Spare Rib

Before using the cherry cola, pour it into a bowl and allow it to stand at room temperature until no longer effervescent, about four hours. Start with a relish platter, then serve the spareribs with the State Fair Potato Salad and corn on the cob. What to drink: Tall glasses of iced tea or frosty mugs of lager.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

Mango sorbet and gingersnaps would be a lovely dessert.

Serve our Sophisticated Stir-Fried Rice with these irresistible ribs and wash it all down with cold Chinese beer. Buy green tea ice cream and fortune cookies for dessert.

Slowly cooked ribs glazed with a spicy-sweet tomato-based sauce are the signature of K.C. barbecue. If you don't have a smoker, cook the ribs in a barbecue that has been converted to one. It may be necessary to cut the racks into four- to five-rib portions so that they all fit on the grill at once.

"My paternal grandmother liked to serve these spareribs on special occasions," writes Lyn Utsugi of Kamuela, Hawaii. "She was a great cook and even owned a restaurant on Oahu in the late 1950s. My mother learned the recipe from her and has been making the ribs since 1961, the year she married my father." Serve these with steamed rice, perfect for soaking up the extra sauce.