Last Friday I brought a concoction to a potluck that garnered raves. Several people wanted the recipe. When I admitted that I made it up, an attendee gushed, “You must be one of those food geniuses!”

Wrong. The Food Genius ranks include people like M.F.K. Fisher and James Beard, not the likes of me!

What my fan meant, I think, is that I’m not afraid of food. I don’t believe, as many people do, that a Food Divinity will stab me with a sharpened dinner fork if I serve a non-regulation entrée or play with a recipe. Maybe, I decided on the way home, if I incant, in detail, this particular food “game”, from beginning to end, some of that universal fear will evaporate.

I was invited to the potluck Monday night. I consulted a friend who told me she and another friend were bringing potato salad and a vegetable platter. She suggested I bring coleslaw. I figured, though (and I was right), that someone else would provide it. Potato salad and coleslaw are “safe” to prepare. I switched to inspiration mode, which means I stopped thinking about it.

Wednesday afternoon, my mother and I shopped for groceries. Blueberries were on sale; peak-of-season, plump and promising. I salivated, but I wasn’t thinking of the banquet. We bought two pints.

Wednesday evening I decided to make lemon-blueberry bread for my mother and me. We had all the ingredients except lemons. Damn!

I couldn’t stop thinking about lemon-blueberry bread. Suddenly, it hit me. What about doing something for the potluck with lemons and fresh blueberries? A blueberry montage with a lemony dressing. How could I sweeten the dressing without sugar so it wouldn’t taste like lemonade? Dates! They’re incredibly sweet and have a distinct flavor. I’ll purée dates and lemon juice!

What else could I add? Sliced, toasted almonds, of course. And, last week the grocery had surprisingly ripe apricots. Blueberries are sweet and mild, apricots are sweet and edgy, lemons are all edge, almonds are, well, almondy, and dates will bring it home. It’ll taste and look luscious.

On Thursday, last week’s soft, pungent apricots had been replaced by hard, pick-’em-regardless fruit. I prowled the store for mangoes. They were green. The lemons didn’t feel ripe, either, but the dates, I figured, would disguise that. Just blueberries and almonds with a delectable dressing will be fine, I decided, and bought another pint of berries, a 5 oz. package of sliced almonds, a 10 oz. carton of pitted, unsugared dates, and lemons.

Friday was so hot and muggy that my mother protested my using the oven to toast the almonds. No, problem. As the mixture sits, almond flavor will leach into the dressing.

I threw the dates into the processor and squeezed a lemon. It was stingy with juice. I squeezed another. Still not enough, but it smelled more sour than lemony. That’s enough green lemon, I decided. I’ll add water. It took about a half cup of splashes.

When I lifted the processor lid, I noticed a peculiar smell. I dipped my finger in and licked it. Eeew! The lemons were so sour they’d KO’d the sweetness of the dates! I added 3 heaping soup spoons of sugar, splashed in probably a quarter cup more water, and processed again. When I stopped, the purée was still a little tart, but, knowing how quickly lemoniness wears off, I decided to throw it all together anyway, and let it mellow at room temperature until I left. If it still smelled and tasted odd, I’d pick something up at a deli on my way to the gathering.

By the time I was ready to leave, it smelled and tasted so good my mother ate a bowlful on the spot and informed me I’d have to make more for us.

I still intend to try it with ripe lemons, apricots or mangoes, or both, but you know the rest of the story. The moral is, follow your instincts, the fanciful ones, not the fearful ones, when it comes to food. Someone might call you a genius, too!

Text, Recipes & Graphics ©1999 by Gail Rae Hudson

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