A Date to Remember...

Memorable occasions are funny. Some permanently infuse in your memory cells like a room of a million candles; some burn brightly while others fade like a candle near the end of its wick, flickering every so quietly and then suddenly gone without notice or notification.

The times that prominently infuse aren't always voluntary or consciously determined either. They just happen. The downside of the electronic age is the death of the Diary, but the great thing about it is Cloud technology, where you can save dates, notes, events, memories much like diaries of the past, but theoretically without ever losing a single virtual cell. The Great Memory in the Sky. A memorable event.. an epic occurrence... a significant date.

The funny thing about the word "date" is that it can mean so many things, which I blame solely on the evolution of the English language. Much like my first significant other, the English language doesn't seem to have a singular pattern, instead made up of so many rules that one almost thinks, in the first few years of learning to understand it, that it just does what it wants, and makes up the rules as it goes. Words in English have a randomness of pronunciation and context. Exempli gratia, I don't remember the date of our first date and whether or not that date shared a date with the first time I tried a date.

One thing is certain, regardless of the first date upon which I shared my first date with a date, it was an unpleasant experience reminding me of an overly large raisin with far too much date-iness. It was an such an unpleasant first date, that I forgot the date of that precise date, blacking it out entirely from memory. Most likely subconsciously, still.

Which brings me to the Pro to outweigh the Con, by forgetting the first date with a date, I was able to enjoy a whirlwind second romance. Not quite a repeat date, and certainly not a double date but a second first date nonetheless. And it's been true love ever since.

In a sea of fish, swarming across a plethora of dating sites, I met my latest love on Pinterest of all places. A date like no other. A diamond in the rough, or rather a medjool to be precise.

Truth be told, the love connection all began with the decision to forego all processed foods (again, or at least as much as I realistically can) such as energy bars, snack foods and so on. I had grown lazy once again, and my scale never lied about it. In fact, I've had to dust off my beloved Omega, that has valiantly stood guard in my kitchen for months now, untouched. I made the conscious decision to force myself back into the steps of healthy eating, and it started with coming up with a healthier way to still snack between meals. 

I have a soft spot for sweets. I can't deny. In fact, as a kid, one of my favorite times of day was between 3:50PM and 5:15PM. It was during that witching hour that I arrived home from school, well in advance of my parents, and I could enjoy mitt fulls of cookies, unencumbered. In fact, I was so elated at this practice I actually wore mitts. The increased surface area meant I could handle more cookies, sometimes having to make two trips just to go back for the giant half litre glass of milk. By age 12, barely standing 5' 2", I weighed in at a "husky" 184 lbs. Needless to say, I owe my childhood obesity to Mr. Christie. I wanted to blame mysterious elves for sneaking into my room while I slept, like sadistic cousins to tooth fairies, and fattening me like a marinade injected ButterBall, but the reality is, the plate on that getaway car said "KEEBLR1" and I was an accomplice.

Back to present day, the adult Fat Guy, no longer living in the rear view mirror of his past (secretly hoping to relive those glorious dates of divine gluttony), I look to find alternative, healthier snacks. Enter: Medjool dates.

More accurately digressing, back to present day dating, I can tell you that romance isn't romance if it doesn't get a little nutty. Medjool dates + cashews = the base for incredible energy bars.

One of the easiest no-cook recipes was simply this: 

1. Equal parts dates to equal parts cashew + 1 tablespoon peanut butter.
2. Thoroughly combine in food processor. Once suitably conditioned, add just a few drips of water (literally one teaspoon at a time) until it STARTS to form a dough. 
3. Remove. Knead. Wrap in parchment or cellophane and refrigerate.

Thereafter, I usually formed my dough into a large brick, similar to a typical brownie size, and coated in organic coconut flakes or crushed pecans, almonds etc.

You can see a similar version here, here or here.

After several takes on this, I have decided that my favorite variant includes a half cup of unsweetened coconut at the time of processing, and a blend of cashew, almonds, pistachio, walnut/pecans. You can get a Premium Blend type nut mix from Costco, but those are just added as a portion of the receipe, the base is predominantly cashew. Just to add a little nutty flair, you know?

You can imagine how I fell in love at first bite, and kept on the path of this nutty-dating, with nothing less than enjoyable variation! After all, variety is the spice of life! Or is that saffron? No saffron is the divorce of spice, being the costliest.. but I digress...

The reality of the matter is this: By the time you leave the house, drive to the store, buy that junk food you're craving, get home and load up Netflix, I'll have already whipped up three batches of a completely raw, healthy-by-comparison alternative (nothing is good when over done) and within nothing short of achieving satisfaction. Unless of course you're craving chips, in which case that's a completely different blog post topic. Right now we're dealing with sweets... 

The question is whether or not you've had a bad date in past and whether you're open to try dating again. Especially dates with nuts. Total nutbars. I highly recommend it, depending on which context of the English language you're speaking of!

Cash-ew again at a later Date!
Fat Guy