It’s definitely been acting a lot more like summer here in America’s Middle West! When the temperatures rise, I like to mix up these delicious chilly treats to have for summer breakfasts.

If you’d like to learn more about macerating fruit, here’s a really nice guide. Basically, sugar is “hygroscopic”, meaning it attracts water. It draws fruit juices out of the fruit via osmosis! This softens the fruit, but it also creates a delicious thick fruit syrup that the fruit pieces then marinate in. The longer you macerate, the deeper this process goes and the jammier the fruit becomes.

I did this with chopped strawberries, but it also works very well with raspberries or blackberries. Blueberries and cherries have thicker skins, and will take longer to macerate.

PS: This recipe works exceptionally well with fruit that’s just starting to go a bit soft, AND with granola that’s maybe going a bit stale! It’s an excellent way to give a bit of extra life to both things.

PPS: This also works if you’re feeling a bit lazy, and you want to mix all the ingredients together! Macerate the berries first, then stir them into the yogurt and add a handful of granola, and stir everything until it’s thoroughly combined, and fill the popsicle molds. The popsicles won’t have the pretty layered appearance, but they’ll still be delicious!

Upcoming Events:

I will be at the Kenosha Book Festival on June 21, and in Artists Alley at the ALA Conference in Chicago June 26-28. Come find me!

Shameless Self Promotion:

I was a guest on Rough Draft with Keidra and Liz, an excellent podcast by two of Chicago’s most talented and thoughtful zine queens, Keidra Chaney and Liz Mason! We had a delightful chat about creativity, imposter syndrome, cocktails and career shifts! I genuinely love this podcast; Keidra and Liz always have the most insightful and deeply thoughtful observations about the nature of creativity and the creative process, and it was a real honor to talk with them about my work. During the chat I mentioned this comic I made a few years ago, which is always fun to share with people:

Listen to the podcast episode here!

What I’m into lately:

I’m still working my way through my book club’s June pick, Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo. It doesn’t usually take me this long to get through a book! I’m almost halfway through now and things are picking up a bit. I think my difficulty with it is that it’s a very masculine story. This book is full of dudes aggressively posturing with each other, drag racing, getting into fist fights, and being kind of violently self-destructive. There are almost no female characters, and they don’t have any dimension or importance. Thankfully the story is also chock full of creepy ghosts and a possible murder mystery, so I’m committed to finishing it.

What Toki’s into:

Still demanding to be held while I draw. Look at that face. Can you believe this cat is 9 years old, while simultaneously being 100% Baby?