Gobble Up New Jersey Gifts for the Holidays

By Pat Tanner

Gifts of food and drink from the best of New Jersey’s artisans are always welcome. But this year, given the state of the economy, they seem especially apropos. They’re practical yet indulgent, come at many price points, and help support the local economy. Be sure to check delivery dates on these, my favorites (expedited shipping may be necessary).

Book: Talk about low-cost dining! Fans of the Star-Ledger’s Munchmobile, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary, will dig right into “Jersey Eats” by Munchmobile maven Peter Genovese. munchmobilebook.com

Coffee, chocolates, and biscotti from the most famous name in New Jersey chefdom, Craig Shelton. They don’t come cheap, but connoisseurs of every stripe will thank you. chefscoffee.com

Classes in the art of cheese making from two fine practitioners, Eran Wajswol of Valley Shepherd (valleyshepherd.com) and Jonathan White of Bobolink (cowsoutside.com). White combines his with bread baking at his open-air hearth.

Potpies wholesome, delicious, and frozen from Griggstown Farm Market (griggstownquailfarm.com) and Twin Hens, whose all-natural pies are available through Dean & Deluca: deandeluca.com.

Baskets of Jersey-grown and produced comestibles from Terhune Orchards, including apples, honey, and baked goods, come in two sizes and can be shipped throughout the U.S. They are among ten selections at the farm store on terhuneorchards.com.

Support your local restaurant: Who wouldn’t appreciate a gift certificate to a favorite eatery? Almost every restaurant is happy to oblige. Independent, locally owned restaurants especially deserve our support in these tight times.

You do good/your friends dine well. Discounted tickets to the 17th annual Taste of the Nation Princeton, which will be held the evening of April 20, are available through December 31. 100% of the ticket price goes to fighting hunger. Enter discount code HOL at tasteofthenation.org/princeton or call 800.969.4767.

For more gift ideas, see our Gifts for Food Lovers and Gifts for Wine Lovers on newjerseylife.com

"Eat Local" Holiday Farmers' Market

By Pat Tanner

The term “winter farmers’ market” may seem like a cruel joke in the Garden State, but there are plenty of local, seasonal products available throughout even the coldest months. To take advantage of this, Slow Food Central New Jersey and a group of like-minded organizations are sponsoring monthly “Eat Local” indoor markets. The next one – just in time for the holidays – is scheduled to take place on Saturday, December 13 at the beautiful Johnson Education Center at the D&R Greenway in Princeton.

Those of us who mourn the end of each farm season can snatch up locally produced cheeses, breads, poultry, jams, mushrooms, condiments, meat, pies, pickles, and, of course, fresh fruits and vegetables – even wine and holiday greenery.

Terhune Orchards, Valley Shepherd Creamery, Village Bakery, Krowicki Farm, Hopewell Valley Vineyard, Davidson’s Exotic Mushrooms, and ER & Son Organic Farm are among the participating vendors. There will be live music and cooking demos by local chefs each hour starting at 10:30 a.m. Shoppers can also check out the juried art exhibition by the Garden State Watercolor Society titled “A Brush with Nature.”

In January and March, the market will move to Tre Piani restaurant in Princeton’s Forrestal Village, while the February location is the Museum of Agriculture at Cook College in North Brunswick. The markets are a collaboration of Slow Food Central NJ, the Lawrenceville Main Street Farmers’ Market, the Rutgers Gardens Farmers’ Market, and the West Windsor Community Farmers’ Market.

The “Eat Local” Holiday Farmers’ Market will take place on Saturday, December 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the D&R Greenway Johnson Education Center off Rosedale Road in Princeton. Directions can be found at drgreenway.org/directions.htm. A $2 donation per group is suggested. For information visit slowfoodcentralnj.org, or call 609.577.5113.

Naturally Delicious, Naturally Nora

by Pat Tanner

Ever read the ingredients list on a box of cake mix? “Natural” is not a word it conjures. On the other hand, no one is more skeptical than I when it comes to “all-natural” versions of what should be deliciously decadent convenience foods. Which is why I hesitated before agreeing to sample the mini-cupcake that a perfectly nice couple was proffering at last summer’s Fancy Food Show in New York.

Nora Schultz of Princeton and her husband, Steve, assured me that their all-natural cake and frosting mixes taste as good as homemade. The Schultzes left the corporate world (she, Campbell’s Soup; he, Colgate Palmolive) in order to launch the Naturally Nora line of five cake mixes and four frostings, all made without artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives, and no hydrogenated oils. Plus, all are certified kosher.

Clearly, I wouldn’t be telling you all this if my test cupcake of “Cookie Cookie” (yellow cake embedded with bits of chocolate cookie) with Cheerful Chocolate frosting hadn’t been scrumptious.

Fun flavors like Surprising Stars and Alot’a Dots make them perfect for kids’ parties – especially if your kid has certain allergies. The mixes themselves do not contain dairy, nuts, or soy – although some sort of milk product is added during home preparation. (Vanilla soymilk and some margarines are nondairy alternatives.)

Naturally Nora mixes are available at Whole Foods markets in Princeton and Marlton, at 26 Acme stores in NJ, online at amazon.com, and in nine other states and DC. For more info visit naturallynora.com. E-mail Nora there for details on how your school’s PTO can receive a donation of Naturally Nora products for a school bake sale.

Fashion Forward: Maxi-mize Your Spring Look

By Leigh Boriskin

One of Spring's freshest looks is the easy, breezy, and oh-so-pretty maxi dress. With a long and lean shape, the maxi will be your go-to frock when you just don't know what to wear.

For a cool shade of color, purchase this Aqua Printed Max Shirred Tube dress, available at Bloomingdales. This fashionably frugal must-have, at a mere $98, will be perfect for a ladies lunch during the day, or a summer evening down the shore, when minimally accessorized with a pair of silver flat sandals, a thin hoop earring, and a brightly-hued clutch.

New and Noteworthy: Chef's Coffee Company

By Kimberly Baldwin

If you live in New Jersey and enjoy fine dining, then there's no doubt you are familiar with Chef Craig Shelton and his former venture, The Ryland Inn, the world famous top Zagat- and New York Times-rated restaurant featuring superb cuisine and an impressive 1,000-bottle wine list.

Ryland Inn customer's were quite passionate about food, and even more so about coffee -- so much, in fact, that there were so many requests to buy the coffee, Chef Shelton decided to launch the Chef's Coffee Company to market and sell this original blend. This effort has since expanded beyond his initial expectations and includes additional unique blends like the Yachtsman (a bold, robust blend that holds its flavors in outdoor marine environments) and the Mountain (a specially formulated blend suitable for higher elevations).

Using his culinary and biochemistry knowledge (he did, after all, graduate from Yale with degrees in molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry), Chef Shelton has created truly amazing taste combinations where the coffee blend reacts to different environments, tailoring the coffee taste to the lifestyles and surroundings of the coffee drinker. As the Chef says, "What makes us different is that we recognized long ago that the environment can dramatically change the taste of the coffee. The same cup of coffee will taste completely different on a beach, a mountain top, at a horse race, or at a restaurant. So we take that into account as we formulate proprietary blends and roasting techniques to create specific blends for various situations. Each blend we have created is designed to shine in a particular surrounding. This is an outgrowth of my 25 year passion for marrying food and wine".

The gourmet blends and perfectly paired chocolates and biscotti are available through chefscoffee.com or at fine retailers like Chef Central (Paramus) and Wine Library Springfield.