I’ve been inclined to cook pretty simply since all the big deal of cooking for Passover. I happily broke my (mostly successful) 7-day abstinence from leavened bread with a sandwich. I don’t keep kosher and so I really went to town: grilled ham and cheese at Mendocino Farm, a great sandwich and salad restaurant that uses sustainable locally sourced products and GREAT bread.

I’ll be traveling to Washington for work this week – my part time gig with the Global Hunger Foundation – meetings and getting things set up for their annual Miztvah Day. As part of their marathon community volunteer activities they (and a local Jewish Day School) are packing more than 34,000 emergency meals for local anti-hunger efforts and almost 36,000 that will go to Burundi and Niger. So, you see, I really do have the great privilege of feeding people on a large scale in addition to a few at a time in my dining room.

Have no fear, while there I will take advantage of some of the great food DC has to offer. One of my favorites is to go to the featured exhibit at the National Gallery and follow it with lunch at the associated restaurant. They always have a buffet themed to accompany the art. Last year it was Italian Renaissance and a few years ago French Impressionism (think cheese selection to end all cheese selections…). This year an exhibit just closed last week so I’m not sure that the new one (and the menu change over) will be in place by next Saturday. ***sigh*** However, this is the weekend for the White House spring garden tour. I will get up early and hit the line to get tickets on Saturday – maybe Michelle will be in the vegetable garden plucking weeds and we can compare notes on our tomatoes…