This was a first year of blogging for me. I was thrilled when I started this place in April, 2013. It has been 8+ amazing months of interaction with you all. I loouu you my readers and fellow bloggers! I am so thankful for you all. Really!! Through all the ups and downs of life, I have still been able to post 82 recipes on the blog! Hurraaayyy!!

Another milestone to be thankful for — I was able to achieve 100+ follows from fellow bloggers. Yippiii!! I thank them from the bottom of my heart! You all have been absolutely lovely and soo encouraging with your kind comments! ♥ ♥ ♥

A special thanks to Pinterest too! If you don’t follow my boards there please do so 🙂

The blogosphere is getting filled with ‘Top-10’ posts and I decided to jump on the bandwagon too. It will be a great post to look back to in a future. I pulled out the stats for the past year and made this list. The top post was of course the Homepage and third spot was taken by ‘About Me’ page so they don’t count. Top recipe posts were definitely the ones I had posted in the beginning of the year when I was an amateur (I still am!) so they may not be my best work. I will let you judge!

Here goes the list! Let me know in the comments which one is your favorite! 🙂

10. Kiwi Buttermilk Cake ~ Eggless

 9. M&M Oreo Cookie Bars

 8. No-Bake Kiwi Cheesecake with Oreo Crust

 7. Skinny Zucchini Boats

 6. Skinny Devil’s Food Cake Mix Cookies 

 5. Farfalle with Fresh Coriander and Cashew Pesto

 4. Mini Mango No-Bake CheeseCake

 3. Microwave Chocolate-Nutella Mug-Cake

 2. Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies

 1. Mountain Dew Cupcakes with Mountain Dew Buttercream Frosting ~ My Favorite & apparently yours too!!

Wish you all a Rocking New Year Eve & Happiest New Year!
Clink Clink! 😀
See you back in 2014!!!