Here’s Why a Box of Dates Makes for the Best Holiday Gift
Magic Dates, a.k.a. nature’s caramel, are the sweetest way to share love this holiday season.
My parents have always been obsessed with dates. When I was growing up, we’d make frequent trips to the local Arabic market to pick up a box of the dried fruit, and the pair of them would devour it over the course of three days, undeterred by the amount of sugar and fiber each of the sticky morsels contained. Any time we visited a family friend, my mom had a box of dates tucked under her arm as a gift. Dates have always been considered very precious and are a constant in our household.
I’ve been trying to figure out what to buy my parents this year for Christmas, and it occurs to me that the gift guaranteed to please them was obvious all along: a box of dates. But instead of their typical box of 20 Medjools, I’m looking for something they haven’t experienced before.
Enter Magic Dates. Run by Syria-raised founder Diana Jarrar, who made an appearance on Shark Tank, this brand has an array of date products to choose from. There are snack bites, which contain recognizable ingredients in an array of fun flavors like lemon bar, salted walnut brownie, chocolate coconut cookie, and triple chocolate. The snack bites also come in a chocolate-covered version—which includes a blueberry chocolate and a hazelnut truffle flavor—for anyone looking for a sweet treat sans added sugar. These snacks make for excellent post-dinner treats or afternoon tea pairings, and are ideal for someone wanting to indulge in chocolate-covered dates without the hassle of having to melt chocolate.
But, for a gift that’s definitely going to wow my parents, I’m going for the Date Flight: a curated experience containing four different dates. At $39.99, I know it’s a gift my parents can meaningfully appreciate.
Although the dates are all grown in California, the box contains a spread of date varietals: half a pound each of Medjool dates, Zahidi dates, Barhi dates, and Halawy dates. The kit also comes with further information regarding each date type and a collection of recipes developed by Middle Eastern chefs, if you want to make something with your dates rather than just eating them by the fistful. (Knowing my parents, they likely won’t be able to resist the latter.)
The best part is that this gift comes in a beautifully designed box, and 5% of each purchase is donated to the Karam Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports Syrian refugees.
With the date sampler, my parents can try to distinguish between the different varieties of dates and uncover their favorites. This gift will only add to their appreciation and admiration of this desert palm fruit, and hopefully last them beyond a week. It certainly beats a plastic, undistinguished gift card.