The smell of ribs charring over a charcoal barbecue takes me back to small-kid times of lazy weekends on the beach near Kualoa Ranch.

We would camp and have a great time picking ogo (seaweed) from the ocean, fishing with poles, playing games with cousins and eating.

My mother, Lorna Lee Lo, was a wonderful cook who managed to stretch the budget to feed a family of seven with deliciousness. She would marinate large beef ribs in garlic, pepper, rock salt and Hawaiian chili peppers. My father would grill these Pulehu-style ribs on a hibachi.

These food memories bring back simpler times of joyful family gatherings with oh-so-good food.

So six years ago, I started jotting down the recipes for these comfort foods.

Many of my mother’s dishes are included in my new cookbook, “Back in the Day,” which features 106 popular recipes of that time. They include those pulehu ribs and her Krispie Krunch Kookies, crispy, buttery treats that use cornflakes or Rice Krispies Cereal.

Other recipes in the book are old-fashioned favorites from long-gone restaurants, such as the fried chicken from Kauai’s Hanamaulu Cafe, Shrimp Canlis and Wisteria’s chicken with eggplant.

At 88, my mother no longer cooks, so I’m glad that my daughter, nieces and nephews, and now their children, will be able to use this cookbook and take in the memories of her food.

Cooking — it’s how she showed her love.

PULEHU RIBS

By Lorna Lee Lo

• 1 large clove garlic
• 2 Hawaiian chili peppers
• 1 tablespoon Hawaiian rock salt
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 2 pounds beef back ribs (about 4)

>> Garnish: chopped green onions and sesame seeds

On a cutting board, mince together garlic and chilies. Add salt and pepper. Mix well.

Remove silver skin from back of ribs and cut into individual ribs. Rub salt mixture over both sides of ribs and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Place ribs with the curved side down on a foil-lined pan. Broil on high 10 minutes.

Turn; broil 5 more minutes. Or grill on a hot barbecue.

Garnish with green onions and/or sesame seeds. Serves 2-4.

KRISPY KRUNCH KOOKIES

By Lorna Lee Lo

• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups Rice Krispies Cereal or cornflakes
• Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat butter with sugar. Add egg and milk. Gradually add flour and baking soda. Fold in Rice Krispies or cornflakes.

Drop dough by tablespoons onto cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Cookies will spread. Bake 12-15 minutes.

Remove from baking sheet immediately to cool on a rack (if left too long on the sheet, cookies will become too brittle and crack). Cool. Makes about 25 cookies.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Lynette Lo Tom writes the monthly Crave column “Back in the Day.” Many of her mother’s Chinese recipes were the basis of “A Chinese Kitchen,” part of the “Hawaii Cooks” series produced in partnership with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.