My new book Let’s Make Cocktails! comes out April 7! It has sixty recipes in it. There are, obviously, many, many more cocktails than that. I’ve been keeping a running list of “cutting room floor” cocktails – recipes that didn’t quite make the book due to page count, but were still worth drawing. Here’s one of them!

A fun fact: this is probably the first cocktail I ever had. I was 19 or so (so yes, underage), living in the French House dorm at Beloit College with a bunch of other languages students. One night, we had a big house dinner for all the students living in French House, and someone was mixing up Kir cocktails. They were elegant, a beautiful color, and far too easy to drink!

Another fun fact: you’ll often see the champagne version of this drink spelled “Kir Royale”. Kir, however, is treated as a masculine noun in French, so “Kir Royal” is the more correct spelling (even though they’re pronounced the same).

I didn’t know anything about this history until I started researching it this week. Félix Kir is a Real One for sure. One of the sources I found for this information is a delightfully named book called Priests de la Résistance! ^_^

Upcoming things:

On Saturday, February 28, I will be at the Avondale Arts Market in Chicago! This is the first time they’re doing this market, and it’s in a truly gorgeous looking event space near Diversey and Pulaski. Come say hi!

We’re also starting to put together dates for a Let’s Make Cocktails Book Tour! One event will be at Challengers Comics + Conversation on April 11. If you preorder the book through Challengers by March 9, you will get a special, limited edition FREE PRINT designed by me. It will look like this!

What I’m into lately:

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been asking good friends what their favorite books are and tossing them in my library queue. This week I’ve been reading Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, recommended by my good friend Corinne (who reads more than anyone I know). I’m about halfway through and it’s marvelous. I was a little reluctant to read it at first, as I have not felt ready to dive into pandemic-related stories. But I’m about halfway through and I’m really loving it. Twenty years after a flu has wiped out 99% of humanity, a traveling group of actors and musicians tour the remains of the upper Midwest U.S. performing Shakespeare plays, because “survival is insufficient.” I will always fall in love with any story like this one that ruminates on why humans make and need Art.

What Toki’s into lately:

Still following the sun squares around the house all day! This isn’t a great photo, but look at that floofy stretched paw! Behold the tender pink toe beans!

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