Cooking with Cannabis
Just the idea of cooking with cannabis may sound daunting, but it really isn’t nearly as difficult as it sounds. There are many ways cannabis can be used in recipes, and as I stated earlier in this book, in some places, terpenes are even extracted and can be used to add the specific flavors and qualities each terpene contains.
There are easy ways of adding weed to your menu without having to be a gourmet cannabis chef, just by infusing basic ingredients with cannabis—ingredients such as butter, oil, and alcohol.
Some people love the different flavors and scents that can be combined and created; some hate the taste and smell; and to some it all seems the same anyway. (According to my husband, it all smells like skunk.)
For those of you who are not gourmet chefs and would still like to reap the rewards, this is where you get to learn how.
It’s important to remember that smoking and eating are not the same thing. When eating cannabis, the THC will affect you much more strongly than it does when smoking. It will take longer for the high to hit, and the high will last much longer. As with all forms of consumption, remember to go slow. You can always eat more if you need to, but give yourself plenty of time between doses (a good thirty minutes minimum).
Another big hint—if you have enough weed to do so—is to make butters and oils at different strengths or make them as strong as you can. Different strengths are convenient. If you are going to make cookies and need two cups of butter, your cookies will have a much higher potency than something that only uses a small amount of butter. What you can do is make a “normal” dose of seven grams to a cup for things like cookies, which use a lot of butter. Then infuse another batch of butter with fourteen grams to a cup to make it more potent, and use it for recipes where you only use a little butter. If you make it stronger, you can always cut it with noninfused butter or oil. In the cookie example, you could use one cup of strong cannabutter and one cup of regular butter to equal your two cups.
Before we get into recipes, the first topic we need to cover is preparing weed for consumption and how we can put it into different usable forms.
Decarboxylation
To prepare your cannabis to be used in cooking, the first step is to decarboxylate it. Basically, this means you need to heat it up to a particular temperature for a set amount of time, allowing the chemical reaction to take place, and therefore activating the THC and THC-A in the cannabis.
If you know you are going to be cooking cannabis a lot, I highly recommend investing in a decarboxylator. There currently are not too many options available. There are options available online for just over $200.
Why invest? Perfection. While you can use your oven (and I will tell you how), using a decarboxylator has a few benefits. Most importantly, it ensures a more even heating process. If your oven is anything like mine and needs some serious help because it cooks everything on the left side more, then you know what I mean. With a decarboxylator, you can be sure your cannabis is being properly and evenly decarbed. It also really helps with the smell. If you use the oven to decarboxylate, guess where the smell goes? Everywhere! Love the smell or not; it gets pretty potent. The decarboxylator does let some scent escape, but nothing like an oven does. I also highly recommend that when it is done you take the machine outside and open it there, as the aroma will be quite strong indoors if you don’t. Let the cannabis air out and cool down for a few minutes and then transfer it to an airtight container. This will help keep your house skunk-free.
What if you don’t have $200 to spend on one of these handy-dandy helpers? That’s okay. A cookie sheet, your oven, and about a half an hour are all it will take to decarb on your own. Begin by grinding your cannabis and spreading it out on the cookie sheet; you may use parchment paper if you’d like, but it is not necessary. Preheat your oven to 225 degrees. Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 30–40 minutes. The cannabis will brown. Once it is done, seal it in an airtight container.
This decarboxylated flower is what we will be using to make some infusions that will be used (along with the flower itself) in our recipes.
Infusions
Infusing certain products with the decarboxylated flower allows for the THC to be carried in whatever base you have chosen. Ghee, butter, oils, and even alcohol can all be infused with decarboxylated flower, giving you endless possibilities for how to add cannabis to your menu.
Again, there is equipment out there to help you do this easily, and again, without smelling up your whole house. The Magic Butter Machine is less than $200 and easily infuses your base with very little work from you. You simply follow the directions, by adding your material (flower and the base you want to infuse), selecting the correct corresponding temperature button, and then … you just wait and let it do its thing. That’s it. The Magic Butter Machine even has a cleaning setting. I am amazed at how well it works, and how easy it is. The unit uses a blade that finely slices the cannabis and mixes it into your base and heats to the correct preset temperatures to speed the infusion process up. But of course, infusions can be made “by hand” if spending the extra money is not an option. By-hand options will not give you as potent a final product.
Cannabutter (or Ghee)
Cannabutter is literally cannabis-infused butter. It can be made with butter or ghee but NOT margarine. Because of the slightly higher fat content of ghee, the cannabinoids are absorbed better, meaning more THC making happy little bonds with fat molecules. While ghee is more expensive than butter, you’ve already invested in the cannabis, so you might want to spend the extra money and compare the difference for yourself. Ghee will also change the flavor of what you make with its intensified rich buttery taste. When it comes down to it, it’s once again up to your own personal taste and finances. I use both, but I do prefer ghee for certain recipes. When we get to the recipes, I will let you know which type of butter/ghee I use in each, but you can switch them anytime. Have plenty of paper towels on hand—working with butter and ghee can get messy quick.
Cannabutter (Stove-Top Method)
Ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup butter/ghee
7–10 grams ground decarboxylated cannabis
Utensils
Small saucepan
Wooden spoon
Candy thermometer
Cheesecloth
Glass bowl or jar you can fit a rubber band around
Rubber band
Place a small saucepan on the stove on low heat. Add the cup of water and bring to a low simmer. Add the butter and allow it to melt. The water will help keep the butter (or ghee) from burning. Pour in the ground cannabis. Stir gently.
