So when my husband and I commissioned a work from a very talented artist - Madam DZOONG, who just happens to be a very good friend - we knew there had to be a big celebration. To honor her, we decided on a Moroccan theme - she and her husband had traveled to Morocco as a newlywed couple and fallen in love with the country and its cuisine.

Here's how we used an exotic theme and still kept the art as the center of attention.

NOT QUITE THE MIDDLE EAST

If you think of Morocco as the Middle East, you need to think again. Yes, it's part of the Arab world, but it's actually North Africa. And it has a European element influenced by Portugal, France and Spain.

We decided not to go over the top with wild music, camels and belly dancers. This party was about the art, so the only thing in a veil was the painting itself, which we draped and then revealed with a champagne toast.

The house was aglow in candlelight. At the entrance, we placed tall votives and a silver bowl with its own stand, filled with water and floating rose petals -water is an important element in Arabic culture. It plays a big role in the story of creation in the Koran, and of course, it is precious in the desert.

Devout Muslims always wash before they pray and flowing fountains in Persian gardens symbolize eternal life. Did we really expect guests to "get it"? Some probably did; others just thought it looked really pretty.

'EXOTIC' CUISINE

Because the guest of honor and her husband were vegetarians, I decided to create a spread where they could graze freely. All the dishes were vegetarian and true to the Moroccan theme. My husband, a big meat eater, was concerned that it wouldn't quite be party food. But Moroccan cuisine is rich with olive oil, spice and decadent sweets such as dates and honey.

We served stuffed grape leaves, falafel and a salad, all of which we bought at a Greek restaurant. We made hummus, pomegranate vinaigrette for the salad and a big platter of vegetable couscous with saffron, ginger, cinnamon and garlic.

We set an entire table with desserts and cheeses: Goat cheese with preserved lemons, brie with organic fig preserves, cookies and baklava from a Persian bakery and dates, Cara Cara orange slices (with the membrane removed – it's worth the trouble) sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and flatbreads with feta cheese and mint leaves.

We decided to have one signature cocktail, a pomegranate martini with a few pomegranate seeds floating on top. Guests brought red wine and beer. As the party wound down, we served coffee. If your Moroccan party is smaller, you could make Turkish coffee in an Ibrik or espresso. We put out saffron sugar cubes and honey to sweeten the coffee.

A TOAST TO THE ART

When everyone had gotten a chance to drink, mingle and nibble, I passed out plastic champagne flutes - when you're only having one drink of something, disposable stemware is a lot easier - and poured dry and fruity bubbly. Once all the glasses were full, we made a toast and unveiled our beautiful painting - a figurative piece with two Chinese girls holding flowers in an incredible contemporary frame with see-through "canvas" (actually transparent vinyl) that lets the viewer gaze inside.

The wowed guests applauded. The artist said a few words and I thanked all our friends for sharing in this moment. What could be better than good friends enjoying this painting and this party as much as their host and hostess?

EASY EDAMAME HUMMUS

Yield: About 4 cups

1 pound frozen, shelled edamame (soy bean pods)

2 cloves garlic, peeled

\ cup prepared basil pesto, plus more for serving

2 cups prepared hummus

1-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil for serving

Pita bread or chips

1.Prepare edamame according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. With food processor blade running, drop garlic cloves through feed tube and process until minced. Turn off food processor and load in edamame. Process until coarse. Add hummus and pesto. Process until smooth.

3. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Serve in a shallow bowl, drizzled with olive oil and more pesto. Pass pita bread or chips.

The Party Gal, a popular column on former media partner SqueezeOC.com, has moved to OCRegister.com. When Anne isn't writing this column, she's thinking about commissioning another painting just so she can dream up another unveiling party.