A Botswanan Tea Party

On Sunday March 29th,  HBO will run a 2 hour pilot of “The #1 Ladies Detective Agency.”  This series of books is about a lady detective in a small town in Botswana and how she uses her intuition to solve crimes and mysteries.   There is no violence and no gratuitous sex. It presents life in a small town in Botswana, a universal theme. Perfect family entertainment and educational as well!  After the pilot there will be 13 episodes.  Here is a blurb on the show.

So for fun, I decided to throw a girlie party for the event. I invited 8 women friends of all ages to come for dinner and to watch the show with me. We are going to dress Botswanan style – bright colored scarves on our heads and/or torso. We have each researched a Botswanan or South African dish.  One neighbor is bringing South African nut stew with rice.   I am preparing 2 versions of Bush Tea, which is featured in the books.  I ordered the special red Rooibus tea leaves online  and  will serve hot Bush Tea as well as the iced version which includes fresh mint leaves and fruit peels.  One neighbor is bringing South African sausage, another a salad with Southern African style greens and nuts. And so forth.  We will take photos and post them after the party.

I think it is a great idea for a family party or to join up with a group of friends and neighbors.  I think the show airs at 8:00pm EST but if that is past bedtime for little kids, parents could always TIVO it for an earlier showing the next day.

Here are some web sites for ordering the tea and sausage should anyone want to capitalize on this idea:
http://www.ethnicedibles.com/tearecipes.htm
http://www.gazette.com/articles/south_21575___article.html/says_african.html

Brenda