New Hampshire - The Granite State

Official Motto: Live Free or Die

Suggested Motto: Upside down Vermont

Two Truths and a Lie

• The official state motto was uttered by General John Stark, a hero of the Revolutionary War. He did not say it during the struggle for independence but 32 years later while declining to attend a reunion.

• Each summer runners visit New Hampshire to compete in a grueling race up Mount Washington, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. The race promoters downplay the challenge claiming “there’s only one hill.”

• In 1833, the mill town of Peterborough, established the first free public library in the nation. Initially, the books were housed at the general store, then the post office and pharmacy; the library didn’t have its own building until 1893.

The Recipe - Apple Cider Delights

In 2014 my husband and I stumbled into a leaf-peeping adventure in New Hampshire. I was a recent graduate who had worked every weekend of my summer and rejoiced to finally have a three-day getaway. Our destination was Lowell, Massachusetts, but we flew into Manchester N.H. to avoid Boston’s traffic. As the plane descended into the Merrimack Valley, I stared down at the vivid trees carpeting the landscape. I had always presumed city slickers in New York were starved for arboreal views and exaggerated the appeal of New England’s foliage. I was so wrong.

Millions of people flock to New Hampshire each autumn to see this stunning landscape. And many visitors enjoy apple cider donuts during their visit. Apple orchards dot the landscape and many farmers press their own cider and make their own donuts. While we squeezed in a hike; we failed to stop for donuts on our brief visit; so I decided to make a version at home.

I have tasted “baked donuts” before, and they’re disappointing. I have fried my own donuts and they’re messy. So I engineered a cookie with a fluffy cakey texture with a strong apple flavor and cut it into a donut shape.

It’s May and no cold-pressed apple cider is available, so I started with a can of locally brewed hard cider. I boiled it with a stick of cinnamon until it reduced to one sticky fragrant ounce of deliciousness. To ensure my donut shape and reduce spreading, I clarified butter and let it cool before creaming it with brown sugar. I used a mixture of all-purpose flour and cornstarch to achieve a light texture. After they baked, I sprinkled the cookies with cinnamon sugar. I may have gilded the lily, these were very sweet and scrumptious. I shared them with a New Hampshire native who heartily approved of this homage to the Granite State.

Want to experience New Hampshire for yourself? Then Teresa recommends ...

Go see the leaves; they’re really special. Also, I really enjoyed Donald Hall’s stories in “String Too Short to be Saved.”

Time for the whole truth

Mount Washington is not the highest mountain east of the Mississippi, that honor belongs to Mount Mitchell in North Carolina

(By the way, you can click on any of the 2 truths and a lie statements to visit the source of the trivia)