#MEwx Wind advisory, cold, windy and Baked Alaska/hot fudge sauce

Good Morning Augusta

We're under a Wind Advisory until 4 PM tonight.this one.

This morning we have mostly sunny skies with colder temps  and highs around 15°F. Northwest winds 20 to 25 mph gusting to 50 mph. Wind chill values as low as -16°F.

Tonight we'll have mostly clear conditions during evening hours, becoming partly cloudy. Lows around 13°F. West winds 15 to 20 mph gusting to 35 mph, diminishing to around 10 mph with gusts up to 20 mph after midnight. Wind chill values as low as -4°F.

The readings from my weather instruments are:

Our outdoor temperature is 4.3°F, the humidity is 25%, the Dew point is -23.8°F with a wind chill of -7.4°F.

The wind direction is North northwest between 13.5 MPH and 17.2 MPH.

The Relative pressure is 29.57, the Absolute pressure is 29.37 and rising with a weather graphic indicating sun and clouds.

If you want to see real-time instrument readings from my personal weather station in my North field click Here. That will take you directly to my weather station.

Visibility is 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers with sun and some clouds.

The UV rating is 1 out of 16, The moon is  86.7% illuminated, the moon phase is Waning Gibbous, Sunrise is 6:14 am↑ 99° East, sunset is 5:28 pm↑ 261° West, Moonrise is        8:11 am↑ 261° West, Moonset is 8:11 am↑ 261° West and we'll have 11 ours 15 minutes of daylight today.

We received 0.22 inches of rain/snow melt here over the past 24 hours.

Since it's so darn crumby outside, why not make this for today's sinful goodie?

BAKED ALASKA, REGULAR OR DIABETIC STYLE

sugar-free cookies for the base

sugar-free ice cream

egg whites (or the commercial kind IF it says okay to use for meringue)

sugar substitute okay to use for baking (like Splenda)

Six eggs or equivalent in egg substitute: Whip for about a minute and a half until the consistency of whipped cream.  Add about one half or three quarters cup of sugar substitute and continue whipping.  When the texture has reached that of a wet, marshmallow consistency, it is done.

Two choices:  You can bake a cake and cut out 4 inch rounds to act as bases for the ice cream, or use sugar free cookies.  Put a large, rounded scoop of ice cream or frozen yogurt on it, Cover with meringue.  Place on a cookie sheet and put into freezer for about an hour.  Just before serving – pull them out of the freezer and place into a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 3 minutes.  Remove from oven, place on dessert plates, and cover with hot fudge sauce.

 

To make the hot fudge sauce:

½ cup heavy cream

3 tblsp. butter, cut into small pieces

1 sq. unsweetened chocolate

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

Pinch of salt

½ cup strained unsweetened cocoa powder

Place cream, butter, and unsweetened chocolate in a heavy 1-quart saucepan over moderate heat.  Stir until butter and chocolate are melted and the cream just comes to a low boil.  Add both sugars and stir for a few minutes until the sugars are dissolved.  (Test: taste it until you don't feel any granules on your tongue.)

Reduce the heat.  Add the salt and cocoa and stir briskly with a small wire whisk until smooth.  Remove from the heat.

This should be thick, but if it's too thick, stir in a very little bit of hot water.

Serve immediately, refrigerate to store, reheat a few seconds at a time in the microwave.