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Within minutes that ticket sales for this year’s Bacon and Beer Festival went live online, they were sold out.  I was fortunate enough to have a very dedicated food partner-in-crime (Ian) who diligently bought the tickets for both of us.  As soon as Ian scored the coveted tickets, we were counting down the days until we could revel in a world exclusively dedicated to two of our favorite things: bacon and beer.

First of all, we waited in this line, which was incredibly annoying:

But once we were inside the House of Blues down by Fenway Park (after a substantial 30 minute wait that felt like FOREVER), it was magic.  We were surrounded by Boston restaurants serving up dishes that somehow involved bacon, as well as breweries offering up delicious beer.  Now, to partake in this event, you have to be really committed.  Check out this crowd we had to fight through:

Worth it.

Some of the food was downright nasty (the bacon flan and the bacon float with ice cream jimmies, specifically), but most were absolutely incredible. Here are some pictures (though I ate many of the tasty things before I could take pictures of them), and will let them speak for themselves:

Bacon cookie, bacon ice cream, and bacon and greens on a flatbread.  YUM.  

Bacon chocolate milkshake. Life-changing.

Braised bacon with fava bean puree (Ian’s event-appropriate pork tee shirt in the background)

Chocolate bacon bark.  Definitely had seconds (and thirds) of this one.

And that, in a nutshell, is Bacon and Beer Fest, one of the many things that makes Boston so great.  It was amazing, and I can’t wait to go next year.  Until then, I will be taking my daily dose of Lipitor.

-Ilena