Whenever we encounter the Bard Valley Medjool Date Growers at a trade show, it’s our favorite booth. The melt-in-your-mouth, better-than-sugar dates have been called mankind’s first candy—and maybe the best. The Medjool variety has been called “the fruit of kings,” and unlike other “favorites of kings”—horse racing, for example—everyone can enjoy dates, as often as they like.

Dates grow on a specific type of palm tree, Phoenix dactylifera. The date palm was one of the first cultivated trees, domesticated in Mesopotamia more than 5,000 years ago. Because the trees are so productive (an average date palm produces 100 pounds of fruit a year, some varieties twice that, for 60 years or longer), dates were the cheapest of staple foods. They were dried and eaten as sweets, added to meat and grain dishes and were easily portable, carried by travelers as an energy food.

The best dates we’ve had are from the growers of the Bard Valley Medjool Date Growers Association of Southern California, the members of which are family-owned date gardens (it’s gardens, not orchards).

The unique microclimate in the Bard Valley (situated between San Diego and Phoenix) is perfect for date growing, with an ever-present sun, intense heat and a high water table. The result is large, moist and delightfully sweet fruit. No pesticides are used in their growing process.

Our favorites are the plain dates, worth every dollar. Date rolls with almonds, coconut or pistachios are also available—also delicious, but the plain dates are pure joy. You can buy them online, finer products than any we’ve been able to purchase in local stores.

Dates are very nutritious and their sugars, fructose and dextrose, are quickly metabolized for energy. Enjoy them:

 
Check out these delicious date recipes

Johnny chose 10 common ingredients and switched them from their typical use to “the other side.” The first five tips are presented here; the next five tips will be published tomorrow.

Have fun with it and enjoy the delicious results.

1. Apples…without the pie! The next time you crave apple pie but don’t want to deal with the fuss (or the calories and gluten) of the crust, try this recipe: Start with two apples; peel, core and thinly slice them. Over medium heat, melt a tablespoon of butter and add the apples; cook for five to ten minutes, stirring often. Halfway through the cooking process, add a tablespoon of honey, agave or sugar and a pinch of cinnamon (less is more with cinnamon).

Once everything is soft, golden brown and luscious, you are ready to eat! Feel free to top with some vanilla ice cream (if you’re feeling indulgent) or some plain yogurt (for a healthier alternative).

2. Bananas… are ready to go bananas! If you’ve ever had Bananas Foster, you know where this is going. You can turn an ordinary banana into an indulgent dessert, even without the rum, liqueur and vanilla ice cream, by caramelizing it in a pan. You up the sweetness and give the texture a kick in the pants, all in less than five minutes. Cut a banana into four pieces: first cut in half, then cut lengthwise along each half to create four flat surfaces. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a pan and add a tablespoon of brown sugar, stirring to dissolve it into the butter. Making sure your pan is hot (a few drops of water flung onto the surface should form balls and “dance”), place the bananas into the pan, flat side down. At this point, you will probably have to play with the heat to get it just right, but you want to cook the bananas just until you get a nice, caramelized crust on the outside without charring the sugar. Let them cool a bit before eating: The sugar will be hot!

Brown butter pairs particularly nicely with citrus, as its earthiness is balanced by bright acidity. Or just toss some vegetables in it for a fresh take on an everyday side.

5. Citrus…has a secret! Some people think of oranges as the ultimate raw food. The good ones are bursting with flavor, sweet and bright as is. Lemons and limes are as versatile as a food gets, balancing saltiness and adding a bright punch to just about anything, cooked or raw. But if you put a bit of caramelization on your citrus, you unlock a rounder, earthy flavor. You can take a bit of the tart edge off and still have that bright, lemony flavor you love.

