Christmas Gift!

Christmas Gift!, originally uploaded by foodchronicles.

Every year about this time I get a special package in the mail. I have come to look forward to it, as it reminds me of good times in the past. Today, I was thinking maybe it wouldn't come this year. i was sitting, finishing up my Christmas cards and I saw the UPS man. I wondered who had ordered something I didn't know about. Hmmmm.

Then I went to the door and suddenly knew! It was my Christmas gift from Hadleys. Hadley's is the largest date grower in America. They have a ranch out in the Coachella Valley that produces dates sold all over America. If you've bought a date, packaged under the Sunsweet name or Hadley branded, it's a Hadley date. Don't confuse them with the little fruit stand in Cabazon, CA. It isn't the same Hadley's. Yes, they do sell dates to them, but they don't own the store.

Hadley's is a family run business. It's been in the family for 3 generations and now moving into its fourth. They are a great bunch and really understand the meaning of family. They work hard together and play hard together.

Dates are a favorite of mine. I can't get the kids to eat them. The sons-in0law will try them and probably admit to enjoying them, but the girls just run the other direction. That's where the trail mix is a plus. I don't know anyone that doesn't enjoy trail mix. Problem is there isn't a lot of it, so I'm not sharing!