Pride and Prejuidice and Zombies

Today my sister told me about a book called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, written by Jane Austen
and Seth Grahame-Smith. Even reading the description of it on www.chroniclebooks.com fills me with unspeakable joy and anticipation. I thought I'd share it with you (I've bolded some of my favorite phrases):

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies -- "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read.

In short, I think Seth Grahame-Smith simply added a few manly elements to Pride and Prejudice. Throw in some rotting flesh, a few of the undead, a bit of bone-crunching here and there, and perhaps you've attracted yourself a whole lot more male readers, and a few females too.

Just curious...I wonder if Grahame-Smith changed the main story at all...perhaps made some of the original characters into zombies? Perhaps Mr. Collins? Now THAT would be FRIGHTENING!

High Altitude Chocolate Chip Cookies

My old roomie, Katie, is a chocolate chip cookie lover/aficionado/expert. She was always in search of the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe until one fateful Sunday afternoon.

Our position in Salt Lake at the dizzying, runny nose-bleedish, height of approximately 4350 feet above sea level means that we have to be mindful of our cooking creations and what ingredients we need to adjust in recipes so they can be masterful works of genius after a few tries. :)

Well, Katie stumbled on a lovely blog that contains the following lovely high-altitude chocolate chip cookie recipe. These cookies are quite scrumptious!

Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon water
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
2. Beat the shortening until fluffy.
3. Add both sugars and beat for several minutes, until light and fluffy.
4. Add the vanilla, water, and egg and beat until incorporated.
5. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
6. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir on low.
7. Add the chocolate chips.
8. Scoop tablespoon size balls of the dough onto a cookie sheet.
9. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

What's your favorite Cézanne? Uhhh.....winter?

I really really like this Brian Regan clip: