The Foodie Train Heads to Israel

Bloomington holds the annual

Fourth Street Festival

on Labor Day weekend

and I always attend on Saturday morning.

Today I had a second objective

in mind as I went to town.

An Israeli restaurant sits

a block away from the festival.

I knew this would be a good time to

venture out of Asia

and into the Middle East

in my continuing quest

to dine my way around the world

without leaving Bloomington.

Falafels is tucked away in the rear of Dunkirk Square.

The waitress was kind enough to explain what the dishes were.








The decor is eclectic and intimate.

After we ordered, a basket of grilled pita bread with

olive oil and tomato sauce was brought out.







The Foodie Daughter suggested that we get

a small order of Pita Chips.



These were fried and served with Hummus.

Very nice.




The Foodie Daughter ordered

the Shawarma Sandwich,

which is grilled chicken on their

freshly baked Pita Bread.



She chose to have onion, roasted peppers and fries

added to her sandwich.



The Foodie Daughter liked this,

but felt the sandwich was too much too large for her.



She also thought that next time

she would just add onion as the other

flavors were just a bit much.







I ordered the Original Beef Kabob Sandwich,

which is ground beef formed into patties and then grilled.



I added tomatoes and cucumbers, onions

and Mamaganush (feta cheese rolled in fried eggplant)

to my sandwich.



The meat was slightly spicy

and the flavors vaguely reminded

me of a Greek gyro.




These were some seriously big

sandwiches.



They were good and we enjoyed our "trip"

to Jerusalem.

Labor Day Weekend in Bloomington

This is always a special weekend in Bloomington. The students are back in town and Bloomington celebrates by hosting a nationally noted arts festival. I make sure to clear my calendar for this festival every year.

I was a bit sluggish this morning and didn't arrive until after 10:30 am. Things are already hopping.

A band is playing along one side street. Hm, that's an interesting place to put the port-o-lets.

Yep, definitely glad that I got here early.

I decided that since I was already going to be downtown, I would finally finish out my Asian culinary tour by eating at an Indian restaurant. I had earlier chosen the Bombay House Restaurant on 4th Street.



They had a menu posted outside the door, but for lunch they ran a lunch buffet. Well, why not? Let's be adventurous. And it's all you can eat for $5.99.

I found that the only meat on the menu was chicken, so I opted to go vegetarian for my lunch. Now, I knew better than to expect beef on the menu, but I had been hoping for some lamb. But that's okay. I can do vegetarian. And, hey, many in the population in India are vegetarians, so it's gotta be good, right?

I chose: curried potatoes
butter naan
garlic naan
chick peas masala
fried potato slices
green salad
chick pea salad
veggie biryani

These were all very good. For dessert I had a vermicelli dessert, which as far as I could tell was short pieces of cooked pasta in a sweet cream sauce. This was a nice finish to a somewhat spicy meal. The biryani was by far the spiciest thing I had picked out, but was child's play compared to some of the Thai food I have eaten in the past.

Now, would I go back? Based on this meal, perhaps not, but then again, India is a large country and this was but a small buffet.





Like many of the restaurants on 4th Street, this place was once a private home.

I would say that we were sitting in what was once the front parlor.

And now we fast forward a day. A favorite new show of mine on Food Network is "What Would Brian Boitano Make?" Based on the recent decline in the quality of the programming on this network, I, like many others, expected a glorified train wreck. Imagine my great surprise and delight to find instead an intelligent and entertaining program. Bravo, Brian.

One of his recent shows centered around bacon, and given that bacon is one of the Foodie Daughter's favorite and most important food groups, I knew I HAD to make at least one of these recipes. I chose to make the Bacon Cups with Sweet Potato Hash the first time out. Surprisingly enough, I pretty much followed the recipe, except that I only made ten pancetta cups and I used only two celery stalks. Of course, I had extra hash left over, but I have plans for that, so no worries on that front.

See, just a bit of hash left over. I think that will be a nice side dish for dinner.

They turned out rather well, don't you think?

