Mint

  Total time: 8 minutes Servings: 1 Note: Adapted from Ciudad. Use organic oranges and wash the rind well before slicing. 1/2 small orange plus 1 wedge for garnish 1 ounce fresh orange juice 6 fresh mint leaves, each leaf torn in thirds, plus 1 sprig for garnish 1 teaspoon honey 1/2 lime 2 ounces cachaça 1. Cut the orange half into four wedges and remove the seeds. Place the orange wedges, juice, torn mint leaves and honey into a wide-bottomed rocks glass.

Alcohol and art are best consumed in tandem, which is why it's twice as nice now to head to Traxx restaurant in Union Station, where mixologist Kurtis Wells has created a cocktail in honor of the restaurant's signature piece of artwork. "No Further West" is a minimalist gold-leaf painting created by Gordy Grundy that alludes to the fact that the tracks literally stop here. As will yours when you sip its liquid sidekick, a jubilant burst of orange, cucumber and mint laced with vodka and Champagne called "No Further West: A Very California Cocktail Creation.

Dear SOS: Mucho Ultima Mexicana Restaurant in Manhattan Beach makes the best strawberry mojito I have ever had. Can you please get the recipe from them so I can make and enjoy it at home? It's the perfect drink. Thank you. Diana Lecanda Sherman Oaks Dear Diana: Bright and lightly sweet, fresh strawberries are a perfect complement to the classic lime and mint in this mojito. Mucho Ultima changes its mojitos seasonally but was happy to share this recipe with us. Cheers!

This is how to eat an order of pani puri at Samosa House East, home of some of the best Indian snacks in Los Angeles. First, roll up your sleeves. Pani puri is chaat -- Indian street snack food -- and demands to be eaten with the fingers, lustily, and with some degree of abandon. Then get ready to move. Pani puri comes in parts, and it demands a certain degree of focus and speed to assemble. There's the puri -- half a dozen or so egg-sized, eggshell-delicate balls of crisp, transparent fried bread.

Gilliland's, an intimate neighborhood restaurant in Santa Monica, has found its way into the big time. But it didn't happen overnight. Owner Gerri Gilliland had been a caterer and a cooking-school teacher in Los Angeles for several years before venturing into a business of her own. "I started in the summer of 1984 with no restaurant experience. I kept hiring the wrong people and letting them guide the restaurant until it got completely out of focus," she says.

Question: I have noticed that some dealers sell stamps with a guarantee that their stamps have not been re-gummed. But how can you tell the difference between original gum and re-gum? Should I just take the dealer's word for it? Also, why are some early British Commonwealth stamps more expensive in used condition than in mint? My guess is that far fewer were actually used than produced. In that case, isn't it possible for someone to cancel such mint copies today and sell them as used for more money?

Re "Karl Malden, 1912 - 2009: Oscar winner also known for TV ads," Obituary, July 2 We lost one of the all-time greats when legendary actor Karl Malden recently passed away. I must, however, disagree with any notion that his astonishing film and Broadway performances "were eclipsed by his American Express pitchman role." Yes, he must have made a mint doing those commercials, and thank goodness for that. But make no mistake: His Broadway, then Oscar-winning performances earned him a place in the pantheon of Hollywood's brightest and best.