My parents used to take us to the date festival annually in the '50s - early '60s.

How to get a kid to eat dates? Put them in a shake! mmmmm

We also had a local seaside road date shack that served date shakes...brings back memories, may have to make some soon :)

Your Date Festival looks fancier that our 2016 Kumquat Festival but it was fun, not fancy.

I have not made them in a while, but I do have a good recipe for date bars that I really should pull out to make again. I have made a vegan "cream" with soy milk, macadamia nuts, vanilla and a date or 2 to sweeten. It is actually very good.

I actually used to live in Indio, but at the time had never tried dates. I always though the date palms were fascinating to look at. However, hearing that is 90 degrees there already reminds me of why I left that area. I do not miss that one bit. I hope that you are able to make it to the date festival some time.

I mostly eat dates just by themselves, as the fresh ones are very soft and sweet. I like that they keep well also, without refrigeration.

Kevin and I need to do some major shopping this week-end, and so I do not think we will make the date festival this year, but I really do hope to make it next year, and hopefully the weather will be cooler. I can handle 90 degree weather when it is this dry, but I would be happier if it were 70 degrees.

Lars, have you been to Hadleys? Not a festival but lots of different date varieties.

Here's a recipe that will help you use up your ice cream (taken from Date Shake-Date Milkshake thread):

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (approximately 4 to 5 dates) pitted California dates, coarsely chopped*
1/2 cup cold milk
1 cup good-quality vanilla ice cream
1/4 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg (optional)
Whipped Cream (optional)

* Preferably Medjool Dates. Other dates have thicker skins and don't blend as well.

Preparation:

In a blender, process the dates and 1/4 cup milk at high speed until smooth. Add remaining 1/4 cup milk, vanilla ice cream, and nutmeg; blending at low speed until well mixed. The goal is to achieve a paste-like texture with minimal chunks.

Pour into a tall, chilled glass, top with whipped cream, and serve immediately.

Makes 1 serving.

Lars, a date shake was one of the things I wanted to try while I was in California, but I never found one. So, I came home and made one. It was pretty darned good, even if pieces of the date did get stuck in the straw, LOL, because all I could find was whole dried dates and I should have blended them first.

The date festival sounds like fun, but I could never take that heat.

Annie

That date shake sounds good!

Lars, very cool and different things you can do there. Since you don't plan to go this year, it gives you plenty of time to develop an interesting new recipe to enter next year. Something sweet/hot sounds good to me. :)

Here, my weekend choice is to go watch the annual ice-cutting at a not-too-nearby tiny town's pond. The ice is cut into huge blocks -- everything done the old-fashioned way -- and then it's transported by horse and cart for storage in the ice barns. In June it's used to make strawberry ice cream for their 'social'. :)

My sis is in Indio now and we had date shakes at a date farm. They use date crystals. I forgot she sent me some...think I'll pick up some ice cream.

She also sends me a big box of dates at Christmas. We snacked our way through most of them. This went over really well and it's easy:

Sticky Toffee Pudding

1 C Dark Brown Sugar, packed
1 1/3 C Flour
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp Baking Soda
1/8 Tsp Salt
1/2 C Milk
1 Egg
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 C Butter, melted
1 C Pitted Dry Dates, chopped
***Sauce***
1 1/4 C Dark Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Butter, cut in pieces
1 3/4 C Boiling Water

Preheat oven to 375F. Whisk together brown sugar flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Whisk together milk, egg, vanilla and melted butter. Pour over the flour mixture and blend. Fold in dates.

Pour into a buttered 1 1/2 qt. baking dish. For the sauce, sprinkle the brown sugar over the batter and dot with the butter. Pour on the boiling water and place the baking dish in the oven. Immediately reduce temperature to 350 F. and bake for 45 minutes or until pudding is set. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Here's a " little lower fat " treat I've made before tho I usually use chopped cranberries in addition to the walnuts & parsley as I usually make it at Christmas time as part of gift baskets/trays-- plus have a tendency to use full fat cream cheese as I like the flavor better.

Diane's Home Cookin Chapter: Cheeseballs, Savory cheesecakes & Spreads

Date & Blue Cheese Ball
=======================
Yield
Makes about 1 1/2 cups (360 ml)

Ingredients

8 oz/225 g of low-fat cream cheese (bar style), at room
temperature
1 cup/115 g crumbled blue cheese, at room temperature
1 tbsp reduced-fat buttermilk
3-6 tbsp minced Medjool dates (5 to11 pitted dates)
1 tbsp minced shallots
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp kosher or sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 1/2 tbsp finely chopped toasted walnuts
Skinny Dippers:
Crostini, Baked Pita Chips, Baked Bagel Chips, Marbled Rye
Toasts, celery and carrot sticks
.
. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle
attachment, beat together the cream cheese, blue cheese, and
buttermilk on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2
minutes. Add the dates, shallots, lemon zest, salt, and pepper and
beat until well combined.
2. Transfer the cheese mixture to a large sheet of plastic
wrap/cling film and form it into a ball. Wrap the ball in the wrap
and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight.
3. In a shallow bowl or plate, mix together the parsley
and walnuts. Remove the cheese ball from the refrigerator. With
the wrap/film still on, shape into a well-formed ball. Unwrap the
cheese mixture and roll it gently in the nut mixture until all
sides are well covered. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate
until ready to serve.

Dip Do-Ahead:
The cheese ball can be prepared up to 2 days in advance. Cover and
refrigerate.
Serving size: 2 tbsp
from:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/reviews/date-blue-cheese-ball-360829

Date cheeseball