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It's 7:30 P.M. on a Saturday, and the front door of a Victorian house in Oakland, California, is wide open. The owner of the home directs arrivals through the kitchen -- where Louisiana shrimp stock simmers on the stove and delicate tomato-and-white-corn tarts are being assembled on a tiled table -- and out to the backyard. Guests are gathering under a canopy of trees, sitting on the colorful cushions that surround the low tables.
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