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Topic: Best Of 2021

Chicken Parmesan Baked in Tomato Sauce (Getty Images/Lauri Patterson)

Salon Food's top 10 recipes of 2021

Adam Driver and Lady Gaga in "House of Gucci" (MGM/UA)

The worst film performances of 2021

Reminder Quit Job in calendar (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images/amnarj2006)

The sobering truth about quitting my job

Sun Shining Through Oak Tree Branches (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images/bruev)

Best of 2021: Sex in trees

Abbigail Nguyen Rosewood

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Ron DeSantis, Lauren Boebert and Mike Lindell (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

The year of Deeply Dubious Characters

Starbucks employees wait for results of a vote count, on December 9, 2021 in Buffalo, New York. - The ballots have been cast and employees of three Starbucks cafes in Buffalo have created the first union at outlets owned by the retail coffee giant in the United States. | In this handout provided by the U.S. Air Force, an air crew assigned to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron assists evacuees aboard a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in support of the Afghanistan evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 21, 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan. | Protesters march around downtown Minneapolis near the courthouse calling for justice for George Floyd after closing arguments in the Chauvin trial has ended on Monday, April 19, 2021 in Minneapolis, MN. (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

A bad year for the world: But still!

Lee You-mi in "Squid Game" | Danielle Pinnock as Alberta in "Ghosts" | Paulina Alexis as Willie Jack in "Reservation Dogs" | Samantha Hanratty as Teen Misty in "Yellowjackets" (Photo illustration by Salon/Noh Juhan/Netflix/CBS/Ryan Redcorn/FX/Colin Bentley/SHOWTIME)

10 breakout TV performances of the year

Hanh Nguyen, Melanie McFarland, Alison Stine, Joy Saha

Great-Uncle Allan (Photo illustration by Salon/Michael H. Hodges/Getty Images)

Looking for Uncle Allan: A queer odyssey

Michael H. Hodges

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Carl Clemons-Hopkins as Marcus in "Hacks," Demi Lovato, and Dua Saleh as Cal in "Sex Education" (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images/Netflix/Sam Taylor/HBO Max/Anne Marie Fox)

2021 was a very nonbinary year

Improvised desk on the balcony, with a wooden table, a digital tablet and headphones (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images/Sol de Zuasnabar Brebbia)

Best of 2021: Rapture in the Zoom

Rutherford Falls, Wandavision, Only Murders in the Building and Underground Railroad (Photo illustration by Salon/Marvel Studios/Disney+/Colleen Hayes/Peacock/Hulu/Atsushi Nishijima/Prime Video)

TV stars who delivered greatness in 2021

Hanh Nguyen, Melanie McFarland, Alison Stine

D. Watkins and Dante Barksdale (Illustration by Salon/D Watkins)

I failed my friend Dante Barksdale

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Ashleé and Addy (Photo illustration by Salon/Photo provided by Ashleé Clark)

Best of 2021: We were American Girls

A childhood photo of the author and her sister (Photo illustration by Salon/Photo courtesy of Danni Quintos)

My mom & I haven't talked about Atlanta

Razor on a sunrise (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

I shaved my legs like I found love

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