Finally, after three years of originally planning on hosting this party, Matt and I are going to have a Murder Mystery Dinner using The Watersdown Affair. "How To Host A Murder" is a dinner party game for eight. I have hosted them in the past playing "Roman Ruins", "The Good, The Bad, & The Guilty", and "Powar & Greede" for fundraiser dinners as well as bachelorette parties.

This time, it is just for fun and I hope that those I have invited will actually show up. Three years ago when I planned on doing this party one of my guests cancelled two hours before the party, and well, that screwed us all. You have to have eight people at this party or it doesn't work. You have more, and for the fundraiser dinners, I actually created extra parts for the non-players like servants and detectives and such. This time, it is just going to be the eight of us. Here is my guest list:

Character Names  / Played By:

Dr. Malcom K.T. Praktiss aka "Mal" - Matt Robbins

Miranda T. Shetes aka "Randy" - CJ Parson

Roger S. B. Astird aka "Rog" - TJ Thompson

Dame Allison Bigh aka "Ali" - C'est moi! - Alison Robbins

Prosper Alvin Bates, Esquire aka "Pro" - Joshua Parson

Donald J. Brooks aka "Donny" - Floyd Lynes

Florence Wing Brooks aka "Flo" - Robin Lynes

Eiaguielle R. Aminmund aka "E.R.A" - Vikki Thompson

Thankfully, my latest copy of "Food & Wine" magazine arrived in the mail just this last week, so I have been inspired to come up with a suitably snooty menu for the setting of a 1936 British Mansion. I am not going completely authentic, because I don't eat beef and the menu with the game calls for Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding. I do make Yorkshire Pudding on occasion, but as it isn't my husband's favorite thing the in the world, I have opted to create my own menu. The game also suggests asparagus soup as an authentic 1936 British dish, but there again, my husband's dislike for asparagus has won the day. SO, all things being equal, I have tried my best to create a menu (and wine list) that will work appropriately. Here goes:

Hors d'œuvre

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Feta Cheese

Bacon & Cream Cheese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Cucumber Slices & Chèvre Cheese with Golden Caviar

Black Sesame Seed Salmon Wasabi Balls

Roasted Garlic, Hummus & Bread

Stuffed Olives & Pickled Ginger

Salad

Baby Spinach & Spring Greens

with Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

Main Course

Rosemary Garlic Crown Pork Roast

Sautéed Whole Green Beans

Sweet Potato Gratin

Dessert

Creamy Caramel Pudding with Nut Brittle

For libations for the evening we are serving special drinks with each course of the meal.

During the Hors d'œuvre service we will be serving Vodka Martinis (shaken not stirred of course), and two choices of wine suggested by F&W 2007 Chateau Grande Cassagne Rose and 2005 Taz Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir.

With Salad we will sample a 2007 Franciscan Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc.

With our Main Course we serve two very different drinks. The first is a 2007 Napa Cellars Chardonnay, and the second is Lindeman's Framboise Lambic. The pork dish and accompanying sides should be set off well with the fruity flavors of the fine Belgian Ale, as well as the Chardonnay.

Finally, with Dessert we will have Sandeman's Tawny Port - the 20 year old selection.

So, we will be wine tasting. I am not that big on wine, and I don't think many of my guests have ever experienced a true wine tasting, but with eight of us, we'll each get a nice nip of each bottle, enough to get a taste of the complex wine mingled with the flavors of the dishes. Hopefully, everything will complement each other. Now, I just have to locate the bottles somewhere in Wichita, or have my mother find it for me in Los Angeles. I could always place an order at Global Liquors and see if they can get the vintages I want. We'll just have to wait and see. If worse comes to worst, I'll have to select from the various Chardonnay, Rose, Pinot Noir, and Sauvignon Blanc available to me. Cross your fingers folks, it isn't like Wichita is the wine capital of the world. LOL!

To complete the ambiance of the evening, I have put together a four hour selection of songs from the 1930's and have printed a fake "The Times" newspaper for that Friday. I did research on the events of the day and the newspaper's leanings at that time. I have the correct editor's name, and top stories:

King Edward VII was in ill health and our dinner party weekend takes place just nine days before he dies. At this time King Edward and Queen Mary had initially received their son's girlfriend Mrs. Wallace Simpson at Buckingham palace, but after that first meeting, they had refused to receive her again. Prince Edward and Mrs. Simpson were making headlines, and within the year of our story, he abdicates the throne to marry her.

Also, at this time construction of the Hoover Dam had been completed and finishing installations of power lines and generators were in process. The dam would begin pumping out power in ten months time.

German troops were threatening to occupy the Rhineland and France has asked for British military support, to which the British had been indecisive at best. Prime Minister Baldwin was not as popular even though he had beat Neville Chamberland in the 1935 general election. War in Europe was on the horizon, but it hadn't become WWII just yet.

The Popular Front was gaining support in Spain as a response to the growing Fascist régimes  in Italy and Germany. General Franco was plotting his revolution which would take place just six months after our storyline.

Also, I have include the relevant sporting info - 1936 British Home Championship was underway with three of the six matches between England, Wales, Scottland, and Ireland completed. The fourth match was scheduled for February 5th, so a great topic of conversation was speculation on the coming match between England and Wales, and if Fred Tilson of England would repeat his 2 goal performance in game 4 against Wales as he had in game 2 against Ireland.

In between all those stories, I placed a story about one of our characters in the murder mystery Miss Miranda T. Shetes including a picture.

Invitations go out tomorrow to my guests, although I have cleared the date with them in advance. They each get an invitation with bios of each of the characters and suggested costumes for the party. They get a copy of the menu and 'The Times' newspaper I have created to help set the mood.

I'm excited as I get to buy a new dress for the occasion and buy Matt a doctor's coat and stethoscope for his costume!