Into the Fire

I slept in a little bit more this morning than I have been able to recently. I just made it to a late morning work shift. Work was pretty quiet for most of the day. It was sunny, windy, and hot, with no humidity. By the time the rush hour crowds were arriving, my relief was coming in for me.

When I got in, I changed, then debated what to do next. I ultimately decided to try making granola bars. I had a bag and a half of Craisins Trail Mix that have been sitting around since Lauren and I bought them in June. Dried fruit and nuts don't really go bad (especially when one bag wasn't opened), so I thought I'd finally use them for something. I used a variation on a recipe a co-worker gave me last winter. The recipe called for Bisquick, but I don't use Bisquick. I replaced the Bisquick with a cup of whole-wheat flour, a half-cup of unbleached white flour, and a tablespoon of baking powder and the cup of brown sugar with a half-cup of brown sugar and a few tablespoons of honey. Yum yum. Other than I really should have chopped the dried fruit and nuts before I dumped them in, it came out delicious, moist and sweet. It's a bit crumbly, but if it falls apart, I can just eat it in chunks.

I made Marinated Potatoes and Tomatoes using the last of the farm market produce and leftover chicken for dinner while watching the 1982 version of The Scarlet Pimpernel. This British version of my favorite novel has aristocratic and seemingly ditzy Sir Percy Blakeney (Anthony Andrews) posing as the heroic title character to rescue innocent nobles from the guillotine during the early French Revolution. All of England and France wants to know who this mysterious and clever person is, especially the manipulative Chauvelain (Ian McKellen) and Blakeney's wife, Marguerite (Jane Seymour). When Blakeney discovers that the little Dauphin, the heir to the throne of France, is still alive, he becomes determined for him and his men to rescue the child. Chauvelain is just as determined that the child should remain in prison. He'll stop at nothing to capture the Scarlet Pimpernel, including using Marguerite and her brother Armand to his own ends.

Rousing good story with Andrews in particularly fine form as the Pimpernel himself. Great fun for fans of the books or swashbucklers in general.