From Cha-plang photos

Shadow stormtrooper: Hi…what can I get you?

Stormtrooper: Hmmm…I think I’ll have the bak-chang, the vegetable curry, and a pecan pie for dessert.

From Good Food: Bad Photos

a) Bak-chang (sticky rice dumpling with meat and salted egg yolk)

I didn’t make this. I’ve seen dumplings in the ready food aisle at the local Asian store. I’ve always hesitated to buy anything in that refrigerator, since I have no idea how long the food items have been sitting in there. But I caved in to the bak-chang, partly because I can’t remember if I had it during my last trip home. It cost around US$3 and was quite good, not the best, but good enough.

From Good Food: Bad Photos

b) Vegetable curry

I made this for the early sort-of Thanksgiving dinner that I had 2 weeks ago. It’s not a vegetarian curry because I added a bit of ikan bilis (anchovy) seasoning to add more pizazz to the curry. It has cauliflower, potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, tau-pok (soy puff), yellow split peas and lentils.

From Good Food: Bad Photos

c) Pecan pie

I had my first pecan pie several years ago at someone’s house during Thanksgiving dinner. It was love at first bite. That pecan pie was so good, it had a lot of pecans….crunchy, nutty, sweet and salty…wonderful combination. I don’t remember having another pecan pie ever since then. So when my friend Andrea invited me to her place for a Thanksgiving dessert party, I decided I’ll bake my very first pecan pie. I found a highly rated and yet simple recipe from allrecipes.com, and gave it a try. It came out beautifully and everyone loved it. I’ll definitely make this again.