Pumpkins in Africa
 

The book series "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (Botswana)make frequent
references to pumpkins as some sort of "food of the gods". Little kids
go bonkers when they learn there is pumpkin for dinner.

What on earth sort of "pumpkin" could they be talking about?

I have made reasonable efforts to eat pumpkin but other than pie and
soup, it leaves me cold compared to sever squashes which I really love.
I find what we call pumpkin barely palatable.

On the other hand, the books are probably the best I have run into since
Dickens. I have only heard them on tape and the narrator really is
half of what makes them wonderful.

js


--
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Pumpkins in Africa
 

Jack Schmidling wrote:
>
> The book series "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (Botswana)make frequent
> references to pumpkins as some sort of "food of the gods". Little kids
> go bonkers when they learn there is pumpkin for dinner.
>
> What on earth sort of "pumpkin" could they be talking about?
>
> I have made reasonable efforts to eat pumpkin but other than pie and
> soup, it leaves me cold compared to sever squashes which I really love.
> I find what we call pumpkin barely palatable.
>
> On the other hand, the books are probably the best I have run into since
> Dickens. I have only heard them on tape and the narrator really is half
> of what makes them wonderful.
>
> js
>
>


Aren't they fun? I have read them all and at first found it hard to
believe the author was male. He captured the emotions of the female
characters so perfectly.

I suspect strongly that the pumpkins were some variety of hard-shelled
squash. Hard to tell. I found out that the "bush tea" that the ladies
drink is available in the U.S. It is herbal, called "rooibos" tea and
in my experience it is pretty awful. I bought a package at a local
health food store where there was a choice of three or four brands of
the same herb. There's no accounting for tastes!

gloria p

Pumpkins in Africa
 

Jack Schmidling wrote:
>
> The book series "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (Botswana)make frequent
> references to pumpkins as some sort of "food of the gods". Little kids
> go bonkers when they learn there is pumpkin for dinner.
>
> What on earth sort of "pumpkin" could they be talking about?
>
> I have made reasonable efforts to eat pumpkin but other than pie and
> soup, it leaves me cold compared to sever squashes which I really love.
> I find what we call pumpkin barely palatable.
>
> On the other hand, the books are probably the best I have run into since
> Dickens. I have only heard them on tape and the narrator really is half
> of what makes them wonderful.
>
> js
>
>

Pumpkins in Africa
 

Puester wrote:
> Jack Schmidling wrote:
>>
>> The book series "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (Botswana)make
>> frequent references to pumpkins as some sort of "food of the gods".
>> Little kids go bonkers when they learn there is pumpkin for dinner.
>>
>> What on earth sort of "pumpkin" could they be talking about?
>>
>> I have made reasonable efforts to eat pumpkin but other than pie and
>> soup, it leaves me cold compared to sever squashes which I really
>> love. I find what we call pumpkin barely palatable.
>>
>> On the other hand, the books are probably the best I have run into
>> since Dickens. I have only heard them on tape and the narrator
>> really is half of what makes them wonderful.
>>
>> js
>>
>>
>
>
> Aren't they fun? I have read them all and at first found it hard to
> believe the author was male. He captured the emotions of the female
> characters so perfectly.
>
Have you read his books about Prof von Iggelfeld? Absolutely delightful!

Christine

Pumpkins in Africa
 

Puester wrote:

>
> Aren't they fun? I have read them all and at first found it hard to
> believe the author was male. He captured the emotions of the female
> characters so perfectly.

It really is nutty but you should listen to the recorded books version.
The narrator being a lady just reinforces the idea that the author has
to be one.

>I found out that the "bush tea" that the ladies
> drink is available in the U.S. It is herbal, called "rooibos" tea and
> in my experience it is pretty awful. I bought a package at a local
> health food store where there was a choice of three or four brands of
> the same herb. There's no accounting for tastes!

I think you got the wrong stuff. You want Honey Bush Tea and my wife
purchased some from Stash tea and it is very pleasant. But as it has
no caffein, I see no point in drinking it but she likes it.

Anyway, I am still trolling for info on the pumpkins. In one of the
books it says specifically that it was yellow or orange so that
eliminates the green ones.

js


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Pumpkins in Africa
 

On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 19:00:57 -0600, Jack Schmidling >
wrote:
>
>The book series "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (Botswana)make frequent
>references to pumpkins as some sort of "food of the gods". Little kids
>go bonkers when they learn there is pumpkin for dinner.
>
>What on earth sort of "pumpkin" could they be talking about?

