Five 2013 Dinner Party Recipes That Double As Conversation Starters

Go home small talk, you’re drunk.

Menu Item: Pimms Cup Cocktails

Story: Kate Middleton Bump Watch

You can sip on this and talk about the royal baby OR you can just get drunk because it's alcohol and it's in your hand. Recipe here.

Menu Item: Leek Soup

Story: Edward Snowden

Leek soup. LEEK soup. If you don’t get it, you’re uninvited. Recipe here.

Menu Item: George Foreman Grilled Zucchini Burgers

Story: The George Zimmerman Trial

Ummm, yeah. You should probably just go ahead and add "perfect segue" to this ingredient list. After waxing rhapsodic about the ease of cooking a main course on your handy George Foreman, you've created your opening, and it's time to just go for it: "speaking of Georges...that Zimmerman trial was BANANAS, am I right?" Recipe here.

Menu Item: Texas Toast

Story: Wendy Davis and The Great Texas Filibuster

Texas Toast: the only thing keeping me from being perfectly comfortable with Texas’ constant threats to secede. Recipe here.

Menu Item: Frozen Rainbow Chiffon Cake

Story: The Fall of DOMA

Is it the 90 degree weather, or did conversation get unnecessarily heated? Cool everyone down with a little slice of equal opportunity lovin’. Recipe here.