Dates became a mainstay in my nightly craving for something sweet. While I anxiously roamed the kitchen, hoping to find a cookie, I gnawed one, two, three or maybe even four Medjools from the fridge. They can be startlingly sweet to the uninitiated. Soon I realized that these dates were also satisfying to chew, and the brief moment of focus it took to pull the pit out with ones’ teeth was just absorbing enough. In that daring moment at Trader Joe’s, I had opened up a whole new sensory world that momentarily trumped even a tub of Ginger Cats.

The fruits’ nutritional graces are many: no fat, no cholesterol, plenty of potassium and fiber (four dates will give you 24% of your USDA of fiber!), and a decent amount of magnesium. They are an ideal fruit to have on hand if, like me, you get the jones for sugar at times when you really shouldn’t be having it. They are also a good diet food for those trying to break certain bad habits. For those feeling some frustration, the texture of Medjools will give your jaws a gentle workout without your ever sinking your teeth into someone’s leg. Nutritional bonanza, healthy candy substitute, mood diverter – dates truly do it all.

After a few packs of Medjools, I branched out and tried others: nonorganic dates (dessicated and tough), Deglet Noors (sticky, low fruit to pit ratio), even organic dates plucked with tiny tongs from a cardboard bin at the local co-op. I still come back the organic ones at Trader Joe’s, maybe because the plastic containers protect their skins better. Co-op dates ran a close second with the tiny tongs adding a special charm, the thrill of personally selecting each date and bringing it one step closer to its destiny. I even tried date rolls, but found them cloyingly sweet and they were distancing me from the pared-down experience I desired.

Although those of us in the Northeast may associate dates with ancient Middle Eastern literature, California is the number one source of Medjool dates in the world. The trees are forty feet tall and the fruit is picked by real humans, as machines would damage the fragile skins. While you can get them year round in various forms, their prime is really late Autumn and early Winter. I prefer to buy them with pits so they retain their structural integrity – the more the skins break, the stickier the task of eating.

Medjool dates are a terrific, and often surprising, addition to a cheese and cracker plate. Chopped pitted dates are a mainstay of muffins and quick breads, offering a dense sweetness different from the common raisin. And the plastic tubs of chopped dates you find tucked near the produce in supermarkets, dusted with dextrose to keep them from sticking to each other? They are a very fine addition to a bowl of yogurt and granola, in a season when you may have tired of apples and bananas.

My research for this story taught me that date growers are a zealous bunch, passionate about their product. Date recipes abound online and in cookbooks, and if you grew up with a relatives’ punishing, dry date bread, you have been missing out on the wonders of this delightful fruit. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near you, remember: go for the tongs, and put away the cookies. You might have just found a new love.