Creating a party around the menu

Barilla wrangled up some famous faces — Chris Daughtry, Debra Messing, Natalie Portman, Stanley Tucci and Marisa Tomei — for their annual "The Celebrity Italian Table" cookbook. The quintet contributed their favorite pasta dishes, which Mario Batali umphed up a bit. Party planner David Tutera then took the delicious menus and created a stunning whole dinner party for of them, complete with theme, music, lighting and decor. It's a tad cheesy, but isn't that what you love about Italian cooking? The best part about the book, though, is that it's free, available for download at BarillaUS.com — and, for each copy downloaded, Barilla will donate $1, up to $100,000, to America's Second Harvest.