#MEwx warming temps and Holiday Hot Chocolate Cookie Cups

Good morning Augusta

A direct, real-time feed from my personal weather station is available for you

here.

Today it’s going to be cloudy and a chance of rain with a slight chance for snow later this morning. Rain this afternoon with patchy fog this afternoon. Warmer temps with highs in the upper 40s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight we’ll have rain, not as cold with lows in the upper 40s. South winds 10 to 15 mph gusting to 30 mph.

The readings from my weather instruments are:

Our outdoor temperature is 36.5°F, the humidity is 73%, the Dew Point is 28.8°F and our wind chill is 36.5°F.

The wind direction is West Northwest between 0.0 MPH and 0.1 MPH.  

The Relative pressure is 30.14, the Absolute pressure is 29.94, the HPA is 1023 and steady with a weather graphic indicating clouds.

Visibility is 10.0 Miles / 16.1 Kilometers with clouds to 6,000 ft,

mostly cloudy skies to 10,000 ft and

overcast to 11,000 ft.

The UV rating is 0 out of 16, Sunrise is 7:02 A.M. EST, Sunset is 3:59 P.M. EST, Moonrise is 2:42 P.M. EST, Moonset is 4:01 A.M. EST and the Moon phase is waxing gibbous.

The RAW METAR reading for Augusta is:

METAR KAUG 091153Z AUTO 20005KT 10SM FEW060 BKN100 OVC110 02/M01 A3021 RMK AO2 SLP233 60000 T00171011 10017 20006 53001

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

Time for some cookie recipes for the Xmas table display, right? Well, right? Hello?

Holiday Hot Chocolate Cookie Cups

Ingredients

1 package Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons hot cocoa mix

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

12 mini pretzels or mini candy canes

1 cup Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits

optional - granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Put 1 tablespoon of the sugar cookie dough into 24 greased mini muffin tins.

3. *Update - an optional step would be to roll the sugar cookie dough balls in granulated sugar before putting them into the mini muffin tins to help prevent sticking.

4. Bake for 12-14 minutes at 375 degrees. Allow the cookies to cool completely in the pan before gently removing them.

5. Make the chocolate ganache by bringing the whipping cream to a boil.

6. Stir in the hot cocoa mix.

7. Pour the hot cream over the semi-sweet chocolate chips and let it sit for 3 minutes. Then, stir until the chocolate chips are melted and the ganache is smooth.

8. Break off the loops on some mini pretzels or mini candy canes to use as handles.

9. Melt the white chocolate and use it to attach the pretzel handles or candy canes to the cookie cups.

10. Spoon the chocolate ganache into the cookie cups and top with mini marshmallows.

11. For best results, store the hot chocolate cookie cups in the refrigerator.