Foods to Eat Before You Die

Food blogs being one of my current passions, I came across a fascinating list of top 5 favorite foods put together by - surprise - food bloggers. While I don't have my own top five list, it got me to thinking about foods I associate with good memories. Things like melt-in-your-mouth French bread straight out of the oven, Graeter's black raspberry chip ice cream while walking with friends in the park on a hot summer day, homemade Cincinnati chili, sweet corn boiled and on the table dripping with butter and salt within 15 minutes of being picked from the garden, a piece of Dutch baby drizzled with lemon juice and powdered sugar, warm chocolate chip cookies and a glass of cold milk, a slice of serbian spinach roll..... the list could go on. The recipe that comes to mind to put in this blog entry, however, is one I associate with Christmas. A season still far, far away thankfully. I am not ready for the snow just yet, although a break in the heat would be nice. It's a cake made with dates that improves with aging. This means, I don't care how good you think it is straight out of the oven, wait a few days!!! It will only take once, and you'll be a convert for life.

Grandma Mary's Date Cake

1 c. dates, seeded & chopped
1 c. boiling water
1 tsp. soda
1 c. sugar
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 c. butter (scant)
1 c. English walnuts, chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 c. white flour, unbleached

Combine dates, boiling water, and soda. Work to a paste and cool. (May allow to stand overnight.)
Cream butter and sugar; add eggs, vanilla, and date mixture. Mix well.
Stir in flour and salt, beating until well mixed.
Stir in walnuts.
Bake at 325 F for 45 min in 8"x8" square pan.
Cool, then cut into squares.
Roll the squares in confectioner's sugar.
Note- Aging a few days improves the flavor. May need to re-roll the squares in confectioner's sugar a second time before serving.