diff --git a/features/site_configuration.feature b/features/site_configuration.feature
index f5974d0b..90afd919 100644
--- a/features/site_configuration.feature
+++ b/features/site_configuration.feature
@@ -116,33 +116,45 @@ Feature: Site configuration
     And I should see "Post Layout: <p>content for entry1.</p>" in "_site/2007/12/31/entry1.html"
     And I should see "Post Layout: <p>content for entry2.</p>" in "_site/2020/01/31/entry2.html"
 
-    Scenario: Generate proper dates with explicitly set timezone
+    Scenario: Generate proper dates with explicitly set timezone (which is the same)
       Given I have a _layouts directory
-      And I have a page layout that contains "Page Layout: {{ site.posts.size }} on {{ site.time | date: \"%Y-%m-%d\" }}"
+      And I have a page layout that contains "Page Layout: {{ site.posts.size }}"
       And I have a post layout that contains "Post Layout: {{ content }} built at {{ page.date | date_to_xmlschema }}"
       And I have an "index.html" page with layout "page" that contains "site index page"
       And I have a configuration file with:
         | key         | value            |
-        | time        | 2013-04-10       |
         | timezone    | America/New_York |
       And I have a _posts directory
       And I have the following posts:
-        | title     | date                     | layout  | content             |
-        | entry1    | "2013-04-09 23:22 -0400" | post    | content for entry1. |
-        | entry2    | "2013-04-10 03:14 -0400" | post    | content for entry2. |
+        | title     | date                   | layout  | content             |
+        | entry1    | 2013-04-09 23:22 -0400 | post    | content for entry1. |
+        | entry2    | 2013-04-10 03:14 -0400 | post    | content for entry2. |
       When I run jekyll
       Then the _site directory should exist
-      And I should see "Page Layout: 2 on 2013-04-10" in "_site/index.html"
+      And I should see "Page Layout: 2" in "_site/index.html"
       And I should see "Post Layout: <p>content for entry1.</p> built at 2013-04-09T23:22:00-04:00" in "_site/2013/04/09/entry1.html"
       And I should see "Post Layout: <p>content for entry2.</p> built at 2013-04-10T03:14:00-04:00" in "_site/2013/04/10/entry2.html"
+
+    Scenario: Generate proper dates with explicitly set timezone, which is very different
+      Given I have a _layouts directory
+      And I have a page layout that contains "Page Layout: {{ site.posts.size }}"
+      And I have a post layout that contains "Post Layout: {{ content }} built at {{ page.date | date_to_xmlschema }}"
+      And I have an "index.html" page with layout "page" that contains "site index page"
       And I have a configuration file with:
         | key         | value               |
         | timezone    | Australia/Melbourne |
+      And I have a _posts directory
+      And I have the following posts:
+        | title     | date                   | layout  | content             |
+        | entry1    | 2013-04-09 23:22 -0400 | post    | content for entry1. |
+        | entry2    | 2013-04-10 03:14 -0400 | post    | content for entry2. |
       When I run jekyll
       Then the _site directory should exist
-      And I should see "Page Layout: 2 on 2013-04-10" in "_site/index.html"
-      And I should see "Post Layout: <p>content for entry1.</p> built at 2013-04-10T13:14:00+10:00" in "_site/2013/04/10/entry1.html"
-      And I should see "Post Layout: <p>content for entry2.</p> built at 2013-04-10T17:14:00+10:00" in "_site/2013/04/10/entry2.html"
+      And I should see "Page Layout: 2" in "_site/index.html"
+      And the "_site/2013/04/10/entry1.html" file should exist
+      And the "_site/2013/04/10/entry2.html" file should exist
+      And I should see escaped "Post Layout: <p>content for entry1.</p> built at 2013-04-10T13:22:00+10:00" in "_site/2013/04/10/entry1.html"
+      And I should see escaped "Post Layout: <p>content for entry2.</p> built at 2013-04-10T17:14:00+10:00" in "_site/2013/04/10/entry2.html"
 
   Scenario: Limit the number of posts generated by most recent date
     Given I have a _posts directory
diff --git a/features/step_definitions/jekyll_steps.rb b/features/step_definitions/jekyll_steps.rb
index 65556d37..c56ec42e 100644
--- a/features/step_definitions/jekyll_steps.rb
+++ b/features/step_definitions/jekyll_steps.rb
@@ -64,7 +64,15 @@ Given /^I have the following (draft|post)s?(?: (.*) "(.*)")?:$/ do |status, dire
     if "draft" == status
       path = File.join(before || '.', '_drafts', after || '.', "#{title}.#{ext}")
     else
-      date = Date.strptime(post['date'], '%m/%d/%Y').strftime('%Y-%m-%d')
+      date = if post['date'].split.size > 1
+        parsed_date = DateTime.strptime(post['date'], '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M %z')
+        post['date'] = parsed_date.to_s
+        parsed_date.strftime('%Y-%m-%d')
+      else
+        parsed_date = Date.strptime(post['date'], '%m/%d/%Y') # WHY WOULD YOU EVER DO THIS
+        post['date'] = parsed_date.to_s
+        parsed_date.strftime('%Y-%m-%d')
+      end
       path = File.join(before || '.', '_posts', after || '.', "#{date}-#{title}.#{ext}")
     end
 
@@ -72,6 +80,9 @@ Given /^I have the following (draft|post)s?(?: (.*) "(.*)")?:$/ do |status, dire
     %w(title layout tag tags category categories published author path).each do |key|
       matter_hash[key] = post[key] if post[key]
     end
+    if "post" == status
+      matter_hash["date"] = post["date"] if post["date"]
+    end
     matter = matter_hash.map { |k, v| "#{k}: #{v}\n" }.join.chomp
 
     content = post['content']
@@ -137,7 +148,11 @@ Then /^the (.*) directory should exist$/ do |dir|
 end
 
 Then /^I should see "(.*)" in "(.*)"$/ do |text, file|
-  assert_match Regexp.new(text), File.open(file).readlines.join
+  assert Regexp.new(text).match(File.open(file).readlines.join)
+end
+
+Then /^I should see escaped "(.*)" in "(.*)"$/ do |text, file|
+  assert Regexp.new(Regexp.escape(text)).match(File.open(file).readlines.join)
 end
 
 Then /^the "(.*)" file should exist$/ do |file|