She doesn’t know the recipe for the barbecue pork dry rub, but Lorene Ono knows it is delicious because she has tasted it, and besides, it’s her son Casey’s creation.

Casey, who turns 33 in a few days, is the chef in the family, says his proud mom. He was just shy of graduating from the culinary program at Leeward Community College when another job got in the way, but he still uses his chops to cook for his family and friends.

“He’s always taking pictures of his creations,” Lorene said, “so last year I told him I wanted to make a recipe calendar to give family and friends for Christmas.”

It became a mother-and-son project, with Casey providing recipes, both of them providing photos and Lorene typing up the recipes and compiling the calendars. They were given to friends and family along with jars of Casey’s pork rub.

“I’m one of 15 siblings,” Lorene said, and with additional relatives and friends, she needed at least 30 gifts. Casey also needed gifts, so they made about 60 4-ounce jars of pork rub with supplies purchased in bulk.

Homemade gift

Anyone with a computer could duplicate their efforts, Lorene said. “I think a lot of people who use a computer don’t think about making a gift with it.”

She downloaded a free calendar template found online and added a photo at the top of each month’s page.

Other free online resources included photo-enhancing tools and word-processing programs. Avery.com offered free label design options used to personalize the jars of pork rub.

The recipes were placed on three pages at the end of the calendar, and Lorene printed all the pages on card stock purchased from Sam’s Club. She bound the calendars with a $125 comb binder bought previously for a cookbook project. A separately printed cover sheet with photos of Casey and his son in the kitchen served as the greeting card.

The cost worked out to less than $3 a calendar, with the greatest expense being ink for their printer.

As an alternative to the comb binder, Lorene suggested punching two holes at the top of the calendar pages and binding them with a pretty ribbon.

Preserving history

Projects like Lorene and Casey’s are not just good for filling out a gift list; they help preserve a crucial part of a family’s history.

Reflecting an all-too-common sentiment, Lorene says she regrets never collecting recipes from long-gone relatives whose dishes died with them.

“My mother-in-law was a good cook. … My father-in-law made the best stuffed bittermelon,” she said. But because they always did the cooking, she never asked for their recipes.

“I’m a real believer in family cookbooks,” Lorene said. “You get Grandma’s recipe now before she passes away.”

Her philosophy extends beyond recipes. As a docent for Hawaii’s Plantation Village, “I always tell people … ‘Write stories down, because your kids are not going to know.’”

Culinary challenges

Casey’s culinary exploits range from the classic to the colossal, with one creation, a 15-pound manapua, bordering on the “Epic Meal Time” adventures captured on YouTube.

It was made in a large aluminum roasting pan; layered with fried noodles, roast pork, chopped pork hash and other items from a chop suey restaurant; and then topped with his own dough.

Lacking a steamer large enough for the pan, the whole kit and caboodle was baked, then cut into pieces like a lasagna. “Each slice was about 1 pound of food,” Ono said.

He and his friends got through half the pan. The ginormous manapua recipe is not part of the calendar, but the photo is still on Casey’s phone.

Casey is contemplating a culinary future along with partners, possibly involving food trucks and a catering business. He already caters for friends, and he is the go-to guy for catered lunches among his co-workers at New City Nissan.

“I encourage him to cook,” Lorene said, “so he’ll say, ‘Mom, I’m going to cook tonight. You want to call some friends?’”

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Clam Linguine

Casey Ono

• 1 pound clams in shells
• 1 cup white wine
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup minced cilantro
• 1 pound linguine noodles, cooked and drained

Steam clams in wine, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove clams and reserve liquid.

In a pan, heat garlic in olive oil 2 to 3 minutes until light brown. Add cream and clam liquid; stir. Add clams and Italian seasoning. Cook 1 to 2 minutes; reduce heat to low. Mix in Parmesan cheese (add more if you want thicker sauce). Add cilantro.

Place noodles in a dish; top with clam sauce. Serves 4.

Nutritional information unavailable.