Date Syrup

I am a huge fan of dates. No, I don’t mean the kind of dates where you sit awkwardly across from a stranger. That’s not the kind of date I’m referring to. I’m talking about the deliciously sweet fruit of the date palm tree. So good. It’s practically candy. It should come as no surprise then that I did a little happy dance when I first saw this date syrup, which is commonly used in the middle east, but is used less widely in other parts of the world. It’s such a great idea and I love the idea of using it in place of other sweeteners like honey and caramel. Speaking of caramel, Date Lady also offers a caramel sauce that is made from organic dates (date syrup), organic caramel extract and sea salt. Yum! I love how these two items really encourage you to explore different flavors and baking ideas. I can’t wait to try them! For more info and to shop online, click here. --Erin

Sweet Testing: Date Butter Tart & Apple Green-Chili Pie With Cheddar Crust and Walnut Streusel

Back in November of last year, The New York Times put together an amazing slideshow of unique pies and tarts that appeared on their website. I was instantly taken with each and every pie and have being longing to make one ever since! Unfortunately, it just never happened, despite my best attempts to force these beauties upon other people, no one seemed quite as taken with the idea of green chili apple pie, but me! Well, I am happy to announce my pie dreams finally came true recently when my mom made not one, but two of the slideshow pies for my birthday! And I have to say, they were a huge success! So yummy and different! Normally, I have a little bit of a meltdown if I don't have ice cream with my pie, but, in this case, I actually ate around the ice cream, choosing instead to eat the pie in all its naked, untouched glory. Maybe the next time I eat a date butter tart, I'll eat it with ice cream, but this time I wanted nothing but pie! Oh, and while these pies do come with their own individual crust recipes, we opted for the fantastic Whole Foods gluten-free crust, which is a really good pie crust and, of course, it's gluten free, which makes it fun for the whole family! For the apple pie, which contains cheddar cheese in it's crust, my mom simply put the cheese on top of the crust. Click here to check out the recipe for Apple Green-Chili Pie With Cheddar Crust and Walnut Streusel and here for the Date Butter Tart. {Thanks, Mom!}