Three and a half months after moving back from Malaysia to the US, we’re feeling a bit more settled now. We have moved into a new house in San Jose, and I have started a new job (praise God) in San Francisco with a great non-profit organization.

Since we left almost everything we had in Malaysia except for some clothes and important items, we really need to refurnish our new place with everything – dining set, sofa, TV, beds, desks – to get the House of Annie back in operation.  Fortunately, our friends have been very kind to us by donating a lot of things. But we are still missing a few things.

On Friday, I came home to find that the kids had prepared a “treasure hunt” for me, feeding me clues at each point around the house. They eventually led me outside to the shed.

What’s Behind Door #1?

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Malaysians love their pork. Nowhere is this more true than in Sarawak, where people of all tribes and tongues use pork in a huge variety of dishes like Pork, Lotus Root and Black Bean Soup, Fried Pork with Evaporated Milk, or Grilled, 3-Layer Pork Belly.

But barbecue, that American style of cooking in the heat and smoke of a wood fire, is not easy to find. A few restaurants here in Kuching do pork ribs, but they’re usually baked, grilled, and covered in a sweet sauce. That isn’t barbecue.

So where can you find the best barbecue ribs in Kuching? At the House of Annie!

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This is the story of a food experiment gone awry.

Chicken Propped up on a Guinness Beer Can

 
It all started when I read an article in the paper about Arthur’s Day, a day to commemorate the signing of the lease on Arthur Guinness’s brewery, over 250 years ago. You know, the maker of the popular Guinness Stout beer.  The company is holding a worldwide music festival on September 22 to celebrate.

That article sparked an idea in my  head to cook something with Guinness beer in time with Arthur’s Day. But I wasn’t interested in making an Irish Stew. I wanted to revisit a cooking technique that I hadn’t done in a long time, since before we moved from San Jose to Kuching: Beer Can Chicken. In the past, I’ve gotten tasty results using Heineken beer, so I figured to try making it again, only this time using Guinness Stout instead.

That was the start of the troubles…

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Okay, so I know that bacon is *so* 2009, but seriously, these bacon-wrapped chicken lollipops are too good to ignore. And they’re so easy to make, too!

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Lollipops

Living here in Malaysia, we don’t get to watch much American football anymore. Truthfully, I haven’t been that big a fan of professional football to begin with. Like Annie, the only reason to watch the SuperBowl was for the ads, and for the SuperBowl get-togethers. I mean, where else are you going to find so many great hors d’oeuvres?

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