Deck the Halls, etc.

It's the holiday season, which means that if you're the slightest bit social, you're probably either going to someone's house or having people over to yours.  This also means that you'll either need a hostess gift to take when you go to the aforementioned holiday soiree, or you'll need something suitably festive and chic to put out at yours.

Or maybe you're not doing anything special, but you still want to nibble on something festive and yummy because, after all, it is the holiday season.

This recipe is so easy is should be criminal.  In fact, it's so easy it barely requires a recipe.  In short, anyone can make this, even non-cooks and people who only enter the kitchen to open bottles of champagne.  Or people like Carrie Bradshaw, who used her oven for sweater storage.

Cheers!

Recipe:  French Chocolate Bark
( Ina Garten)

Ingredients:

8 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
8 ounces very good bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup whole roasted, salted cashews
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Melt the 2 chocolates in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.

Meanwhile, line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Using a ruler and a pencil, draw a 9 by 10-inch rectangle on the paper. Turn the paper facedown on the baking sheet.

Pour the melted chocolate over the paper and spread to form a rectangle, using the outline. Sprinkle the cashews, apricots and cranberries over the chocolate. Set aside for 2 hours until firm. Cut the bark in 1 by 3-inch pieces and serve at room temperature.