What is it about food vans and lawn bowls that make them such a good combination? There's something about portable food and bare feet and booze and bowling that adds an extra atmosphere of cheerful relaxation to any meal, I think. As the summer sun crept slowly toward the horizon and local folks kicked their shoes off to take to the smooth green, Fancy Hank fired up a barbeque that looked something like a younger sibling of the Hogwarts Express, and I lined up under the coloured string-lights for a sticky, smokey, Southern-style barbeque dinner.

The last time I tasted pulled pork I was in a small town in Arkansas, USA, on a road trip. My friend Sonya and I sat in a cafe that was lit up in neon pink and yellow and decorated with larger-than-life flamingos, and each tucked into the biggest mound of pulled pork butt you could ever imagine, with a slice of bread on the side, and tried unsuccessfully to wash it down with red wine. (This is me, crying with laughter at the sight of my still-giant mound of dry and dessicated pork butt, which had defeated me despite a good half hour of dedicated eating).

Later that night, because we didn't know what else was on, Sonya and I followed some signs to a Christian rock concert that was held in a rodeo arena. We lasted two songs. We bought matching T-shirts that said DON'T DO DRUGS JUST DANCE. We took off.

But that is all in the past.

On this night, I ordered a pulled pork and coleslaw sandwich that was moist and delicious and much more my size. Em was a big fan of her smokey BBQ chicken, and Mr B LOVED the pork ribs (although he was not to be convinced when it came to the beef link or the dill pickle I ordered for him on the side).

The real down-side to this meal, in my opinion, was that I had to take it home and eat it in the lounge room, because my darling Madeleine was already asleep. The night was so perfect, I would have loved to wile it away with a spot of bowling and a glass of chilled, white wine under the colourful cafe lights, while Fancy Hank filled the air with tasty, marinated smoke.

ps. More meals on wheels in Melbourne, here.