Yesterday Jen and Bill and I took our stepmother Shirley out for her birthday. We were supposed to go last week when Bec was still here, but the heavy rain prevented us from being able to make it to Loveland. It rained so hard for a few days there that I caught Bill out back getting the supplies together to build the ark. He had the foxes all lined up. We were concerned that there are three, and he’s only supposed to bring two. Perhaps we could leave behind the one who has decided my perennial garden is a great bedroom and has smashed down my flowers.

Anyhoo, we had lunch at Shirley’s favorite place, Panera’s. We each ate a half of a sandwich and either a healthy salad or a nourishing bowl of soup. We were feeling satisfied and proud of ourselves for eating a wonderful light lunch that was good for us. That is, until I looked across the street and saw the Menchies sign. Oh-oh.

Just like in a television drama…..

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS EARLIER…….

Kaiya and Mylee spent the day with me Saturday. While Kaiya happily watched a Disney movie about fairies, Mylee – who would prefer to watch a movie about monster trucks – said, “Nana, I want to do something fun.”

How about if I read a book to you? Nope.

Want to color a picture for me? Nosireebob.

What if we go outside and dead head my flowers? Not on your life. (It was worth a try.)

“I want to go get frozen yogurt,” she said firmly. Because Mylee says everything with great conviction.

The movie was just getting over and Kaiya was happy to join us, so off we went to their favorite frozen yogurt place (with which I was wholly unfamiliar) – Menchies.

Those two were a sight to behold as they a) used the little tasting cups to sample VERY MANY flavors, and b) piled on the toppings after carefully making their yogurt selection. They were old pros in young bodies.

FAST FORWARD TWENTY-FOUR HOURS

Bill, Jen, Shirley, and I were not nearly as adorable as we too selected our flavors and piled on our toppings. We did, however, enjoy our frozen yogurt immensely.

But it got us talking about desserts in general. In particular, our childhood experiences with desserts.

Bill’s mother provided dessert for her family EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE WEEK.  Generally homemade. How could I possibly wonder how Bill got such a sweet tooth?

Conversely, my mother almost never offered us dessert after dinner. She might make an angel food cake from a box for our birthdays. If we were very lucky and the moon and Venus were aligned in the seventh house, she might make us a banana cream pie.

But there is one dessert she offered once in a while that remains in my memory. Canned date nut roll. She would open the can on both ends, push out the roll, slice it in six pieces, and serve it with homemade whipped cream. It was delicious.

Canned Date Nut Roll, circa 1960.

I have looked for cans of date nut roll at numerous grocery stores to no avail. I have checked online, and can only find canned date nut bread made by the Vermont Country Store for a mere $17.00. Are you kidding me? Still, now that I’m thinking about it again, I may get desperate enough.

I could bake date nut bread, but the only recipe I have been able to find is from the Barefoot Contessa and contains about 187 ingredients – one of which is Cointreau, an orange-flavored liqueur, because she is incapable of offering a recipe for a dessert that doesn’t include an expensive liqueur. I’m not opposed to liqueur, mind you, but I have 10 or 15 bottles of stuff with names I can’t pronounce that have one tablespoon out of them that I’ve used in a Barefoot Contessa recipe.

And somehow I just don’t think it will be the same. Maybe that canned date nut roll was just so good because we really didn’t get dessert very often and it was such a treat. And maybe I loved it because the circles were so perfectly round.

Still, I bet date nut bread would travel well, and Bill will begin working on that ark very soon…..