How did I go 66 years thinking that I didn’t like dates? I recently discovered that they are one of my very favorite foods after seeing so many reels about how yummy they are and ways to cook with them. Those stories made me think I needed to give the fruit another chance.
I guess I’d only eaten them chopped up in trail mixes and that is a whole different thing. You miss the gooey, Carmel like flavor and texture that way.
When I was visiting my family in Indiana, I decided to try one of those ideas I’d seen online. It was simple, no recipe needed. Slice a date, take out the pit, add a nut and a bit of cheese, roll it in bacon, then cook.
We used Brie and seasoned almonds, but I’d say any number of combos would work, like goat cheese and cashews, or cream cheese and pecans.
I went sparingly with the bacon, about a third of a slice on each wrapped treat. And we over cooked them a tad, because I wasn’t paying attention. But I enjoy a char flavor, so I was happy to have burnt ones.
This is the only time I’ve sampled any of the cooking ideas that I’ve seen, and would probably do it again. And will try a few more ways to prepare dates too.
Although I love them so much as is, that I don’t need to do anything at all with them besides treating them like a piece of candy. And treating myself by keeping them on the counter in a pretty, lidded dish to snack on throughout the day. (I guess those are called candy dishes, huh? Appropriate!)