I have decided that people "on the other side of the pond" call every
squash "pumpkin", but mostly they are talking about butternut squash.
>
>I have made reasonable efforts to eat pumpkin but other than pie and
>soup, it leaves me cold compared to sever squashes which I really love.
> I find what we call pumpkin barely palatable.
>
>On the other hand, the books are probably the best I have run into since
> Dickens. I have only heard them on tape and the narrator really is
>half of what makes them wonderful.
>
I tried reading a "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" one time, but was
bored to tears by it. I don't like Agatha Christie either.

Pumpkins in Africa
 

> I suspect strongly that the pumpkins were some variety of hard-shelled
> squash. Hard to tell. I found out that the "bush tea" that the ladies
> drink is available in the U.S. It is herbal, called "rooibos" tea and in
> my experience it is pretty awful. I bought a package at a local health
> food store where there was a choice of three or four brands of the same
> herb. There's no accounting for tastes!
>
At long last I discover I am not the only one who dislikes rooibos. What a
waste of taste bud space. I'd rather have even the cheapest tea bags
instead. Coming from someone who only buys loose leaf.

Pumpkins in Africa
 

In article >,
Jack Schmidling > wrote:

> The book series "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (Botswana)make frequent
> references to pumpkins as some sort of "food of the gods". Little kids
> go bonkers when they learn there is pumpkin for dinner.
>
> What on earth sort of "pumpkin" could they be talking about?
>
> I have made reasonable efforts to eat pumpkin but other than pie and
> soup, it leaves me cold compared to sever squashes which I really love.
> I find what we call pumpkin barely palatable.
>
> On the other hand, the books are probably the best I have run into since
> Dickens. I have only heard them on tape and the narrator really is
> half of what makes them wonderful.
>
> js

Could be baby pumpkin. :-)
If you harvest some of the small ones, they are delicious steamed.

Like a tatuma almost, but milder.

We used to do it all the time when we accidently grew pumpkins from the
compost heap. <lol>

Mom introduced me to them.
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

Pumpkins in Africa
 

Jack Schmidling wrote:
> The book series "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (Botswana)make frequent
> references to pumpkins as some sort of "food of the gods". Little kids
> go bonkers when they learn there is pumpkin for dinner.
>
> What on earth sort of "pumpkin" could they be talking about?

The closest thing you will find in the states is the Seminole pumpkin -
a small, buff colored squash, which was grown by the "Black Seminole"
people in Florida. Florida was a refuge for freed and escaped slaves,
many interacted with and mated with the Seminole Indians of the area,
developing a multiethnic people. The pumpkins they grew were most
likely descendants of African varieties.

Here's a pic (below). Although the link says they were grown as early
as 1500's by the Seminoles, I don't think that's correct - I thnk
that's probably too early. The Africans were much better farmers than
the seminoles and grew far more varieties of food crops in Florida. I
have found a number of references which stated that the Seminoles
looked to the Africans for guidence in growing different crops.
(Seminoles kept Africans as slaves although the relationship was
nothing like the enslavement of Africans by the people of European
descent - it was much more of a mutualistic relationship and the
Africans had their own self-governing communities.)


http://www.southernexposure.com/Merc... ry_Code=PUMP

Anyway, that's as much as I know about African Pumpkins.

-L.

Pumpkins in Africa
 

Jke wrote:

> At long last I discover I am not the only one who dislikes rooibos. What a
> waste of taste bud space. I'd rather have even the cheapest tea bags
> instead. Coming from someone who only buys loose leaf.

FWIW, I dislike the taste of rooibos tea intensely (even though its very
popular here with many people in South Africa). Its supposed to be "good
for you", so that's probably why ;)

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

Pumpkins in Africa
 

sf wrote:
> On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 19:00:57 -0600, Jack Schmidling >
> wrote:
>> The book series "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (Botswana)make frequent
>> references to pumpkins as some sort of "food of the gods". Little kids
>> go bonkers when they learn there is pumpkin for dinner.
>>
>> What on earth sort of "pumpkin" could they be talking about?
>
> I have decided that people "on the other side of the pond" call every
> squash "pumpkin", but mostly they are talking about butternut squash.

You might be right, sf. Butternut squash is very popular here in SA (and
Botswana is one of our immediate neighbors). I also like gem squash too.
I seldom see what I refer to as "Halloween" pumpkin here ;) - the stuff
they label as "pumpkin" in our supermarkets does not have that
distinctive "orange" skin.

