Weather
This morning we have clouds and sunshine with a high of 61°F. ENE winds shifting to S at 10 to 15 mph.
Tonight we’ll have partly cloudy skies, becoming cloudy overnight. Low 46°F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
The readings from my weather instruments are:
The Dew Point is 31.8°F, the humidity is 57%, and the outdoor temp is 46.2°F.
The wind direction is East Northeast between 8.4 MPH and 9.8 MPH.
The Relative pressure is 30.03, the Absolute pressure is 29.82 and rising with a weather graphic indicating sun.
The UV rating is 1 out of 16, Sunrise is 5:11 a.m. Sunset is 8:00 p.m., Moonrise is 6:21 a.m., Moonset is 9:24 p.m. and the moon phase is a New Moon being 1% illuminated.
The RAW METAR readings from Augusta’s airport are:
METAR KAUG 161053Z AUTO 04010KT 10SM CLR 07/01 A3018 RMK AO2 SLP222 T00670006
Visibility is 10.0 miles / 16.1 Kilometers with cleart skes.
We received 0.27 inches of rain here over the past 24 hours.
Space weather for today is:
Today’s Solar flux is 71, the solar wind speed is 321 Kilometers per second and
There is a 1% chance for a Solar Storm.\
This shortcake recipe is a good one. Certainly is different, isn’t it?
CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE
By Judith Olney
INGREDIENTS
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 cups sifted all-purpose
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ cup granulated sugar
1 stick butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon light brown sugar for topping
3 pints strawberries, rinsed
Granulated sugar as needed
2 oz bittersweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate
Hot Fudge Sauce, pouring consistency (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter 2 round 10-inch cake pans.
2. Sift together the cocoa, flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and sugar into a bowl. Add the chilled butter and cut it into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or your fingertips. When the mixture resembles oatmeal, sprinkle on the buttermilk and milk and lightly pack the dough into a ball. Divide dough in half.
3. Roll out each portion of dough on a floured surface, then pack and press it gently into the baking tins. Sprinkle the top of one cake with the mixed granulated and brown sugar and dash a few drops of cold water over the sugar.
4. Bake cakes for 15 minutes in the hot oven. Remove cakes, cool them briefly, then turn out onto racks and let cool completely
5. Select 10 of the largest strawberries and set them aside whole and unhulled. Hull and coarsely chop the remaining berries and sugar them to taste. Refrigerate strawberry sauce until needed.
6. Melt chocolate over hot water. Set aside.
7. Line a baking sheet with wax paper.
8. Dip or brush the bottom half of each whole berry in the chocolate. Place berries on a tray and refrigerate until needed.
9. Fit a pastry bag with a large, plain nozzle.
FILLING
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 ½ tablespoons cold water
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar, or to taste
10. To prepare the cream filling, place gelatin and cold water in a Pyrex measuring cup. Place cup in a saucepan containing an inch of water and heat gently until the gelatin melts.
11. Place cream and vanilla in a bowl and beat until the cream has thickened slightly. Stir 2 tablespoons of the cream into the warm gelatin and quickly add mixture to the cream. Resume beating immediately. Sprinkle on the confectioners' sugar and continue beating until the cream is thick.
12. Spoon ¼ of the cream into the pastry bag; set aside. Spread a lot of the remaining cream on top of the bottom cake layer and top with some chopped strawberries. Put other cake layer on top. Place on serving dish.
13. Place more chopped strawberries on top, then pipe 5 large swirls of cream around the top edge. Pipe 5 more swirls around the bottom edge. The cake can be refrigerated at this point for an hour or so.
14. Top each dollop of cream with a chocolate-dipped strawberry and drizzle with fudge sauce, if desired. Serve the strawberry sauce on the side.
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