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Banana date shakes are one of my favorite treats.

I've never, ever had to refrigerate dates...

I like dates stuffed with feta and pistachio, myself...

These are one of my favorite treats. There are so many varieties that differ in flavor and texture. Bautista and the Hollywood Farmers' Market sells some of the best, including the Barhi dates, that you can let dry and home, plucking them off the stalk and popping them in your mouth as they ripen!

I love them in the style of AOC in Los Angeles. Stuffed with parmesan, wrapped in bacon, and baked until oozy and crispy.

I love these cheese date biscuits . The combination of sweet-savory-spicy makes them one of my favorite munchies.

I use dates as a healthier way to satisfy my sweet tooth. I used to eat a lot of candy and now when I crave something sweet, I eat some dates instead. I find the dried ones to have a much more intense sweetness than the soft ones.

And I have never needed to refrigerate them either. But maybe that's because they never sit around for very long in my kitchen :) Plus they aren't refrigerated in the grocery store.

I tried dates for the first time ever this weekend. We stuffed them with brie and had them as a dessert after moules marinieres. It wasn't an expensive lunch but we felt like really richies!

There's definitely a quality difference in dates.

The medjool dates grown in Thermal (CA?) are the only way to go. Those are the ones still in the original box in the produce section or in the bulk bins at WF.

They are energy food. Kind of like sweet fruit crack.

I've seen vegetarians eat bacon wrapped dates at parties before.

Avec in Chicago has dates stuffed with chorizo, wrapped in bacon, then roasted in the wood oven and served in a little puddle of piquillo pepper sauce.

Sticky toffee pudding with bits of sticky melted dates inside is quite nice as well.

Mmmmm.... we like to wrap the dates in bacon and pop them in the broiler - the perfect salty & sweet. (Blanching the bacon first works well if you don't want your bacon cooked crispy.) We recently tried slitting the dates, stuffing them with gorgonzola and then wrapping them in bacon. Mmm, mmm.

One of my favorite places to have a drink when I lived in VT was the restaurant Carpenter & Main, in Norwich. At the bar they always had hardboiled organic eggs, olives, and wonderful Medjool dates that had been coated with lemon essence oil. They were so delicious, and I've been keeping my eye out for lemon oil.

In Morocco, we ate them most nights with yogurt that had been thickened with a plant-based thickener and flavored with rose water.

I've used them as a substitute for raisins in some beef dish I cooked a while ago. I am not a big fan of dates, not even during Ramadan, but the meal was scrumptious.

LOVE dates! I always joke that at least I can buy them (as opposed to finding real dates!!!).

I was planning on making an appetizer for New Year with dates stuffed with almonds and wrapped in bacon. But my grocery store did not have any: so I used figs instead.

I recently discovered my love for dates - mainly through the incredibly delicious (though guilt-packed) devils on horseback. For a less guilty approach to enjoy dates, try out this recipe for Basra Date Tarts. They're all natural and incredibly tasty. Enjoy!

Try them stuffed with almond butter (or your favorite nut butter!) for a great alternative to reese's cups! They're like vegan peanut butter cups! An awesome mom with lactose intolerant children taught me this tip. They're SO good!

I love dates, but also have never needed to refrigerate them.

I've always just stuffed them with cream cheese and they are great.