
My turn. Mochi is a velvet soft, smooth dumpling made from Japanese sweet rice (mochi-kome)--a sticky, chewy, sweet-goodness of a snack. And distinct from Japanese mochi--decidedly modern, distinctly American and of course, a little Hawaii thrown in.
My happy confluence of mochi started yesterday in San Jose Japantown. Number 1: I ended up at Shuei-do, the venerable mochi/manju store. And score! Coconut mochi, and azuki and kinako manju were still available at 3:30 pm! Usually this place sells out by noon.

Click here for Jello Mochi--The color and flavor comes from Jello. Instead of cooking/pounding mochi rice, use mochiko (mochi flour, found in the Asian/Hispanic food aisle). And don't use grape jello, not because of taste, but because this will look like concrete. Stick
to orange strawberry.
Click here for Coconut Butter Mochi--Japanese/Hawaii hybrid. I adore this. Not as sticky as normal mochi, but a good sturdy custard-ey texture.
Perfect comfort food as we start the dash toward Christmas and New Year's.