Snow, cold, clouds and MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN with ORZO

Good morning Augusta

This morning we have cloudy skies, and it’s snowing like mad out there. Our High will reach 44°F with winds from the West at 10 to 20 mph.

Tonight we’ll have clear to partly cloudy skies with a low of 26°F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.

The readings from my weather instruments are:

Humidity is 93%, the Dew Point is 31.8°F and the outdoor temp is 33.6°F.

The wind direction is   West between 0.1 MPH and 0.3 MPH, generating a wind chill of 33.6°F.

The Relative pressure is 29.56, the Absolute pressure is 29.35 and rising with a weather graphic indicating rain.

The UV rating is 0 out of 16, Sunrise is 6:09 a.m. Sunset is 7:13 p.m., Moonrise is 1:25 a.m., Moonset is 10:54 a.m. and the moon phase is Waning Gibbous being 58% illuminated.

The RAW METAR readings from Augusta’s airport are:

METAR KAUG 071053Z AUTO 23004KT 4SM BR OVC003 00/00 A2963 RMK AO2 SNB0956E31 SLP037 P0000 T00000000

Visibility is 10.0 miles / 16.1 Kilometers with

We received just over 3.0 inches  of snow here over the past 24 hours.

Space weather for today is:

Today’s Solar flux is 69, the solar wind speed is 348 Kilometers per second and the chance of a solar storm is 1%.

3 inches of snow and we’re 9 days into regular season for Baseball? “celebrate” the “end of winter” with a hot, hardy meal.

MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN AND ORZO (Yes, I know, but swim suit season really isn’t far off)

4 servings

1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1¼ lbs)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 1/3 cups uncooked orzo or Rosa marina pasta

1 can (14½ oz) fat-free chicken broth

½ cup water

1 tbsp chopped fresh or 1 tsp

dried rosemary leaves

½ tsp salt

2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into fourths, then cut crosswise into slices (1 ½ cups)

3 roma (plum) tomatoes, cut into fourths and sliced (1½ cups)

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)

¼ cup crumbled feta cheese (2 oz) if desired

Sliced ripe olives, if desired

Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in oil about 10 minutes, turning once, until brown. Remove chicken from skillet; keep warm.  Mix garlic, pasta, broth and water in skillet. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Stir in remaining ingredients except cheese and olives. Add chicken. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 5 minutes, stirring once, until bell pepper is crisp-tender and pasta is tender. Sprinkle with feta cheese and olives.  If your family prefers, sprinkle Parmesan cheese over this skillet instead of using feta cheese and omit the olives.  Quickly complete this meal with warmed purchased focaccia bread and fresh pears or clusters of red grapes.