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

Pumpkins in Africa
 

On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 13:34:21 +0200, Chatty Cathy
> wrote:

>Jke wrote:
>
>> At long last I discover I am not the only one who dislikes rooibos. What a
>> waste of taste bud space. I'd rather have even the cheapest tea bags
>> instead. Coming from someone who only buys loose leaf.
>
>FWIW, I dislike the taste of rooibos tea intensely (even though its very
>popular here with many people in South Africa). Its supposed to be "good
>for you", so that's probably why ;)

Interesting. I really like rooibos tea - especially in the evening
because it's supposed to be caffeine-free. I find it very soothing.
Tried it iced once, once was enough! It's often called "red bush"
tea here.

TammyM

Pumpkins in Africa
 

sf wrote:
> On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 19:00:57 -0600, Jack Schmidling >
> wrote:
> >
> >The book series "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (Botswana)make frequent
> >references to pumpkins as some sort of "food of the gods". Little kids
> >go bonkers when they learn there is pumpkin for dinner.
> >
> >What on earth sort of "pumpkin" could they be talking about?
>
> I have decided that people "on the other side of the pond" call every
> squash "pumpkin", but mostly they are talking about butternut squash.
> >


Butternust squash is referred to as calabaza here in Honduras - that is
the Spanish word for pumpkin. It seems any orange fleshed, hard shelled
squash is given that title.

-SD-

Pumpkins in Africa
 

"Chatty Cathy" > schreef in bericht
...
> Jke wrote:
>
>> At long last I discover I am not the only one who dislikes rooibos. What
>> a waste of taste bud space. I'd rather have even the cheapest tea bags
>> instead. Coming from someone who only buys loose leaf.
>
> FWIW, I dislike the taste of rooibos tea intensely (even though its very
> popular here with many people in South Africa). Its supposed to be "good
> for you", so that's probably why ;)
>
AFAIK, my friends drink it b/c it has no caffeine. That's the only health
claim I've ever heard for it.

All I can say is is it must be pretty darn healthy if it can manage to
distract people from its actual flavor :)

Pumpkins in Africa
 

Jke wrote:

>
> All I can say is is it must be pretty darn healthy if it can manage to
> distract people from its actual flavor :)
>
>

Exactly! LOL.


--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

Pumpkins in Africa
 

Jke wrote:

> "Chatty Cathy" > schreef in bericht
> ...
>
>>Jke wrote:
>>
>>
>>>At long last I discover I am not the only one who dislikes rooibos. What
>>>a waste of taste bud space. I'd rather have even the cheapest tea bags
>>>instead. Coming from someone who only buys loose leaf.
>>
>>FWIW, I dislike the taste of rooibos tea intensely (even though its very
>>popular here with many people in South Africa). Its supposed to be "good
>>for you", so that's probably why ;)
>>
>
> AFAIK, my friends drink it b/c it has no caffeine. That's the only health
> claim I've ever heard for it.
>
> All I can say is is it must be pretty darn healthy if it can manage to
> distract people from its actual flavor :)
>
>
But here, anyway, there are plenty of decaffeinated teas--and
"teas". Why suffer through that if it is so bad?

--
Jean B.

Pumpkins in Africa
 

sf wrote:
[snip]
> I tried reading a "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" one time, but was
> bored to tears by it. I don't like Agatha Christie either.

I liked that series more before I discovered the author uses
the same style in his other books, and that I found it rather
annoying when applied to different protagonists and areas of
the world. I have pretty much decided what I thought was
charming and suitable to Africa was probably a figment of my
imagination (not having been there) and was not done
intentionally to reflect anything about Africa.
--
Jean B.

Pumpkins in Africa
 

On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 20:29:56 +0200, "Jke" >
wrote:

>
>"Chatty Cathy" > schreef in bericht
...
>> Jke wrote:
>>
>>> At long last I discover I am not the only one who dislikes rooibos. What
>>> a waste of taste bud space. I'd rather have even the cheapest tea bags
>>> instead. Coming from someone who only buys loose leaf.
>>
>> FWIW, I dislike the taste of rooibos tea intensely (even though its very
>> popular here with many people in South Africa). Its supposed to be "good
>> for you", so that's probably why ;)
>>
>AFAIK, my friends drink it b/c it has no caffeine. That's the only health
>claim I've ever heard for it.
>
>All I can say is is it must be pretty darn healthy if it can manage to
>distract people from its actual flavor :)

Now see, that just goes to show "each to her own taste"! I really
like the flavor. Then again, I like valerian tea too :-)

