2015-06-16: I know lots of songs with California in the title

We are in Los Angeles for some 24 hrs. I figure this is kind of like a vaccination. We get a teeny small dose now, spend some time in Canada to develop the immunity and then come back able to appreciate the qualities of California.

Hello Kitty we are already inoculated against. With an AK47? Not so much. Also why an AK? Surely an AR makes more sense. But anyway.

I have been a long time fan of the idea of American Barbecue since I read an article by Jeffrey Steingarten many years ago. I bought a Big Green Egg smoker and have spent many a weekend swathed in smoke whilst preparing various animals in their smokey slow cooked goodness.

Definitely in our plans. Not today though.

In my opinion I do a couple of the animals well. Chickens are fast, easy and absolutely stunning. Pork shoulder I can do pretty well. Brisket with bacon is another one I am pretty happy with. Ribs I have never done well. None of these (except chicken) have ever quite hit the right ratio of awesome / work involved for me.

Norge Dry Cleaners doesn't even use fancy letters. Plus I don't think Norway is particularly famous for cleaning clothes that much better than anyone. They should probably spell Norge wrong and use a cool kid ø.

I am hoping the sojourn through America will show me that BBQ can be done well and far enough above my skills that it is a cuisine worth studying.

Always one of my favourites. At first scary. Then you realise it means "We sell booze". And it becomes a sign to look for.

I think I may have attempted to articulate this concept to James but we had been on a plane and the plane had free booze so I am not sure if I explained it as an abstract concept or just said something like "want meat, smokey meat, big pile".

I am not sure if the phone was for scale or the James was for scale. Either way, stupidly huge iced tea.

James used to be my and Alastairs boss - that  will kill you from stress or turn you into an understanding fellow. James is an understanding fellow.

Much BBQ. We ate it all.