Michael Anyone who, like me, enjoys snacking from time to time--a few peanuts here, an apple there--will surely also appreciate dried fruits. Now, dates are typically more common around Christmas time, but since they are grown in California, the Costco supermarket here offers them for sale all year round.
The store carries two types: some cheap dates and the queen of dates, the Medjool date. A difference like night and day, because the shriveled junk dates are small and hard, while the "Fancy Medjool Dates," as it says on the package, are huge, fleshy, and buttery soft. They do cost a bit more, but when 1 kilo of top-quality dates is only about $10, you don't really worry about the money.
But where do dates actually grow? When we were in Palm Springs recently, we actually saw palm trees with large clusters of dates from the highway. They were wrapped in paper for stabilization. Curious, we stopped and examined the mighty plants. I would estimate that there were surely 20 kilos of dates hanging from one branch!
And if you take a close look at the package of dates purchased at Costco in image 1, you'll surely notice that the label says "Packed in Coachella, CA." And Google Maps reveals that the small town where the dates were packed into the plastic container is actually only a few kilometers away from our vacation spot this year, Palm Springs.