Champagne On Center

I love it when Downtown Bloomington has an evening event! Enjoy Champagne, gourmet food, and music on Center Street from 5 - 8 next Friday. Do you need a better reason to visit? Honestly, the food is enough to get me there! Visit Specs Around Town or see my calendar for details on all the sights, sounds, and tastes!

Let me know if you're going, and until then, check on the hosts:

A. Renée
Kelly’s Bakery
Eaton Gallery
Specs Around Town
Fox n’ Hounds

Coffee Monkeys

A friend sent me this awesome picture of a latte with a MONKEY design!! How adorable! I think I might ask next time I'm getting coffee if they know how to make monkeys, though it's so cool looking I'd be afraid to drink the monkey.

Playing With Food

For the better part of this year I've been keeping a Google calendar of things to do around Bloomington-Normal that focus on food or wine. This month I decided to start keeping another Google calendar of my experiments in the kitchen. Mostly, this is so I can remember when I try new recipes. I wanted a place to keep notes. I'm not sure if anyone is interested, but I've decided to share both calendars. (This is where you get excited and cheer!)

Check out the links over to the right. Who knows? Maybe I'll run into you at an upcoming cooking class! I took two classes in August from Chef Brian Bowman at Vrooman Mansion. I looking forward to taking more classes and I'm trying to talk Brian into an all dessert class!

Summer's Sweet Bottles

A. Renée will have a booth at downtown Bloomington’s Farmer’s Market this Saturday, September 8!!! They will have samples of Ropp Jersey Cheese, dressings, salsas, and other delectibles!

I'd also recommend talking the short walk from the Farmer's Market to their store front to pick up an amazing bottle or three of wine! I'm been sampling my way through some amazing sweet wines this summer, here's a few of my favorites!!

• Pheasant Hollow Winery Red & Blue
• Illinois River Winery Chocolate Raspberry Port
• A. Renée Muscott
• Pheasant Hollow Winery Black & Blue (My Old Favorite)
• Il Conte D'Alba NV Stella Rosa (My New Favorite!!)
• Muscadel - South African, Can't remember the exact name (Update: It's Rietvallei Red Muscadel 2005)... it's my other new favorite!

Update 9/9: I bought a bottle of Beni Di Batasiolo Bosc Dla Dei - Moscato D'Asti (2006) this weekend and just opened it. It's an intense sweet sparkling white wine from the Piedmont Region of Italy. It tastes of pineapple and ripe fruits. This just might be as good as a glass of Stella Rosa!