Remove seeds from dates if necessary. Stuff each date with cream cheese. Wrap 1/2 slice of bacon, overlapping bacon ends, around stuffed date and hold together by spearing through the date with a toothpick.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange stuffed and skewered dates on a cookie sheet or a large pan. If you have a metal rack for the pan, it's even better for keeping extra grease off dates.
Bake until bacon is brown and crispy, about 30 minutes. You will need to turn each bacon-wrapped date a couple of times during baking, so it does not blacken where it touches the pan - dates have such a high sugar content, they may burn if left in one position.
Drain dates on paper towels for a minute. And serve warm with a cool martini !
= 
