Strawberry Jelly Danish Squares

What I’ve Learned (So Far) From Online Dating:

There’s more to the profile than meets the eye.  And this is both a good and bad thing.  I’ve met guys with so-so profiles who were a ton of fun on the date.  I’ve also met guys with informative, well-written profiles who were total duds.  My only requisite for profile skimming?  They must use appropriate grammar and spelling.  Ain’t nobody got time for a run-on sentence About Me and those idiots who say ‘defiantly’ instead of ‘definitely.’

Beware of profile picture filters.  For realsies.  I went on a date with a dude who had a decent profile picture, despite the fact that it had a filter.  But it was a sepia-toned filter which doesn’t really change the face… or so I thought.  Lo and behold, I arrive to the date kind of excited to meet this dude… who turned out to look about as much like his profile picture as RuPaul looks like Duchess Kate.  He had huge, bulgy eyeballs (one of which was on the lazier side), was about forty pounds heavier than I’d anticipated and a completely different head shape than what the picture produced.  Sure, it may have been a (very) outdated shot, or a shot of someone that wasn’t even him.  But after that, I am extremely wary of the filter users.

For being on an ONLINE DATING SITE, some guys don’t want to date.  Which is kind of like going to a steakhouse for a salad.  Or going to a hooker for a hug.  You want… friendship?  Dude, go hit up some bros at the bar or something.  I’m happy to be your friend and your girlfriend, but if you’re just looking for friendship, maybe don’t try online dating.  It kinda sorta gives the exact opposite impression.

Some people have the social skills of a gremlin.  And you generally have to be extremely conscious of this because more than likely, you’ll be bombarded with messages proving this fact.  My personal favorites are the generic copy & paste ones that usually say something like, “my day was bad until you brightened it; how’s it going, pretty?” or “your profile intrigued me.  I would love to chat with you sometime.  Look forward to hearing from you soon.”  Or sometimes, you’ll be trying to have a conversation with them when it appears they’re only interested in one word-answers or talking about themselves with little to no interest in what you have to say, yet they continue to message you repeatedly.

Shirtless selfies are IN.  Whether we like it or not, pictures of shirtless dudes are running rampant on OKC.  Even guys who absolutely should wear shirts at all times are posing sans shirt.  My personal favorite is when the faceless, shirtless selfie is their only picture, so it’s kind of like you’re chatting with a hairy torso.

And you learn that people are REALLY different.  Like the dude who straight-up said he was into wearing diapers and dressing like a baby.  Or the dude who, literally after saying hello, mentioned we’d have great-looking kids and I look like I’d be a great mom.  Um.  Help me.

The moral of the story?  Online dating is weird.  While it has its ups, it mostly has its downs… and that’s fine with me.  After fail-date after fail-date, I stopped worrying about trying to find “the one” because it proooobably won’t be with the guy who cried during our date (truth).  Now I approach every date with a huge grain of salt and a whatever-attitude.  If I have fun, awesome!  If not, I have a blog post.  And so it goes.

And no, I wouldn’t even date diaper-dude for a blog post.  Just thought I should clarify.

Anywho, moving on to delicious, actually-swoonworthy things… like these Strawberry Jelly Danish Squares.  Man, these things are addictive to the max!  If you love jelly danishes, you’ll fall in love with these creamy, sweet, fruity squares topped with a crunchy layer of cinnamon sugar.

And I promise, it’ll be love at first bite.

*recipe very slightly adapted from Averie

This is one of my new favorite brunch recipes since it’s so simple to make and can easily feed my family with some squares to spare.  Since first making it, I’ve made it twice more and we can’t get enough!  I love making mine at nighttime so I don’t have to resist the temptation — it goes outta the oven and into the fridge so it’s ready by morning.  It’s also fun to experiment with different fruits and jam combinations.  Consider using orange marmalade, blueberry jam, raspberry, or even apple butter.  Lemon or lime curd would be delicious, too!  The possibilities are endless, so get to baking!

Have a fantastical day!

xo, Hayley