In my mind, date shakes conjure visions of vintage roadside stands near Palm Springs, heat mirages waving up from the melting asphalt and palm trees baking in the impossibly bright desert sun. Here’s the rub: I’ve been to Palm Springs exactly once, never saw a roadside stand and certainly never drank a date shake and yet, the image is strong. What’s up with that? I suspect my impressions of the Palm Desert have been formed by the issues of Sunset my mom received when I was a kid. It’s my most plausible explanation. Curious, I did some research and learned that date farms proliferate the Coachella Valley around Palm Springs and date shakes have been a popular item at the big farms in the area since the 1930’s. The shakes are typically just dates, milk and vanilla ice cream blended until smooth but it’s always seemed a bit odd to me. Dates in a shake? It took a long flight to the other side of the world to convince me otherwise.
STRESSCAKE 