recipe: camille's mango lassi

Tony and I spent last Saturday evening at Camille and Matt's house, chowing down on some amazing homemade Indian food and playing Cards Against Humanity.

Let me first talk about Cards Against Humanity. Then I'll get to the Indian food.

Camille and Matt ordered the game for Tony and me for Christmas, but it's been on backorder, so we've been anxiously awaiting the day it would arrive. That day came. The box says it's "a party game for horrible people." Couldn't have said it better myself. The premise is simple. Every round, a black card is turned over. The black card has a phrase on it with one word blank. Then everyone has to fill in the blank with one of the white cards from their hand. Funniest card wins. It's inappropriate and dirty and simply awesome. I hate to say it, but I think I like it even more than I like Clue. And I love love love Clue. Check it out if you want to treat yourself or if you're in the market for a gift for a friend who happens to be a horrible person.

Anyway, back to Indian food. This was quite a feast we had. Matt made a spicy tomato-garbonzo bean dish and a tofu-spinach dish. There was basmati rice, naan and samosas. AND mango lassis. As you can see, I did not go home hungry:

Camille was the brains behind these lassis. They're simple and healthy, and I highly recommend them, either for an Indian food dinner party or even for an evening snack.

Camille's Mango Lassi

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup frozen mango
• 1/2 cup ice

Combine all ingredients in blender and process until smooth.

And because Camille is awesome, she made a dairy-free version for me, substituting soy yogurt and almond milk. YUM.

shopping: t.j.maxx love affair

I woke up yesterday morning, got dressed for work, looked at myself in the mirror, and realized that 95 percent of what I was wearing came from T.J.Maxx and Marshalls. I mean, I've hinted before that I'm slightly obsessed with the discount retailers, but even I have to admit that this outfit was kind of extreme. But it's also kind of amusing, so I thought I'd use this opportunity to expound on my love affair with T.J.Maxx.  

Outfit shots! Top, pencil skirt, belt, bag: 

Heels:

Sunglasses:

(By the way, can you tell I was in a very pink mood yesterday?) 

USA Today published an interview with the TJX CEO last fall, and it said the company buys 85 percent of its merchandise directly from manufacturers from the current season. There's a "wink, wink" aspect of shopping at T.J. Maxx that fascinates me. The company won't say which designers it buys from, and the brands won't admit they sell to T.J. Maxx. But all you have to do is dig through the racks to find the same brands you find at Macys. For example, brands on me: Tahari top, Limited skirt, Betsey Johnson belt, Steve Madden bag, Chinese Laundry heels, and no-name sunglasses. All purchased, I may add, for a bargain. 

dining out: the wine kitchen

On Saturday, the guys embarked on a camping trip for Mike's bachelor party. They stayed in a primitive cabin somewhere near Middletown, Md., along the Appalachian Trail, and they met three solo hikers who were making the great trek from Georgia to Maine. The whole thing sounded very manly. No indoor bathroom. No electricity. Campfire. Whiskey. Humidity. And Tony said there were wolf spiders.

The women, meanwhile, embarked on a classy day of pampering for Jen's bachelorette festivities. First stop: pedicures. I somehow got to be 29 years old without ever having had a pedicure. And while it was happening, all I could think about was the poor woman who was going to town down there. This is so weird, lady. So, so weird. But on the bright side, my feet are looking fabulous.

Next stop: shopping. We made our way west and had some retail success at the Leesburg outlets. I came home with two Banana Republic blouses ($12 each!), Nine West sandals, an Old Navy dress, and an OshKosh outfit for Baby O.

And then: dinner and wine. Jen had scoped out a wine bar and restaurant called the Wine Kitchen. It's a few miles from the outlets in historic downtown Leesburg, which is all kinds of cute.

The restaurant is small, and I felt as if I could have been eating in someone's home. The waiter was really talking up the local food on the menu. By all accounts, the wine and the food were terrific.

I especially enjoyed my herbed Parisian gnocchi, which is like Italian gnocchi, but it's made with flour instead of potatoes. I may have to dig up a recipe for this dish and try it at home sometime.

shopping: sapore

Olive oils from Sapore may be my go-to gift from now on. Tony and I stopped in this store for the first time Saturday to pick up a bottle to take to Camille and Matt's house. It opened this spring near Eastern Market and sells only olive oil, vinegar, and sea salt. It shouldn't have taken me this long to check it out.

The store (660 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E.) gives you chunks of bread and lets you taste all the different flavors of olive oils. We settled on the basil olive oil, which is perfect to dunk bread in. I could see myself going back for the rosemary, garlic, and lime varieties.

It's on the pricey side for olive oil -- $15.95 for 375 milliliters, but it makes for a perfect hostess gift, and it's supporting a local store.