A small note, a thorough letter

But I wanted to say here and I need to say to her that I have never been prouder of any elected official I voted for than I am of Senator Elizabeth Warren.

( Coretta Scott King on Mr. Sessions )

Today in Molecular Gastronomy

While reading on Serious Eats I found a link to this method of removing the membranes from citrus segments using an intense pectinase. If you've ever wondered how they peel those mandarin orange segments in a can -- this is how.

I thought about this, and about my troubles with my fruit ratafias -- after several months, small particles of fruit and dissolved pectin form nasty blobs of gel in the drink which look like mold (even though they aren't) and are total turn-offs. (Amusingly, the quince ratafia doesn't do this because the quince is so firm it just doesn't spall off little strainer-escaping bits to disintegrate and form blobs later on.) I think treating the fruit with pectinase before adding the alcohol should help destroy that lingering pectin and the little pieces made mostly of it.

So, I bought a bottle from Modernist Cuisine's online shop. I'll try it on some blueberries next, to make the Blueberry Basil Lemon suggested to me by lyonesse, and see how it goes.