Sage

Food: **1/2 (2 1/2 stars) Service: *** (3 stars) Atmosphere: ** (2 stars) Probably nowhere else in the universe could Rocket to Venus exist except in Hampden. The new bar-restaurant has a funky sci-fi decor; a hip, well-pierced staff, and a clientele that doesn't look old enough to vote, let alone drink. But its menu features pierogis and grilled-cheese sandwiches as well as ceviche and walnut and sage pesto. And those black-clad servers are so friendly you wouldn't be surprised if they called you "hon."

Purple reigns Kids may think green food is yucky when it comes in the form of broccoli or brussels sprouts. But Heinz discovered they have a soft spot for the color when it released a green ketchup last year. Now comes Funky Purple, which the heaviest ketchup users - children - tell the company is the coolest color around, what with Harry Potter's purple lightning bolts, purple computers and, we might add, the purple-uniformed Super Bowl champions. We watched with interest as two boys slathered the stuff over french fries.

When my mother wrote down the recipe for her stuffing, which since childhood I've considered the best thing about Thanksgiving, she left out a few details. Like the amount of melted butter. How much? I'd ask her as a young adult, trying to re-create this taste of home on my own, far away. "A lot," she'd say. And how much sage? "Tons," she'd reply. "You can never have enough." On other aspects of the recipe - we never were told where it came from - Mom was a stickler. "It's beef broth," she'd call back to remind me. "Don't make the mistake of using chicken.

Betty Wickes Nichols, who helped get the Worthington Valley in Baltimore County declared a part of the National Historic Trust in 1974, died of emphysema on Aug. 20 at her home in Glyndon. She was 86.She was a member of the Valleys Planning Council, an association founded by residents in 1962 to protect, manage and preserve the rustic character of the Green Spring, Caves, Worthington and Western Run valleys.Mrs. Nichols, an avid horse rider and breeder, had a particular interest in the Worthington Valley, where she lived most of her life and where the Grand National and Maryland Hunt Cup steeplechase races are run.She organized neighbors concerned about the expansion of road and sewer systems into the Worthington Valley and led the research for identifying landmarks.

Chef-restaurateur Mark Miller has a menu, which mightinclude such dishes as butternut painted soup, buttermilk corn cakes with smoked chili shrimp, wood-roasted Virginia golden trout, sizzling tuna with spinach and yellow mole and a dessert of plum tart.But the man who runs Red Sage in Washington. D.C., and the Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, N.M., also has an agenda, and it includes an active interest in the environment and in the quality of the nation's food supply."The ecology and the land around us are the responsibility of all of us," Mr. Miller said before a visit to Baltimore in September as one of 10 celebrity chefs serving dishes at a dinner to benefit the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

Player of the Year Stephanie Connelly, Northeast The senior might have been the best public school girls player ever. Connelly ended her career by setting a record with a 144 at the state tournament. Coach of the Year Darren Rudham, Severn Rudham, in his first season, led Severn to a 15-0 record and the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference title. The team Name School Cl Brice Busse AACS Jr. Stephanie Connelly Northeast Sr. Christian Freymeyer Severn Sr. Matt Grzeskiewicz Arch.

This chowder does not take long to prepare (count on about 20 minutes for prepping and 30 for cooking) and calls for ingredients you are likely to have on hand if you prepared Thanksgiving dinner. A recipe serves 6, but can easily be doubled. I plan to serve this rich, delectable chowder with a salad and some warm bread for lunch or supper. Betty Rosbottom writes for Tribune Media Services. `AFTER THANKSGIVING' TURKEY, SWEET POTATO AND BACON CHOWDER Serves 6 5 slices lean smoked bacon 1 cup chopped onion 3/4 cup chopped celery 2 cups cubed ( 1/2 -inch dice)

A proposal to build a 140-unit "congregate care" facility for the elderly on an 11.5-acre site near the Arnold Senior Center will be discussed by developer Gary Baxley at a meeting of the Arnold Preservation Council Wednesday. Baxley, who operates the Columbia-based Baxley Realty Advisors Inc. and Senior Nation Development Co., said yesterday that he filed a zoning request with the county this month for a special exception to allow the project. The single building of three and four stories would be built on a group of six lots in the 1300 block of Ritchie Highway, contiguous to the senior center site, Baxley said.

In the heat, the scents of basil, rosemary and sage -- musky, sharp and green -- perfume the heavy air. Though it's early in the day, the sun is beating down on the herbs and tomatoes in this small garden. Guy Reinbold leans over and brushes his hand across a plant."The basil looks good right now," he says. "It was incredible how much we took out of there. . . . The rosemary's coming back. . . . Rosemary takes a long time, it's like pine. . . . This is sage. . . . This is oregano -- it needs to be taken down, see, it's beginning to bud -- this is another sage.

Something tasty is in the air. Nothing reminds us of the winter holidays like those familiar scents of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cocoa and sage. And what better way to perk up a holiday meal? Or flavor those Christmas cookies or spice up a turkey dressing? "They can evoke memories of celebrations, and our family and friends," says Steve Logan, a culinary chef for Maryland-based McCormick spice company. "They are intense but inviting." Now is a good time to stock up on those top-10 holiday flavors.