Meanwhile, I had put the Foodie Daughter and her boyfriend to work on the BBQ Bacon Krab Bites.

We decided, quite by accident, that a bit of the barbecue sauce with the Bacon Cups with Sweet Potato Hash was pretty good eats.

Oh, and the only thing spoiling our appetites? Sandra Lee* and her "Money Saving Meals". I'm still not sure how it saves money if no one will actually eat the food. Isn't that "Money Wasting Meals"?

*Click on the picture for the full effect.

And now you see the down side to having your daughter being the manager to her old high school's football team. Too bad they haven't invented smell-ernet. You'll just have to believe me when I tell you that the "aroma" from dozens of sweaty teenage boys wafts throughout the entire house. *Gack* *Cough* *Choke* *Gasp* *Errk.....*

The Fourth Street Festival Returns to Bloomington

One local event that I look forward to every year is the 4th Street Festival. This is a nationally recognized arts fair and it pulls in artists from as far away as Florida and New Mexico.

It's still early, but already the crowds are building. Oddly enough, people even bring their dogs to this event.

Will play for money.

Will play for free.

Not to be outdone, the fire department has its own bagpipe player.

After laying down a good bit of money, I think it's high time I left this festival behind.

And by the way, when was the last time you asked what payment someone required for a purchase and they tell you that they would let you go home and write them a check if you don't have the money on hand at the moment? Luckily for the out-of-town artist, I did have the required cash so I could pay for my beautiful oval Shaker box.

Let's take a little detour on the way back to the car. This sight is well known in Bloomington. I wish they would come take care of my garden.

Every year many Wave Petuniastm and trailing vinca are planted in these window boxes.

The old county courthouse.

And what's that on top? A fish? No one really knows why a fish was chosen for the weather vane. But the fish is there and the community has embraced the fish.

Traveling to Tibet

I finally made good on a promise I had made to myself when we moved to Bloomington several years ago. Given that the country's only Tibetan Cultural Center is located here and the town can boast of having not one, but two authentic Tibetan restaurants, this has long seemed like a valid aspiration.

After speaking with several people around town, I decided to go to Anyetsang's Little Tibet Restaurant. Luckily, this small eatery sits on Fourth Street in Bloomington, where the annual 4th Street Festival is held every Labor Day weekend. And guess what weekend this just happens to be. Looks like I can stroll through the artists' booths and eat great food all in the same day. Sounds like a plan to me. Come along to Tibet with me...

Slipping between a couple of artists' booths, I found my way to the sidewalk and the gateway to Tibet.

In this case, a piece of Tibet is located in a tiny, old house. I chose a table in the corner of what surely used to be the living room.

Don't you just love the small restaurants with their small budgets?

I opted for the Momo, which are steamed dumplings filled with minced beef and onion and secret spices. Two dipping sauces were served on the side: warm soy sauce and a spicy sauce of hot chilis, cilantro and green onion. Lentil soup was served as a first course and I chose to have a Mango Lassi with my lunch.

My lentil soup arrives. The lentils had been mashed to a pulp and the soup was filling without being heavy. Despite the heat of the day, this was a delightful dish.

Ah, my Mango Lassi has been freshly made. Smooth and rich and creamy with a wonderful fruity flavor.

A lassi is a yogurt based drink that was first developed in northern India. Several different flavors can be incorporated in the refreshing drink, making it a versatile beverage.

Now the Momos with the dipping sauces have been presented to this grateful diner. Essentially, the Momos are really not all that different than a steamed dumpling that one might find in a good Chinese restaurant. This should not be all that surprising, as Tibet has long ago adapted dishes from neighboring China, India and Nepal.

What I can tell you about this meal is that I really enjoyed how the subtle flavors of the Momo were accented by the dipping sauces. My favorite sauce turned out to be the special spicy sauce.

While I ate my lunch I spent some time taking in the ambience of the small restaurant.

The small pictures on the mantle show the Dalai Lama with people who are presumably the owners of this establishment.

I'm so glad I took the time out of my schedule to visit Tibet.