Warm, sunny, a fantastic 4th of July! Make some Gelato!

Good Morning Augusta

This morning we have mostly sunny  skies with increasing clouds with showers for this afternoon. High near 75ºF. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

Tonight we’ll have mainly clear skies and a low of 56ºF. Winds light and variable.

The readings from my weather instruments are:

Humidity is 64%, the dew point is 52ºF and outside it’s  65.1ºF.

The wind direction is  West between 1.8 MPH and 4.9 MPH, with a heat index of 63ºF.

The Relative pressure is 29.84, the Absolute pressure is 29.64  and rising with a weather graphic indicating sun.

The UV rating is 1 out of 16, Sunrise is 5:00 a.m. Sunset is 8:26 P.M. Moon rise is 4:22 p.m., Moon set is 2:09 a.m., and the moon phase is waxing gibbous being 81% illuminated.

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

METAR KAUG 041053Z AUTO 29005KT 10SM CLR 17/12 A3001 RMK AO2 SLP161 T01720117

Visibility is 10.0 Miles / 16.1 kilometers with fairly clear skies right now.

We didn’t receive any rain here over the past 24 hours.

Space Weather for this morning is:

Today’s Solar flux is 70, the solar wind speed is 340 Kilometers per second and the chance of a solar storm is 1%.

How to make some truly wicked good Gelato (requires an ice cream maker).

Deeply Chocolate Gelato

2008, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups whole milk

1/3 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup sugar, divided

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (recommended: Pernigotti)

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

4 extra-large egg yolks

2 tablespoons Mexican coffee flavor liqueur (recommended: Kahlua)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Large pinch kosher salt

8 chocolates, roughly chopped, optional (recommended: Baci)

Directions

Heat the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar in a 2-quart saucepan, until the sugar dissolves and the milk starts to simmer. Add the cocoa powder and chocolate and whisk until smooth. Pour into a heat-proof measuring cup.

Place the egg yolks and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light yellow and very thick. With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the hot chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Pour the egg and chocolate mixture back into the 2-quart saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. A candy thermometer will register about 180 degrees F. Don't allow the mixture to boil!

Pour the mixture through a sieve into a bowl and stir in the coffee liqueur, vanilla, and salt. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the custard and chill completely.

Pour the custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. Stir in the roughly chopped chocolate, if using, and freeze in covered containers.

Allow the gelato to thaw slightly before serving.