Tomorrow my boyfriend, Lindsey, is coming to visit. He's an oral maxillofacial surgeon. Retired, Lindsey flies to Alaska for a week each month, doing oral surgery at a clinic in a Native American village. "I want to give back," he said.

We are delighted with each other. Lindsey is a weightlifter, bicycle rider, skier and hiker. He calls me his "gorgeous girlfriend." snicker

Thought I would dazzle Lindsey with my crowd-pleasing date bars.

Finally got the date bars assembled and into the oven. Ten minutes later, realized with a start that I forgot the vanilla and almond extracts!

Yanked the date bars out of the oven. Took a page from my friend Sally who forgot the melted butter in muffins she was baking. Using a turkey baster, Sally injected melted butter into the center of each muffin. They were delicious.

Quickly mixed the vanilla and almond extracts in a small dish. Then I squirted the extracts into the date filling at one-inch intervals.

Hahaha! They're delicious.

"You know the squirty thingie you give patients after oral surgery?" I asked Lindsey on the phone this evening. "It has a plunger. That's what I used to squirt the vanilla and almond extracts into the dates between the crusts."

He called it a syringe. "It's also called a squirty thingie," he added. I laughed.