Cold, clear and a basic Beef Stew recipe that sticks with you.

Good Morning Augusta

This morning we have a mix of clouds and sun with a high of only 17°F. Winds are from the NNE at 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight we’ll have mostly cloudy skies becoming partly cloudy after midnight. Low 7°F. Winds will be from the NNE at 10 to 15 mph.

The readings from my weather instruments are:

Humidity is 38%, the Dew Point is -19ºF and the outdoor temp is 1ºF.

The wind direction is  Northeast between 6.7 MPH and 8.3 MPH, generating a wind chill of 11.5°F.

The Relative pressure is 30.49, the Absolute pressure is 30.28 and falling with a weather graphic indicating snow.

The UV rating is 1 out of 16, Sunrise is 7:11 a.m. Sunset is 4:25 p.m., Moonrise is 5:55

a.m., Moonset is 3:25 p.m. and the moon phase is Waning crescent being 2% illuminated.

The RAW METAR readings from Augusta’s airport are:

METAR KAUG 151253Z AUTO 36009KT 10SM CLR M17/M22 A3081 RMK AO2 SLP443 T11721222

Visibility is 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers with clear skies for the time being.

We didn’t receive any new rain, snow or sleet here over the past 24 hours.

Space Weather for this morning is:

Today’s Solar flux is 70, the solar wind speed is 506  Kilometers per second and the chance of a solar storm is 1%.

With the return of this cold weather I thought a nice, hardy and basic Beef Stew recipe would be a good one.

BEEF STEW

2 T. butter or margarine

2 lbs. beef stew meat in 1.5” cubes

Flour for dredging meat

8 small onions or desired amount of chopped onion

½ cup diced celery

4 sprigs parsley OR 2 tsp. parsley flakes

1 bay leaf

2 T. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

3 T. ketchup

2 qts. Water OR 1 qt water and 1 qt beef stock

6 carrots, peeled and cut in bite-sized pieces

6 potatoes, peeled and cut in bite-sized pieces

Directions:

Melt butter in bottom of stew pot.   Roll meat in flour and brown on all sides.  Add all other ingredients and stir.  Cover and bring to steaming point.  Reduce heat and simmer until beef is tender.

Mix about 6 T. flour with same amount of cold water, whisk until smooth.  Add to stew, stirring until thickened.

Delicious and it sticks to your ribs.