Apricot Bars

My husband's coworker's wife gave me her recipe for Apricot Bars and I finally got a chance to make them yesterday. It's made with a shortbread crust and a chewy dried apricot and nut filling. Here's the recipe - enjoy!

Crust:
1/2 cup softened butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
Combine and pack into a 6 x 9 pan, bake for 25 minutes at 350.

Filling:
2/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
Beat eggs, mix with brown sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix in vanilla, nuts and apricots.
Spread mixture on slightly cooled rust and bake for another 30 minutes. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut.

On another note, I finally got the jars I wanted from Crate and Barrel to store my flour, sugar and brown sugar. I was inspired by Barefoot Contessa's kitchen - I like how she keeps her flour and sugar in those big jars. I got the 1 gallon jars from Crate and Barrel for $10.95, and the half gallon for $9.95. (Wow, I just checked Barefoot Contessa's website and she uses the same jars! I thought the jars looked similar but didn't know they were actually from C & B!)

I also came across this blog entry where the writer and visitors comment about their love/hate relationship with Ina Garten. I love her. There used to be a message board on her FoodNetwork site and people left terrible comments about how she's overweight and shouldn't be cooking with so much butter... geez! WHO CARES if she's fat? The food tastes good! I have two of her cookbooks and I haven't had a problem with any of her recipes yet.

My favorite shows / chefs to catch on FoodNetwork are:

• Barefoot Contessa (Good food and I want her kitchen and backyard garden.)
• Michael Chiarello (I have a coworker who looks EXACTLY like him! I want to go to one of his parties.)
• Ham on the Street (Very entertaining, plus he is a classically trained chef unlike some hacks on Food Network.
• Good Eats / Alton Brown (Alton Brown rules.)
• Paula's Home Cooking (My favorite episodes are when she cooks with her sons and they say "Momma" in that Southern drawl of theirs!)
• Sugar Rush / Warren Brown (Maybe because his name reminds me of Warrick Brown on CSI.)

Can't stand:

• Racheal Ray (Self explanatory.)
• Emeril Lagasse (Self explanatory.)
• Sara Moulton (I can't explain why.)
• Bobby Flay (Self explanatory.)
• Tyler Florence (I used to like him then he replaced Chef Frederic on How to Boil Water, plus I got tired of watching the women look at him with dreamy eyes.)