Taste

From Biblical times and ancient Greece, the Hellabore flower is among the most storied flowers around.

Many of us have holly, misletoe and poinsettias in our homes for the holidays, but do you know the history behind them?

What is Columbia cooking up for Thanksgiving dinner this year? Residents share their favorite holiday recipes.

What is Columbia cooking up for Thanksgiving dinner this year? Residents share their favorite holiday recipes.

What is Columbia cooking up for Thanksgiving dinner this year? Residents share their favorite holiday recipes.

What is Columbia cooking up for Thanksgiving dinner this year? Residents share their favorite holiday recipes.

What is Columbia cooking up for Thanksgiving dinner this year? Residents share their favorite holiday recipes.

What is Columbia cooking up for Thanksgiving dinner this year? Residents share their favorite holiday recipes.

Dennis Sentilles tells how meals can use local ingredients and produce a taste some say is “to die for.”

Barbara Michael expounds the virtues of community gardens, a green and cost-effective way to bring people together.

The smart, innovative, artsy, eclectic, clever, savvy, vibrant, too-dynamic-to-fit-into-a-short-tagline city. This is the non-tagline tagline used to describe Columbia’s downtown area, otherwise known as The District. But maybe there is a more succinct way to describe the old buildings and eclectic edge of Columbia. Why not call it wabi sabi?

Rather than having grass and a single tree like her neighbors, Sammy Eber’s front yard is a sea of flowers, foliage and paths.

This is only the introduction to her abode, however. Small streams of multicolored lilies and red poppy mallows flow into an estuary of cacti.

Natasha’s, a popular business for the Slavic community in Columbia, recently got a new owner and a new look.

The store, originally opened in 2003 as a deli and bistro, is a vendor of Eastern European foods.

Polina Petrenko bought the store at 705 Vandiver Drive from the original owner, Natasha Wekenborg, and reopened it April 15.

After 11 years in the food business, Chipotle has added a dish.

The Chipotle salad, which Steve Ells, Chipotle’s founder and CEO, described as “a twist on burrito bols,” features fresh cut Romaine lettuce and new house-made chipotle-honey vinaigrette.

William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame, said it required at least four deer to sustain the corps’ health for a day. The Native Americans brought deer to the Pilgrims while they were starving and needing help. And, for 11 years, John Van Stone has provided Columbia with a source for the other red meat, farm-raised venison.

Van Stone, a Columbia physician, said his inspiration to start the Mid-Missouri Fallow Deer farm came from his travels abroad with his wife.

Beverly Meyer, who joined Bookmark Café’s cast in October, tries to cheer up the corner of Ellis Library basement by initiating conversations with customers.

She starts by asking people about their lives and their studies while they wait for their orders or for the credit card receipt to print.

Revolution reshaped Libya in 1969, changing the way its people and the government did business. Political parties were banned and the country has long been listed as a sponsor of terrorism.

This is the land that Mohamed Gumati, owner of the International Cafe in Columbia, once knew. In 1977, Gumati moved from Libya to attend Lindenwood University in St. Charles.

Inside the pleasantly cool room, Annie Zhang walks around in small, fast steps, making sure that all of her customers are well served and comfortably seated.

It is almost noon, and the lunch time rush at the Peking restaurant at Village South Center has started.

Born in the 14th century as a way for men to hold flint, money and a variety of objects, purses were once quite small. But the whims of society and the ever-brutal demands of fashion have come to force their growth and expansion. This year, women are catching the bug of big, and designers and retail stores are supplying larger handbags. Gone are the small shoulder clutches from last year.

“We’ve definitely gotten more big bags in,” said Jenna Hiller, employee of A Matter of Style at the Columbia Mall. Courtney Faron, manager of Britches, said that store also is stocking more large purses.