jQuery.fn.extend( {

	  outerHtml: function( replacement )
	  {
		// We just want to replace the entire node and contents with
		// some new html value
		if (replacement)
		{
		  return this.each(function (){ $(this).replaceWith(replacement); });
		}

		/*
		 * Now, clone the node, we want a duplicate so we don't remove
		 * the contents from the DOM. Then append the cloned node to
		 * an anonymous div.
		 * Once you have the anonymous div, you can get the innerHtml,
		 * which includes the original tag.
		 */
		var tmp_node = $("<div></div>").append( $(this).clone() );
		var markup = tmp_node.html();

		// Don't forget to clean up or we will leak memory.
		tmp_node.remove();
		return markup;
	  }
	});