It’s getting closer. The big date, I mean. You know, the date! The one on which I board a flight from New York City, wing my way out to California, and then stay there. Like, for good.
March 5th is that date, and there are signs everywhere telling me that it’s just around the corner. Signs like a wine- and pasta- and wine-filled going away party. Extra tight hugs. Empty shelves. The stack of brown cardboard boxes cluttering my apartment, and the men here to load them into a truck and move them across the country. Just a few signs.
As the date approaches, I’m getting antsy. Excited. Nostalgic. Hungry.
On the subject of dates and excitement and hunger, I’d like to tell you about these date bars. I’ve been on a date kick lately; it seems I buy a new carton every time I’m at the grocery store. I enjoy them, roughly chopped atop my cereal or oatmeal, or else straight from the carton; I rip each soft, sticky date open, wrest out the almond-shaped pit, and pop them, one after another, onto my happy tongue.
When the urge to bake something with my weekly carton of dates hit, I was initially reluctant to go with date bars. Date bars sound more like health food than dessert. But, after some thought, I reconsidered. I decided that, if I add some thick, rich and chocolatey ganache to my date bars, already filled with crunchy, oat-y cookie and creamy, naturally sticky-sweet dates, they might be okay.
They are.
So here’s to move dates and fruit dates, some of which are bittersweet and full of excitement, others of which are covered with chocolate ganache.
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