This is my way of celebrating Thanksgiving: You send me five bucks. I send you five recipes. The Good Neighbor Fund gets your money to help families in need. You get ideas for entertaining your family at the dinner table. I get to feel good.

Last year’s "By Request" Top 5 offer earned more than $10,000 for the Star-Advertiser’s holiday fund that supports the good work of the Community Clearinghouse (read about the formal launch of the drive in Sunday’s paper).

The recipes — the best that have run in this column in 2013 — are those most appreciated by readers or most appreciated by my family when I tested them out:

1.Hisago Teriyaki Burger with Ramen "Buns": The old Hisago Delicatessen served a mean teri burger, one that some patrons still remember. In this double recipe you get the formula for that great burger, plus a lesson in turning noodles into buns. Ramen is pressed into a bun shape, then fried crisp. It was the food craze of 2013, meaning on the mainland crazy foodies stood in line for hours to buy them.

2. Blue Ginger Cafe Chop Steak: This recipe from Lanai’s Blue Ginger came with a great story about Joe Abilay, who ran the restaurant for more than 20 years while battling kidney disease. Abilay’s example is a good lesson in hard work and dedication. His dish serves as a good lesson in how to make a really ono stir-fry.

3. Queen’s Salmon with Lemon Miso Sauce: Thanks to Queen’s Medical Center chef Walter Kaneshiro for this recipe from the hospital cafeteria. The secret is in the sauce, which is so good it could make saltines taste like gourmet food.

4. Aikahi Chocolate Shortbread Cookies: This seriously chocolatey, seriously fabulous cookie was served at Aikahi Elementary School decades ago. It bakes up crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Add it to your Christmas baking session this season.

5.Super Easy Fruit Sherbet: This recipe was developed in response to a request for a tangerine sherbet that could be made with minimal ingredients and without an ice cream maker. I’ve found it works with almost any fresh fruit juice and is particularly awesome with lilikoi. It’s so easy you’ll wonder why you haven’t been making sherbet all your life.

HOW TO ORDER

Send $5 for each set of recipes, along with a self-addressed, stamped, legal-size envelope for each set ordered (if you want five sets, send $25 and five envelopes). You can make an additional donation of any amount at the same time, but please be clear about how many sets of recipes you want and how much is a pure donation. Make checks payable to ‘The Good Neighbor Fund.’

Send orders by postal mail to:

"By Request" Top Recipes
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210
Honolulu, HI 96813

Deadline to order is Dec. 31. This is an all-or-nothing offer, so DO NOT send $1 for just one recipe out of the set. And it’s strictly snail mail; no fax, phone or email orders.