The Date Loaf Debacle - or How to make Fuzzy Date Lump

I don't even know what got me thinking about the Date Loaf candy that my mother used to make, but all the sudden I craved Date Loaf. I asked my Sis if she had Mother's recipe and I also found a couple on the Internet. I'm good to go. All I need are a few ingredients.

It takes about a week to get all the stars aligned but I finally have a stretch of time to concentrate on making Date Loaf. Okay, sauce pan, milk, sugar, butter, check. Cooking away and after a while - a long while - it reaches "soft ball stage." Add the dates. Hmm. The 8-oz package says this is the equivalent of a cup. So if I chop up 1 and 1/2 packages I should have 1 and 1/2 cups of chopped dates, right? This looks more like 3 cups of dates. Oh, well. Toss them in and let's get this stuff up to "hard ball stage!"

Hmm again. I now have a large glob of a very dark substance in the bottom of the pan. And speaking of the bottom of the pan, what is that blackened layer I see creeping up the sides? Can you say caramelized date loaf candy mixture? What's the temperature? Far short of the "hard ball" stage, but I really have a hard ball at hand. A very hard ball. Oh well.

Next step is to let it cool some and pour it out on a towel to form a loaf. Wait! That was a damp towel. Next batch. Scoop it out in a loaf line. Okay, dig it out and pat it into a loaf line. YIKES THAT'S HOT!! Okay, dig it out and form a loaf lump! Wrap it in the towel and sort of hammer it into somewhat of a loaf line. That should work. Sure is sticky. Wonder if I can get it out of this towel after it chills?

Well, yes you can. Sort of. The towel sort of becomes part of the Date Lump at this point. See? So now we have Fuzzy Date Lump, a variation on an old recipe.

Oh, a tea towel - not a dish towel. Well, we can just trim it a little and get rid of the fuzzy bits. Now, how does that taste? Like my Mothers???

You know, I think I saw some Date Loaf candy at the store the other day. I'll check that out. While I am shopping for a new sauce pan. I wonder if NASA knows about how hard this stuff gets? Forget ceramic tiles - put caramelized date loaf candy mixture on the shuttles.