American

Offer grilled zucchini slices and a deli pasta salad alongside. Dessert? Berry tartlets from the bakery.

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 10 min

These adorable sweets are festive, fun — and so easy to make. Just be sure to freeze the scoops of ice cream overnight before dipping and coating them.

If your tomatoes are on the acidic side, add a little sugar to the sauce. Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 14 hr (includes chilling)

Like gumbo, this is a thick and flavorful stew. But it takes a lot less time to make. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

Despite its name, this dish is not rice at all but noodles—and not even rice noodles but shimmering, transparent bean threads with lots of chicken flavor. Got that straight?

There will be a large amount of rendered goose fat left over from this gumbo. The French often use the fat to coat potatoes for roasting. Rendered goose fat keeps, covered and chilled, 3 months. Two 8-pound ducks can be substituted for goose if desired.

A pretty pink dessert that is refreshing and light. Plums with dark purple skin or flesh will give the sherbet beautiful color. Serve a pot of green tea alongside.

Silky and sweet, these onions add a sophisticated touch to adults' burgers (adventurous younger eaters will enjoy them, too).

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

Adapted from a recipe by chef Phillippe Padovani of the Manele Bay Hotel on Lanai. Serve it as a topping for grilled skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

Sandra Sowis of Allenhurst, New Jersey, writes: "My mother loved bananas and used them in anything she could dream up. She made this banana cake for my birthday more than ten years ago, and it has traditionally been my birthday cake ever since." Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr