They were better than fresh apricots.

As for vitamins, half a dried apricot provides 126 international units of vitamin A, compared with 337 international units for half a fresh apricot.

THE season for fresh apricots - fleeting though it be - has arrived.

FOR me, fresh apricots are on a par with the Red Sox.

As a result, Americans rarely cook with fresh apricots.

A properly cooked fresh apricot can be the best of both worlds.

If you are lucky enough to have gem-quality fresh apricots around, the less they are fussed with the better.

Perhaps, but the coffee table, you'll notice, features complimentary alternatives (lady apples, biscotti, bottled water, even a fresh apricot in winter).

There were baskets of almonds and fresh apricots, trays of red and yellow plums, lemons and oranges.

FOR the connoisseur of fresh apricots, an all-too-brief season, from mid-June to mid-July, is often full of frustration.