Paul (2011)

I haven't seen this--so it's the new main Friday Frights Feature.  I do enjoy Pegg and Frost together, I even like Hot Fuzz, which a lot of people were underwhelmed by due to it not being nearly as awsome as Shaun.  As far as comedy goes, I am also a fan of Seth Rogan, who voices Paul.  So....we'll see.  Here's to it!  Cheers!

Shaun Of The Dead

While not the first comedic zombie flick, it was the one that kicked modern zombie comedy into a whole other world!  Much, much better quality than, say, Night of the Comet!!  The very successful comic pairing of Simon Pegg (Shaun) and NIck Frost (Ed) caught the world's attention with the release of this.  They have since made Hot Fuzz (2007) and, most recently, Paul this year, which we will be viewing next.  If your thing is horror comedy, this is pretty much the apex.

Theme Recipe: Harvest Cake

As Christine, farm girl turned bank loan officer, finds out the hard way in Drag Me To Hell is that even her homemade Harvest Cake isn't immune to the influences of the Lamia.  But Harvest Cake is real and because I'm longing for the fall to, well, fall around here, I'd just pretend a bit that it's here already and not 99 degrees outside, and present a recipe for it and some cool ways to decorate one for Halloween season.  Like above!  That's all achieved with colored marzipan, which can be made at home, or purchased, tubes of white icing and plastic props.  But first you have to have a basic cake.  The cake here is a genuine Amish harvest cake, about as authentic as it gets.

4 cups sweet apples, peeled and grated (add lemon juice to keep the color)

2 to 2 1/2 cups sugar

3 cups cake flour

1 cup vegetable, peanut, safflower, sunflower, or canola oil

2 jumbo eggs

1 cup chopped walnuts + some extra for decorating (if using)

2 to 3 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. real vanilla

1 greased and floured 10 inch tube pan, or cake mold

350 degree oven

Homemade or store bought icing, white is traditional, or cake decorating supplies with marzipan, edible dye tubes of colored icing, candies, props, sugared fruits, etc.

1.  Mix together the sugar and the apples, and let stand for about an hour.

2.  Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients together, including the chopped nuts.

3.  Likewise, beat the eggs and add the vanilla.  Stir in the apple mixture.  Then slowly beat in the dry ingredients until completely mixed into a nice batter. Pour into cake pan and bake for around 1 hour, test with a knife, it comes out clean, it's done.  Remove and cool.

4.  Ice with white icing and sprinkle on chopped nuts (that's traditional)--or hell, get creative!!  It is Halloween after all.

Variations!

You can use whatever kind of nuts, or even a mix, or none at all.

Vary the spices, allspice is a nice addition

Add some dried fruit, like white or dark raisin, currants, etc.

As above, skip the icing and decorate with some powdered sugar

Add some citrus zest, orange is really good! Citrus juice is good too, lemon is yummy.

Add other fresh fruit, like berries.

Very cool cake pans!

BELOW ARE SOME COOL HALLOWEEN WEDDING CAKES, ALL HARVEST CAKE UNDERNEATH!

I've said before that this is kind of American pay back for the quite brilliant British Shaun of the Dead, only warm beer and peanuts are not the coveted "treat"--in typical American fashion, it's got to be a Twinkie!  It is also a household favorite because it was filmed, in part, right here in town.  Anyway, as both films aptly demonstrate, zombies can be hilarious!