There is a fine line between and ravishing and repulsive, as perfumers well know. Ambergris, civet, musk? All meant to give an extra something to make you question what’s going on. So it is with some desserts. I present the following maple-bacon lollipops. Yum?

Photos by Jeff Gelt

All the stereotypes about New Jersey always look over the fact that Western NJ is gorgeous. Rolling hills of forests and farms seem far, far away from the congestion of Route 1 and the suburbs of the east. Honey Brook Organic Farm is a CSA located in the middle of this lovely area, near Hopewell.

In order to join the farm, there’s an initial fee of a few hundred dollars that you pay up front. But if you go every weekend to get your share the savings really add up. Beyond the savings, the sheer quality and quantity (hey usually those 3 don’t go together!!) are completely beyond description. Jen wrote about her adventures on the farm last year at Too Many Tomatoes.

Sadly, real estate prices in NJ prevent Honey Brook (and many other farmers, by the way) from buying land for farming. It’s currently on land leased from the local non-profit watershed association. This means fewer substantial improvements and prevents the establishment of longer-term crops (like trees). Despite all this, Honey Brook is very popular and doesn’t have any issues getting people to join. I hope you have a chance to find out if there’s a farm near you at Local Harvest and offer some support in 2008!

Organic food really is more delicious and better for you. But in addition to the green-washing of products ranging from cars to shampoo, the hope of organic food as a miracle-worker is often overemphasized. There’s a hemp-infused sucker with raspberry essence born every minute.

I was invited to Counter in Manhattan, a vegetarian restaurant with its own version of “haute cuisine”. Although I visited in the winter, the restaurant’s rooftop garden is its true heart, where fruits and vegetables are harvested the rest of the year for a truly sustainable experience. It does have an impressive menu, and the faux-meatloaf with mashed potatoes was hearty and savory.

However, the most interesting part of trip was the look at the drink menu. There we saw “The World’s Most Expensive Organic Martini” listed at $665. Ingredients? Organic Rose & pomegranate infused vodka, peach nectar and Iridium.

What are some of the claimed benefits of Iridium? It’s an element of the periodic table usually reserved for alloys with platinum as well as having radioactive properties. But in a more New-Agey sense, it could be any one of the following: the “The Golden Tear from the Eye of Horus”, the ancient Hebrew “Food of the Gods”, or perhaps one part of a trilogy of elements to cure almost anything. So many claims for a few drops!

An author over at NY Magazine was able to sample the expensive elixor, and estimated its actual price by ingredient (closer to about $24).

The mixed drinks have a few distinctive names, and my friend who eloped to Tahoe over the summer surrendered to the “Married in a Fever”. If you truly want to get your friends to raise their eyebrows at some drinks, hop over to Marion’s X-rated martini list on the Bowery.

As much as I love to cook grown-up food and drink grown-up drinks, there are certain delights that only the young are spoiled with. I am full-time working woman without children, but I still often check out baby food because it’s small and there are *different novel flavors*!!

I don’t go for the strained peas or mini hot-dogs.. no, my childish culinary leanings are sweet.

Animal crackers? Hell yes. Jetblue has them too.

However, here’s my tasty treat of the moment:

First of all, it’s awesome to say ‘yo baby! (with a little hip swivel) when you’re getting it from the fridge. Plus, there are cool flavors like apple and pear.

I felt like writing a little bit more about my visit with Jen in West Philly.

The first place Jen took me to on this trip was the White Dog, a bar/restaurant constructed from the ground floor of 3 merged townhouses. The bartenders screamed happy birthday to one of their own while we rattled off everything that happened over the past 6 months. The girl next to me flirted with the cook. We had a mushroom and cheese plate. Jen said something about how mushrooms taste like they have some sort of mineral in them that you only need trace elements of, but have no idea how you would get them (selenium? molybdenum?) The downstairs bathroom was a female dog’s vanity mural, with “essence of dead squirrel” labeled on one of the perfume bottles.

Tomorrow, Honey Brook farm…