Oct. 30th, 2016

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This is the first time they've allowed early voting here on a Sunday, in my memory.



In September 1776, the vulnerable Continental Army under an unsure George Washington (who had never commanded a large force in battle) evacuates New York after a devastating defeat by the British Army. Three weeks later, near the Canadian border, one of his favorite generals, Benedict Arnold, miraculously succeeds in postponing the British naval advance down Lake Champlain that might have ended the war. Four years later, as the book ends, Washington has vanquished his demons and Arnold has fled to the enemy after a foiled attempt to surrender the American fortress at West Point to the British. After four years of war, America is forced to realize that the real threat to its liberties might not come from without but from within.
Valiant Ambition is a complex, controversial, and dramatic portrait of a people in crisis and the war that gave birth to a nation. The focus is on loyalty and personal integrity, evoking a Shakespearean tragedy that unfolds in the key relationship of Washington and Arnold, who is an impulsive but sympathetic hero whose misfortunes at the hands of self-serving politicians fatally destroy his faith in the legitimacy of the rebellion. As a country wary of tyrants suddenly must figure out how it should be led, Washington’s unmatched ability to rise above the petty politics of his time enables him to win the war that really matters.



On November 25, 1783, the last British troops pulled out of New York City, bringing the American Revolution to an end. Patriots celebrated their departure and the confirmation of U.S. independence. But for tens of thousands of American loyalists, the British evacuation spelled worry, not jubilation. What would happen to them in the new United States? Would they and their families be safe? Facing grave doubts about their futures, some sixty thousand loyalists—one in forty members of the American population—decided to leave their homes and become refugees elsewhere in the British Empire. They sailed for Britain, for Canada, for Jamaica, and for the Bahamas; some ventured as far as Sierra Leone and India. Wherever they went, the voyage out of America was a fresh beginning, and it carried them into a dynamic if uncertain new world.

A groundbreaking history of the revolutionary era, Liberty’s Exiles tells the story of this remarkable global diaspora. Through painstaking archival research and vivid storytelling, award-winning historian Maya Jasanoff re-creates the journeys of ordinary individuals whose lives were overturned by extraordinary events. She tells of refugees like Elizabeth Johnston, a young mother from Georgia, who spent nearly thirty years as a migrant, searching for a home in Britain, Jamaica, and Canada. And of David George, a black preacher born into slavery, who found freedom and faith in the British Empire, and eventually led his followers to seek a new Jerusalem in Sierra Leone. Mohawk leader Joseph Brant resettled his people under British protection in Ontario, while the adventurer William Augustus Bowles tried to shape a loyalist Creek state in Florida. For all these people and more, it was the British Empire—not the United States—that held the promise of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Yet as they dispersed across the empire, the loyalists also carried things from their former homes, revealing an enduring American influence on the wider British world.

Ambitious, original, and personality-filled, Liberty’s Exiles is at once an intimate narrative history and a provocative new analysis—a book that explores an unknown dimension of America’s founding to illuminate the meanings of liberty itself.
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Learn how to crochet gorgeous tiny hearts with this video tutorial
written by Jake Manning on September 14th, 2016



VERTICAL RUN STITCHING: (in Russian still yo'll get the gist)




CORD HEARTS:


HORIZONTAL HEART STRINGS:


It takes 21 stitches for a five-heart strand: from the third chain stitch, do 2 double crochets, 1 single chain stitch, 1 slip stitch, 1 single chain stitch, and then 2 double crochets. Skip a chain, add 1 slip stitch, skip another chain, and then repeat.

At the end, flip it to work on the next row. Add 2 half double crochets, 2 single crochets, 1 double crochet, 2 single crochets, and 1 half double crochet to the center of the heart. Slip stitch to the next chain, and then repeat until you reach the end — then weave it closed, loop it, or tie the entire chain around something (a parcel, candle, etc.).

It might seem confusing, but check out the website for more detailed instructions!
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CLASSIC APPLE CRISP

yield: 9 to 12 servings
prep time: 20 minutes *** cook time: 55 to 65 minutes *** total time: 1 hour 25 minutes
This apple crisp is filled to the brim with amazing apple flavor and topped with the perfect oat crumble. The best apple crisp I've ever had!


INGREDIENTS:

For the Filling:
3 pounds apples, to yield 2 pounds peeled, cored, and sliced apples; about 9 cups
¼ cup rum, apple cider or juice, or the liquor/juice of your choice; or water
¼ to ¾ cup brown sugar, depending on the sweetness/tartness of your apples
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons boiled cider, optional but good
1½ teaspoons Apple Pie Spice; or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon + ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg + ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or tapioca flour
¼ teaspoon salt

For the Topping:

¾ cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
½ cup quick oats
heaping ¼ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup brown sugar, light or dark
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cut in pats
½ cup diced pecans or walnuts, optional

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9" x 9" square cake pan, or similar-size casserole pan.

2. Slice the apples about ¼" thick. Toss them with the remaining filling ingredients, and spread them in the pan.

3. To make the topping, whisk together the flour, oats, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and baking powder.

4. Add the cold butter, working it in to make an unevenly crumbly mixture.

5. Spread the topping over the apples in the pan.

6. Set the pan on a parchment- or foil-lined cookie sheet, to catch any potential drips. Bake the crisp for about 60 minutes, till it's bubbling and the top is golden brown.

7. Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. If you serve the crisp hot/warm, it may be quite soft. If you wait till it's completely cool, it'll firm up nicely. A good compromise is to wait for it to cool completely, then reheat individual portions briefly in the microwave. Vanilla ice cream is a tasty accompaniment.



I used Gala apples, since I had a tray of them from Costco that was begging to be used.
I used apple cider.
I split the difference with the brown sugar and went with ½ cup.
I did use the boiled cider (delish!).
I omitted the nuts in the crisp topping since Joseph is allergic.
Instead of a 9×9-inch square pan, I used a 1.5-quart casserole dish.

(Recipe from King Arthur Flour)
This delicious recipe brought to you by Brown Eyed Baker
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/classic-apple-crisp/
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No Bake Reeses Krispy Cookies!


Ingredients
4 cups Rice Krispies cereal
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter
5 regular sized Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Instructions
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside and place your Rice Krispies in a large
mixing bowl
2. In a large microwave safe bowl, combine your corn syrup, sugar, and peanut butter and cook on
high heat for 2­3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until your mixture is evenly combined
3. Pour your peanut butter mixture over your Rice Krispies and mix
4. Now mix in your chocolate chips
5. After a couple minutes, mix in your crushed Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to avoid them fully
melting
6. Spoon your treats out with a ice cream scoop and onto your lined baking pan, let cool, then
using your hand or a spatula, slightly flatten them. (So they look more like a thick cookie instead
of a ball)
7. ENJOY!
http://myincrediblerecipes.com/no­bake­reeses­krispy­cookies/

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