Mood:  party time!

Matt and I are again playing host and hostess to a Murder Mystery Dinner. This one is a western theme - The Good, The Bad, and The Guilty. It is planned for a Saturday in July and I can't be sure if it was the 18th or the 25th - I just don't remember - so hopefully the guests will straighten me out.

Here is the guest list and their characters - 

Butch Chastity - Robin Lynes - Legendary Butch Chastity is the first lady of outlaws. Her all-woman gang are the Amazons of the American West. There's nothing coy or dainty about Butch. She can drink her fellow outlaws under the table; she can hold her own in a game of poker; she can rob a stagecoach in record time; and she can kill a man just as soon as look at him - and often does. In her secret high-out, a place called the Hole in the Mud, Butch plans the most daring of heists, including her many famed train robberies. It has been rumored that Butch has gotten away with more gold than any outlaw alive.

P'elvis Swagarin - Floyd Lynes - When a mysterious lone gunslinger rides into some dusty western town, it's usually P'elvis Swagarin. Solemn, poker-faced, bowlegged - he's a cowboy's cowboy. Born Peter Elvis Swagarin, he's P'elvis to those who know him. He's a man with no belongings but the shirt on his back, his gun and his saddle...a man who sleeps beneath the icy stars, a horse his only companion. P'elvis appeared out of the prairie heat just two days ago, and ever since he arrived, the whole town of Roadkill has been whispering in hushed tones, wondering who he is and what he wants.

Helena Handcart - Vikki Thompson - Matriarch of the Handcart clan, Helena is the mother of the Handcart boys: all thirteen of them. Billy-Bob, Bobby-Rae, Little Ricky, Martin and Lewis, Harpo, Groucho, Sleepy, Sneezy, Manny, Moe, and Jack. Oh - and, of course, the Beav. Unfortunately, she had to busy all thirteen of her sons after they were tragically killed in a shoot-out at a dairy farm. The now infamous gunfight at the Parkkay Corral left her with nothing but memories. A strong woman, she has been able to survive, although most of the time she remains secluded on the sprawling Handcart Ranch, managing the family cattle business. Helena owns half the territory and never lets anyone forget it.

Chief Breaking Wind - TJ Thompson - Chief Breaking Wind is the distinguished leader of the Cowpai tribe - an hnonorary position these day, since the entire Cowpai tribe fell victim to a mysterious disease several years ago and perished. Still, the stoic chief keeps his traditions alive, trusting that, with his help, the Cowpai will rise again. Unwillingly relieved of his tribal responsibilities, the chief has since opened a successful barber shop in town and, ignorant historial references notwithstanding, hasn't scalped a soul. Still, no one ever angers the chief.

Elvira-Lynn Fekshin - Alison Robbins - Elvia-Lynn is the consummate soiled dove and makes no bones about it, so to speak. She's known throughout the territory, and there's even that famous saloon song written about her - My Heart Burns for You, and Other Places, Too. She's the proud madam of the Pigeon Ranch, the best little you-know-what in Roadkill. Since Judge Waylon Payne is one of her steadiest clients, the law does a good job of looking the other way. To look at her now, you'd never guess she was born in the gutter and suffered a sickly childhood, battling everything from consumption to bubonic plague. But now she spreads, among other things, sunshine wherever she goes.

Wyatt Hertz - Matt Robbins - Wyatt Hertz is by far the most famous lawman in the West. He kept the wild frontier town of Roadkill under tight control, keeping the locals in line with an iron fist of fear. That is, until a shotgun blast caught him in the tender parts. Legend has it that Wyatt was ambushed by the visious Partridge Family gang, and he didn't stand a chance. That was a year ago. Since then, he's retired, letting Judge Waylon Payne reign as both sheriff and justice of the peace. Now Wyatt runs a lucrative rent-a-horse business. He never lost a gunfight, and some folks believe he could take out a whole gunslingin' gang with a single round from his six-shooter.

Dee Adela Muerte - CJ Parson - She is known as just Adela to her friends. Adela is a Mexican beauty with the most pious of spirits but is plagued by bad luck. She's been thrice-widowed - each time as a newlywed. Her first husband, a local politician, died shamefully during on of his secret outings to the Pigeon Ranch. Her second husband, the town pastor, died while preaching, and her third husband, the town undertaker, keeled over from exhaustion while planting the thirteen Handcart boys. Now poor Adela is left to deliver Sunday sermons and forced to become town undertaker. Still, she knows that she will rise above her misfortune. Until then, she'll continue to wear her black mourning veil.

Elias Truist Heath - Joshua Parson - Young Elias is an up-and-coming heart-throb gunfighter. He can dazzle spectators with his quick draw and a spin from hisguns, and when he's not showing off his singing skills, he's demonstrating his pugilistic prowess. He's known as the best brawler west of the Mississippi and comes out of every fight with nary a scratch. Orphaned as a boy, Elias was raised under the firm, wise, hand of Judge Waylong Payne. After a patriotic stint with the U.S. Cavalry Elias returned home to Roadkill and to the women who adore him.

All these characters have been invited to the Public Hanging of The Malevolent Seven at the request of Judge Waylon Payne in the Wyoming Territory Town of Roadkill. - 10pm 2 July 1881.

I am still working on our menu - but here is what I am thinking about making:

• Pomegranate Chipotle Pork Ribs
  
• Sassy Sangria Grilled Chicken
• Corn on the Corb
• Alison's special potato salad
• Sweet Pepper Jalapeno Cornbread
• Collared greens
  

 I just went to a Tastefully Simple party hosted by Robin and bought the Pomegranate Chipotle sauce as well as the Sassy Sangria sauce, and the Sweet Pepper Jalapeno salsa, so I might as well use them for a party she is going to attend.

I believe I am going to make either apple pie or peach cobbler for dessert served with vanilla ice cream.

For drinks, I am thinking long neck beers, Mike's Hard Lemonade, and Henry Weinhard's root beer. If I can find real Sasparilla, I will try and serve that. Oh, and of course whiskey! I don't have any more moonshine left from the ranchers in No. California, but I am sure that liquid lightning would have been tasty after aging seven years.

Anyway, I am thinking of decorating the table with a quilt, and serving drinks in mason jars or glass mugs. I am looking into buying blue and white enamelware that I've always wanted, on which to serve this dinner as well.

It is going to be a family style buffet and lots of fun no matter how we set it up.

Okay - off to research collard green receipes.