#MEwx Mild temps, cooler with snow moving in late and chicken caccaitore

Good morning Augusta

This morning we have partly sunnyskies with highs in the mid 30s and light and variable winds.

Tonight we'll have cloudy with a chance of snow this evening, then snow after midnight. Snow accumulation around an inch. Lows in the mid 20s. Northeast winds around 10 mph.

The readings from my weather instruments are:

The Wind Chill is 27.1°F, Dew Point is 21.7°F, the humidity is 80%, and the outdoor temp is 27.1°F.

The wind direction is Northwest between 0.0 MPH and 0.2 MPH.

The Relative pressure is 30.20, the Absolute pressure is 30.01 and falling with a weather graphic indicating snow/rain.

Visibility is 10.0 miles / 16.1 Kilometers with clear skies.

The UV rating is 1 out of 16, Sunrise is 7:08 A.M., Sunset is 4:00 P.M., Moonrise is 12:42 P.M., Moonset is 12:01 a.M. and the moon phase is in its first quarter being 61% illuminated.

Augusta's RAW METAR readings are:

METAR KWVL 161156Z AUTO 10SM CLR M04/M05 A3023 RMK AO2 SLP271 T10441050 11017 21067 50002 FZRANO $  | 

We didn't receive any snow here over the past 24 hours.

It is a little known fact that, during the revolutionary war, American colonists had a secret weapon that they used to catch British spies. They used specially trained chickens. No? You don't believe me? Surely you've heard of CHICKEN CACCIATORE haven't you?

CHICKEN CACCIATORE (sort of)

4 servings

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (3/4 to 1 lb)

1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped (½ cup)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ cup chopped green bell pepper

¾ cup sliced zucchini or yellow summer squash

¾ cup sliced mushrooms

1 can (14½ oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

½ tsp Italian seasoning

1/8 tsp pepper

4 cups hot cooked radiatore (nugget), farfalle (bow-tie) or rotini pasta

Cut each chicken breast half crosswise into 3 pieces. Heat oil in 10" pan over medium-high heat. Stir-fry chicken in oil about 5 minutes or until brown; move chicken to one side of skillet. Add onion, garlic, bell pepper, zucchini and mushrooms to other side of skillet: Cook vegetables about 3 min stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender.  Stir tomatoes, Italian seasoning and pepper into vegetables and chicken.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat.  Cover and simmer 25 minutes.  Uncover and simmer 5 min. longer.  Serve over pasta. 

 

And, to wash it down with make a large pot of this very tasty holiday tea

*Holiday CRANBERRY SPICED TEA

1 lb. fresh or frozen cranberries

3 quarts cold water

2 cups orange juice

2 ⅛ cups pineapple juice

¼ cup lemon juice

2 cups white sugar (or less; I use 1 ½ cups)

1 (3 inch) cinnamon stick

1 tsp whole cloves

½ tsp whole allspice berries

 

1.         Place cranberries and water in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and cook just until the berries pop, about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let stand at room temperature until cold, several hours or overnight.

2.         Strain out the cranberries and stir the orange juice, lemon juice and sugar into the liquid.  Add the cinnamon stick, whole cloves and allspice berries.  Bring to a boil.  It is ready to serve at this point, but even better if allowed to sit overnight, refrigerated.

Note:  I usually can't find plain pineapple juice, so I use a bottled orange pineapple juice with the rest of the orange and lemon juices.  As long as the total amount of juice is the same and adjusted to taste, it has worked out nicely