SARAH URIST GREEN: This episode of "The Art Assignment" is brought you by Squarespace. A couple of weekends ago, John and I decided to put to the test J. Morgan Puett's art assignment to host a Scramble Scrabble Dinner. We came up with a list of friends, shared the video with our guests, set a time and a date. And soon enough, we were consuming azul tuna sushi.

We decided to gather our group a couple of days before the dinner itself so we'd have time for shopping. Morgan advised us to limit the game to two to six people. But we wanted to have a bigger party, so we invited a larger group, but had only one person play the game if they were part of a couple. First, we gathered around a piece of linen I bought at a local fabric store. And armed with Sharpies, began by writing out our full names and scrambling the letters to make names of foods and ways of preparation and display. Then the game began with one of us playing a word then working around the table clockwise to add words Scrabble-style. Words we'd sketched out before were only a loose guide. And of course, when you're working off other words, the possibilities expand. We kept going until the group felt we had enough words to make a dish and then started over to create the next courses. Whenever questions came up, we decided the answers as a group, always keeping in mind Morgan's advice to try to resist the traditional. Last, we sketched out the dishes as we imagined them from the scrabbled words and decided who was going to be in charge of which course and who was going to make a playlist for the evening. Then we parted ways until the main event.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Before everyone arrived, John and I planned our dish and made sure to hoosh the table in a way that Morgan would approve of by spreading out our game tablecloth and displaying clippings we'd taken from around our yard. With the words "sushi", "share", "azul", "manner", and "mince", John and I decided to make sushi using fresh, sushi-grade tuna and salmon over blue rice with a little spoonful of minced, green onion vinaigrette over top. We presented it on platters for sharing and assumed everyone would use their best manners in eating it.

Lauren and Andy worked from the words "hen", "onion", "fry", "grate", "lemon", "garnish", "ouzo", and "nest". They made an absolutely delicious avgolemono soup with rice, served in a nest-like bowl with a fried chicken wing on top and a glass of ouzo to enjoy it with.

Next up, Anne-Marie and Stuart played with the words "beer", "greens", "fats", "season", "yam", and "hominy" to create braised greens served over stewed yams and hominy-- all in a souvenir beer glass.

Elisabeth and Michael used the words "tacos", "corn", "thyme", "lean", and "sauce" to make thyme-roasted corn and mushroom tacos served with homemade tomato sauce.

Then we cleared our palates with a refreshing drink made by Zulaiha who played off the words "lassi", "fizz", and "zaatar" by making a fizzy mango lassi sprinkled with zaatar. We were all leery of the zaatar, but it was a huge hit-- a surprising bit of spice that served as a foil to the sweetness of the drink.

Last but not least, Rosianna closed out the meal with a dessert fashioned from the words "grits", "fruit", "tart", "sear", and "mint". She made a delectable, seared apple tart with a grit crust garnished with mint. It was a truly delightful meal.

After doing the Scramble Scrabble myself, here's my advice. Invite people who will approach this challenge with abandon and embrace the spirit of the hoosh, defy convention, and make it weird. We all made dishes we'd never made before. And having the freedom to adapt and stray from recipes is central to the pleasure of this. Don't worry about getting it wrong or breaking the rules. Use the steps as a rough guideline and feel free to improvise. Oh, and last of all, do it. This challenge involves some planning for sure, but it's worth the effort. You'll have a fun evening, eat new foods, and even have an artful tablecloth left over to remember it by.

And we all know that nothing really happens unless you document it, right? Take some pictures of your Scrabble Scramble Dinner and share them on your social media platform of choice with #theartassignment.

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace. Squarespace is an easy way to create a website, blog, or online store for you and your ideas. Squarespace features a user-friendly interface, custom templates, and 24/7 customer support. Try Squarespace at Squarespace.com/ArtAssignment for a special offer. Squarespace, build it beautiful.