TammyM

Pumpkins in Africa
 

"Jean B." > schreef in bericht
...
> Jke wrote:
>
>> "Chatty Cathy" > schreef in bericht
>> ...
>>
>>>Jke wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>At long last I discover I am not the only one who dislikes rooibos. What
>>>>a waste of taste bud space. I'd rather have even the cheapest tea bags
>>>>instead. Coming from someone who only buys loose leaf.
>>>
>>>FWIW, I dislike the taste of rooibos tea intensely (even though its very
>>>popular here with many people in South Africa). Its supposed to be "good
>>>for you", so that's probably why ;)
>>>
>>
>> AFAIK, my friends drink it b/c it has no caffeine. That's the only health
>> claim I've ever heard for it.
>>
>> All I can say is is it must be pretty darn healthy if it can manage to
>> distract people from its actual flavor :)
> But here, anyway, there are plenty of decaffeinated teas--and "teas". Why
> suffer through that if it is so bad?
>
I don't know. My rooibos drinking friends typically have 5-20 types of tea
in their cupboards, mostly herbal. So I suspect it''s for variation.

Pumpkins in Africa
 

-L. wrote:

> ... The pumpkins they grew were most
> likely descendants of African varieties.

African varieties would have to be decendants of American
varieties. Pumpkins are native to the western hemisphere.

Pumpkins in Africa
 

Rich McCormack wrote:
> -L. wrote:
>
> > ... The pumpkins they grew were most
> > likely descendants of African varieties.
>
> African varieties would have to be decendants of American
> varieties. Pumpkins are native to the western hemisphere.

Squash as well? I don't think so...

-L.

Pumpkins in Africa
 

-L. wrote:
> Rich McCormack wrote:
>
>>-L. wrote:
>>
>>
>>>... The pumpkins they grew were most
>>>likely descendants of African varieties.
>>
>>African varieties would have to be decendants of American
>>varieties. Pumpkins are native to the western hemisphere.
>
>
> Squash as well? I don't think so...

Yes, squash as well.

Pumpkins in Africa
 

Jke wrote:
>
>> I suspect strongly that the pumpkins were some variety of hard-shelled
>> squash. Hard to tell. I found out that the "bush tea" that the ladies
>> drink is available in the U.S. It is herbal, called "rooibos" tea and in
>> my experience it is pretty awful. I bought a package at a local health
>> food store where there was a choice of three or four brands of the same
>> herb. There's no accounting for tastes!
>>
> At long last I discover I am not the only one who dislikes rooibos. What a
> waste of taste bud space. I'd rather have even the cheapest tea bags
> instead. Coming from someone who only buys loose leaf.
>
>

David dislikes rooibos as well, but I love it. I make iced tea with it over
the summer.

--
..:Heather:.
www.velvet-c.com
I thought I was driving by Gettysburg once but it ends up I was just driving
by your mom's house.

Pumpkins in Africa
 

Old Mother Ashby wrote:

> >
> > Aren't they fun? I have read them all and at first found it hard to
> > believe the author was male. He captured the emotions of the female
> > characters so perfectly.
> >
> Have you read his books about Prof von Iggelfeld? Absolutely delightful!
>
> Christine

I love anything by Alexander McCall Smith. I've read all the
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Books and all the Prof. von
Igelfeld books - The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs is my favorite
and is absolutely hysterically funny. I've also read one of
the Isabel Dalhousie books but I thought it quite not up to par
compared to the earlier 2 series, but still a pleasant read.

I see he now has a new series out - 44 Scotland St. - which
I'll have to check out one of these days.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

Pumpkins in Africa
 

Kate Connally wrote:
> Old Mother Ashby wrote:
>
>>> Aren't they fun? I have read them all and at first found it hard to
>>> believe the author was male. He captured the emotions of the female
>>> characters so perfectly.
>>>
>> Have you read his books about Prof von Iggelfeld? Absolutely delightful!
>>
>> Christine
>
> I love anything by Alexander McCall Smith. I've read all the
> No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Books

I read the first one and enjoyed it. But I then listened to
it on a long drive and it came to life in a way that reading
couldn't offer. The woman who reads them - Lisette Lecat -
is brilliant. My wife and I have now listened to all of them
and they're nothing short of brilliant.

> I see he now has a new series out - 44 Scotland St. - which
> I'll have to check out one of these days.

I have it on my iPod but haven't listened to it yet.

Pastorio

Pumpkins in Africa
 

>
> David dislikes rooibos as well, but I love it. I make iced tea with it
> over
> the summer.
>
> --

Different strokes :)

Pumpkins in Africa
 

On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 01:41:19 GMT, Puester >
wrote:

>I found out that the "bush tea" that the ladies
>drink is available in the U.S. It is herbal, called "rooibos" tea and
>in my experience it is pretty awful.

Ooh, I love rooibos.

serene
--
"I can't decide if I feel more like four ten-year-olds or ten four-year-olds." Laurie Anderson , on turning 40.

http://serenejournal.livejournal.com