Rice? Pshaw! Dinner rolls will elevate you to a hero

Rice is nice, but any fool can push the button on a rice cooker. For a really stylish starch you've got to do dinner rolls. Even if it's a feat you can pull off only on the weekend, you will be a hero.

Taro buns close in taste and color to bakery treats

The Pleiss family from Sunnyvale, Calif., has a favorite stop when on Hawaii vacations: 3660 on the Rise, where the kids especially love the taro rolls.

Cubes of sourdough help stretch out a crab salad

What's a little fakery between friends? "I used to make a 'mock' crab salad containing crab, cubed bread, celery, etc., to extend the crab," Laurie Sparks wrote. "You refrigerated it overnight and I can't remember the other ingredients.

Mystery dessert features Jell-O and marshmallows

Today I'd like to kick off a recipe mystery with the hope that someone out there can figure out whodunit. Or rather, howdunit. In other words, who has this recipe? Someone must.

Pickled mustard cabbage offers sweet, bitter taste

Mustard cabbage is a dark, rather bitter leafy thing, which makes it intimidating for those who like their greens mild and Manoa lettuce-like.

Allergen-free treats can still be tasty sweets

What's a cookie without butter, milk or eggs? An ookie? An ickie?

Creativity adds character to your basic brownie mix

A few weeks ago, I hit upon what I thought was the ultimate in brownie recipes, a mint-chocolate layered bit of deliciousness that, I kid you not, made people gaze heavenward in bliss. Seriously.

Taro cubes are the key to vegan version of poke

To prove that good food is well understood across borders and seas, Sharon McKenzie writes from across both: "Last year I was studying at UH-Manoa on exchange from New Zealand, and LOVED the taro poke that was sold by Taro Delight at the KCC farmers market on Saturday. I used to buy it every week and really miss it."

Time is main ingredient in tasty salted beef dish

It can take time to reach the proper degree of yum. In this case, at least a week.

Multilayered brownie recipe brings tasty mint into mix

I'm willing to try just about anything paired with chocolate. Potato chips dipped in chocolate, bacon dipped in chocolate ... anything short of grasshoppers.