After magic the other day, we did enjoy some culinary adventures while we were in downtown Albany. We went to Van’s Vietnamese Restaurant on Central Avenue.  The girls loved it–they have some very good child-friendly choices. Plain rice or vermicelli will prevent starvation for super-picky eaters, but my girls loved the Lemongrass Chicken as well as the Sliced Beef with Summer Rolls. Or maybe it was Spring Rolls?  Whichever. They picked suspiciously at the uncooked ones that the grown ups preferred, but magically, tossing the rolls in hot oil makes them child-friendly! Voilà ! Hey, maybe Van’s should do a show!  Okay, now I’m just getting unnecessarily snarky. . . . In any case, we all liked it. I only wish that I could order a to-go bouquet of the carrot flowers that they used for garnish, because fresh vegetables are rarely received with such fervent wonder.
Even though we were unbelievably stuffed, we had to stop by the Honest Weight Food Co-op since we were so close. The big attraction is the cheese section, where I defy you to taste the samples without purchasing something. We had never noticed that there’s even a little file index where you can write down the names of your favorite cheeses for future reference. Yay. I was pleased and impressed when my big girl tried and liked some fabulously sophisticated & expensive cheese until I realized that we might have to share it with her. Luckily, she’s pretty loyal to her Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar on Saltines. Anyway, I was poking around the Co-op website and I noticed that they post a free samples schedule! How fun is that? Man, I wish they were closer to me!
