Cloudy, rain on and off and the start of Chocolate treat week!

Good Morning Augusta

This morning we'll have a 70% chance of Showers, becoming a steady light rain during the afternoon. High 58ºF. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight we'll have clouds with occasional rain showers. Low will drop to 46ºF. Winds will be from the ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

The readings from my weather instruments are:

Humidity is 90%, the dew point is 51ºF and outside it's  54.7ºF.

The wind direction is  East Northeast between 4.3 MPH and 7.1 MPH, with a heat index of 55.3ºF.

The Barometric pressure is 29.75 and falling with a weather graphic indicating rain.

The UV rating is 0 out of 16, Sunrise is 4:56 a.m. Sunset is 8:19 P.M. Moon rise is 4:33 a.m., Moon set is 3:07 p.m., and the moon phase is waxing gibbous being 86% illuminated.

The RAW METAR reading from Augusta's airport this morning is:

METAR KAUG 051053Z AUTO 13004KT 10SM OVC004 12/10 A2992 RMK AO2 SLP131 T01170100

Visibility is 10.0 Miles / 16.1 Kilometers with overcast to 400 ft / 121 m.

We received 0.00 inches of rain over the past 24 hours.

Space Weather for this morning is:

Today's Solar flux is 70, the solar wind speed is 359 Kilometers per second and the chance of a solar storm is 1%.

Since it is now "summertime" I thought I'd post a whole weeks worth of easy to make, "grab 'n go" hand-size treats.  Let's start with:

CHOCOLATE MERINGUE BARS

1 cup shortening

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 cups flour

¼ tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

1 6oz. pkg. chocolate chips

½ cup chopped walnuts

2 egg whites, beaten stiff

1 cup brown sugar

 

1.      Add 1 Tblsp. water to slightly beaten eggs yolks. 

2.      Mix together shortening, sugars, egg yolks, and vanilla.

3.      Sift dry ingredients together and add to the sugar mixture.

4.      Spread dough on cookie sheet.

5.      Sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts on top.

6.      For topping: add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 Tblsp. at a time, to stiffly beaten egg whites. 

7.      Spread mixture over top of dough.

8.      Bake in 350⁰ oven for 20 minutes.

9.      Cool, cut into squares.