Cut the fruit into rounds about a quarter of an inch thick, brush them with oil and sear them on a grill or in a very hot sautée pan. Once you get some deep brown color on a good part of the fruit’s surface, flip it and brown the other side. On the grill this should take 30 seconds or less; a sauté pan is more variable, so just keep an eye on it. Then add the caramelized citrus to a sauce or stew for a new depth of flavor. If you slice the rounds thin enough and cook them carefully, you can even add them to salads to be eaten whole, rind and all. Or keep things simple and squeeze over a piece of fish for a bright new take on a classic garnish.

CONTINUE TO PART 2

If you need a Valentine gift, run to your nearest Williams-Sonoma store to pick up a box of Baked Brookster Mix (also available online).

Brookster? We’re guessing “brookie” was already trademarked. But a mix by any other name would taste as yummy.

Popular New York City bakery, Baked Brooklyn, combines a fudgy brownie with a chewy chocolate chip cookie, all in one Brookster. Now, you don’t need to decide which of these favorites to bake.

The all-natural mix is made with Baked’s signature chocolates, premium Guittard cocoa and Barry Callebaut semi-sweet chocolate chips. The box includes the brownie mix, chocolate chip cookie mix and chocolate chips. You just add butter and eggs and bake in a large muffin pan for three-inch-diameter cookies. Voilà: 18 Brooksters.

Brookster Mix is available exclusively at Williams-Sonoma, as a solo box of baking mix ($16.95), and in combination with the large muffin pan needed to bake the Brooksters, $29.95. The $16.95 price is not unreasonable for a premium-ingredients mix; you couldn’t buy 18 large brownie/cookies for twice that.

And what’s the value of deliciousness?

The drink was popularized by golfing great Arnold Palmer.

As the story goes, in the 1960s, after a long day spent designing a golf course in Palm Springs, Palmer asked a bartender for a mixture of lemonade and iced tea.

A woman sitting next to him told the bartender, “I’ll have that Palmer drink”—which quickly became known as an “Arnold Palmer.”

Whether Palmer created it himself or got the idea elsewhere is currently lost to history. And the term “Half ‘n Half” has long been used in the U.K. to describe various combinations of beverages.

So don’t be confused when you see Diet Snapple’s new Half ‘n Half. It’s a diet Arnold Palmer—and it’s delicious.

The entire 16-ounce bottle has just 10 calories,* and it’s worth many times that in terms of refreshment. The sweeteners are sucralose and acesulfame potassium. There’s no “diet” taste: just total deliciousness.

Mix your alcohol of choice into an Arnold Palmer and you get a John Daly—named for a golfer who is not happy that his name is being used. But if you want to put some vodka (or citrus vodka) in your Half ‘n Half, Diet Snapple provides the base for a low-calorie cocktail.
*Per 8-ounce serving: 5 calories, 0 g total fat, 5 mg sodium, 1 total carb, 0 g sugar, 0 g protein.

As for why real currants were banned from America for 82 years, read the story, a tale of government lobbyists and legislators. They were brought back, legally, in 2003. Given the limited crops and distributions, most living Americans have never had real currents—at least, not in the U.S. Zante currants are raisins.

So, how about a healthy Valentine’s Day gift of currants?

Real black currants are packed with antioxidants, vitamin C, potassium and omega-3s. They have been shown to prevent liver cancer and are currently being studied as prophylactics against Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, kidney stones, urinary track infections and vision disorders (more information). When promising tests conclude, the run on black currants and currant juice may be bigger than that on green tea.

CurrantC, a pioneer in growing currants following the lifting of the ban in 2003, has several gift items in addition to conventionally packaged juice and dried and frozen currants. Gifts are available from $13.99 to $47.99; the deluxe gift basket shown in the photo, includes:

 
We highly recommend the currant concentrate, which mixes up into a delicious juice.
 
 
 
*They’re not even distant cousins!
Raisins: Kingdom Plantae, Division Magnoliophyta, Class Magnoliopsida, Subclass Rosidae, Order Vitales, Family Vitaceae, Genus Vitis.
Currants: Kingdom Plantae, Division Angiosperms, Class Eudicots, Subclass Core eudicots, Order Saxifragales, Family Grossulariaceae, Genus Ribes.