Next time someone makes a crack about New Jersey, point that person to Money magazine. In its annual Best Places to Live report, the magazine says nine of the top ten towns with cleanest air in the U.S. are in South Jersey.

It takes a chef to cut to the bone of the economy.

Robert Minniti didn’t look like he belonged on stage. The chef/owner of Bacio Italian Cuisine (baciorestaurant.com) in Cinnaminson and president of SJ Hot Chefs (sjhotchefs.com), a group of independent restaurants that pool resources to market themselves, was part of a five-person panel on the big bad topic of “the economy” at the recent Rutgers-Camden Quarterly Business Outlook.

With Easter just around the corner, here’s a tip: Skip the drug store this year. South Jersey is dripping in hand-made, oh-so-sweet chocolate.