The Taste of Bloomington - 2011

This weekend is a big one in B-town,
with the Garden Walk,
the Arts Fair on the Square and
the Taste of Bloomington
all happening at once.

The Foodie Girls decided to go to the Taste of B-town,
this time accompanied by the Foodie Husband.

With more than fifty food vendors,
two music stages and a large children's area,
the event coordinators expected this year's attendance
to be nearly twice that of previous years.

In 2010 there were 40 vendors and about 9,000 attendees.

In case you are wondering,
this is the 29th Annual Taste of Bloomington
and they greatly expanded the space for the event.

This band was playing everything from polka to
"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" by They Might Be Giants.

The new, second stage had country bands playing.

Jazz Bloomington musicians playing.

One significant change made this year was that alcohol
was allowed to be consumed outside of the alcohol tent.

Everyone who wished to consume alcohol was carded
at the entrance and was given a bracelet.
They could then purchase alcohol and take it out
of the tent and drink it anywhere on the grounds
of the festival.

I am sure that this greatly increased
alcohol sales.

Security was also increased for the event.

But you wanted to know about the food,
didn't you?

Before we went to the Taste,
I downloaded a map with the list of the vendors
and what they had to offer for sale.

Thus, we went in with a plan.

The Foodie Daughter and Husband
got Pepperoni Knots
from Butch's Grillacatessen and Eatzeria.

These were the Foodie Daughter's favorite eats
at the Taste.

I decided to try the Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls
from Crazy Horse.

Hey, ya gotta try everything once.
The Foodie Daughter and Husband helped me finish these off.

I've tried it - I'm moving on now.

Next up, I tried a Korean Taco from Cafe D'Jango.

This had beef and kimchi* in the dish.
It was very spicy with the kimchi.

*Kimchi is a traditional fermented Korean dish,
made with various vegetables.

I also tried a Cuban Sandwich with Jicama Slaw
from One World Catering & Events.

The sandwich was good, but I liked the slaw better.

So far nothing has really rocked my taste buds.

The Foodie Husband got BBQ Ribs and Corn on the Cob
from Smokin Jack's Rib Shack.

The Foodie Daughter shared the BBQ Ribs with him
and they both thought the ribs were well covered in sauce,
and the sauce was slightly sweet.

The Foodie Daughter didn't care for the fact that
some grease ran down her hand as she ate these.

The Foodie Husband liked the corn.

Then we got BBQ Ribs from Upland Brewery.

BBQ Ribs were probably one of the most popular dishes
at the Taste as several vendors were selling these.

These ribs had less sauce on them,
but were fall-off-the-bone tender.
They were also tangier than the last ribs.

We all had a taste of these ribs.

We also got two servings of Bacon Ice Cream at
Upland Brewery (ice cream from Chocolate Moose).

Bacon Ice Cream.
What can I say?

Ice Cream - check.
Bacon - check.
Definitely different.
Not bad.

Not sure I'd have it again, though.
But now we can say we have.

Finally I got to the vendor I had been wanting to visit
- Happy Pig.

Happy Pig is a new food cart in town that I have yet
been able to visit.

I ordered the Pork Belly Ssam**
which is a lettuce wrap with pork belly and
pickled vegetables.

This was my favorite dish of the day.

Now I know I have to visit that food cart!

**Ssam means "wrapping" in Korean.

We got Smoked White Fish & Cream Cheese Dip
with Blackened Chips from Chapman's Restaurant & Bar.

The Foodie Husband proclaimed this to be his favorite dish.

And finally I purchased
a Grilled Bacon, Avocado, Tomato and Cheese Sandwich
from Indiana Memorial Union Catering Services.

This was good, but far spicier than I was anticipating.

As an aside,
you will often read about me raving about
the IMU Catering Services food
as they provide the food for the University Club luncheons.
It is always good.

As a treat, I got a chocolate mini cupcake on a stick
for the Foodie Daughter.

She was one happy Foodie.

In fact, we all were.

We spent about 2-1/2 hours at the Taste
and spent:
Admission for three: $18
Beer (6): $30
Food: $37
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Total: $85