For the Table
Continue the round theme by laying concentric squares of bright construction paper and top them with vibrant dishes of food. "I loved that it wasn't overly girly-girl, which made the guys feel included, too," Rachel says.

Introduce Solid Snack Foods
Rachel and Kendra love Asian cuisine, so our store-bought bites included nori-wrapped rice crackers (below left), spicy wasabi peas, edamame sprinkled with sesame salt, and Japanese party mix (below middle). Candy-coated sesame seeds and dried sweet potatoes (below right) and a bowl of clementines, kumquats, and tangerines played off the color scheme. JFC "Nori Maki Arare" rice crackers, $3, amazon.com. Seapoint Farms frozen edamame, $2, seapointfarms.com for stores. Eden Organic "Seaweed Gomasio" sesame salt, $2, edenfoods.com. Kasugai nut mix, $2, amazon.com.

Make It Easy
Dumplings are little bundles of joy: portable but filling, adorable on the plate, and pleasing to meat- and veggie-eaters alike. They also satisfied Rachel's and Kendra's hankerings for sushi, which they hadn't been able to enjoy for a while. We ordered chicken, watercress, shrimp, and pork dumplings from a Chinese delivery menu, along with pork buns, pork shumai, and chicken and vegetable potstickers (aim for about six pieces per guest).

Or buy frozen dumplings (we like the Ling Ling brand, available at Whole Foods). For a dipping sauce, mix 1 cup soy sauce, 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon rice-wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 cup sugar, 2 thinly sliced scallions, and a pinch of dried red chile flakes. One batch serves 8 people