Keep the concoction simmering at 175 degrees for 2–3 hours. Be sure to stir occasionally. If you need to, add more water to keep the butter or ghee from burning. Do not let the mixture boil. While the butter is simmering, set up your jar or bowl by covering it with cheesecloth and securing the cloth around the top of the jar or bowl with a rubber band.
Allow the butter to cool a bit, then carefully pour over the cheesecloth. There are two schools of thought about what to do next. You can either allow the cannabis to sit and drip on its own, which can take a while and won’t give you the most value for your dollar, or you can wrap the cheesecloth up with the plant inside and squeeze out every last drop you can get. I’m a squeezer. Squeezing does run the risk of adding some plant material back into the butter, so again this is up to you and your own personal taste. Split your first batch in half, try it both ways, and see if it makes a noticeable difference to your taste buds or not. When it’s all strained, store the butter or ghee in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Don’t throw out your leftover plant material. It still has some good stuff in it that you can use in other recipes. Keep it refrigerated in an airtight container too.
Cannabutter (Slow Cooker Method)
Ingredients
¼ cup water
1 cup butter/ghee
7–10 grams ground decarboxylated cannabis
Utensils
Slow cooker
Wooden spoon
Cheesecloth
Glass bowl or jar you can fit a rubber band around
Rubber band
Place water and butter or ghee into the slow cooker. Set temperature to 160. (You may go up to 190, but do not exceed 200 degrees.) Allow butter to melt, add cannabis, and stir. Cook for at least 3 hours. Allow to cool and strain with the same method as the previous recipe.
Using slightly higher temperatures and cook times helps speed up and maximize the infusion process. Longer with more heat will give stronger infusions, but you don’t want to overdo it either. Too much heat for too long starts to break down terpenes and cannabinoids.
Canna Oils
Cooking oils and other carrier oils can be infused with cannabis, but once again we want to look for high fat content. Unrefined coconut oil and olive oil are the two most popular to use. I use them both, depending on my recipe. Of course, canna oils don’t only have to be used for cooking—they can be used to make pain relief and massage oils too.
Ingredients
1 cup oil of your choice
7–10 grams ground decarboxylated cannabis
Utensils
Double boiler or slow cooker
Wooden spoon
Items for straining
Place oil and ground cannabis in the double boiler/slow cooker and mix well with a wooden spoon. If using a double boiler, cook on low for 6–8 hours. Slow cookers can be set to low for 4–6 hours. Be sure oil temperature does not exceed 240 degrees. Allow oil to cool, then strain.
Alcohol Infusions
This topic may be a bit touchy for some, and I completely understand why. Combining alcohol with cannabis adds a whole new elephant to the mix. But this book is about personal preferences, and how to make cannabis best work for YOU. Besides, we’re all adults here and capable of making our own choices. I wouldn’t recommend using it in this form often, though some medicinal patients may use tinctures daily. But having a spiritual experience with friends under a full moon might be a little more spiritual with a glass of canna-champagne laced with violets and lavender. Or perhaps a Samhain drum circle with spiced cannabis hard cider?
The best alcohol infusions are going to be done with hard alcohols. It is possible to infuse wine and champagne, as long as you have a good wine stopper for the bottle so that the cannabis has time to sit in the alcohol without it going flat. The exception to this would be if you were making a drink such as a warm mulled wine, because then you can heat it anyway. You can also make an Everclear tincture and then add drops of that into a champagne or wine. There are many ways to incorporate cannabis into cocktails, and of course mocktails as well.
While any alcohol can be infused on the stove, when it comes to Everclear (grain alcohol), I’m too chicken. Everclear is highly flammable, so I simply do not infuse it on my stove. Anything else I’m going to infuse using the stove is fine. You can also use a slow cooker if the temperature is low enough. The alcohol should never exceed 160 degrees.
Before infusing alcohol, it’s important to take the amounts into effect. Everclear is made as a tincture, so the ratio between cannabis and alcohol will be close. This gives us a good strong tincture so that we only need milliliters of it instead of ounces. However, when you are infusing other hard liquors, you will need even less. With wine or champagne, you will want to use even less cannabis still. Particularly with wine and champagne, you do not want to overpower your drink with the taste of the cannabis; because you will most likely consume more at a time, you want it weaker to begin with.
For Gold Dragon (the name for an infusion made with Everclear and decarboxylated cannabis), I use 7 grams of cannabis to 1 cup of Everclear. With brandy, whiskey, rum, vodka, tequila, and other hard liquors I use 31/2 grams cannabis to 6 cups alcohol. For wine and champagne, I use a 1/2 gram per 750 ml bottle. You are certainly free to use more once you get used to using it, or less if you find this to be too much. When I am infusing alcohol for mixed drinks and beverages, I prefer it to be a light complement. I also wouldn’t drink an entire bottle of infused wine by myself. This isn’t your “oh hell yeah, let’s party” type of drink. The beverages we will create are for meditative, ritualistic, or other spiritual purposes. They are for small sipping pleasures, not shots.
Let’s begin with the Everclear Gold Dragon infusion. You don’t need to make too much of this at a time; a little will go a long way. Fill a glass jar (save one from pickles or mustard or something like that to reuse) with 1 cup of Everclear and 7 grams of decarboxylated cannabis. Replace lid tightly and shake to mix. Often you are told to store things in a cool, dark location, but not this one; keeping it in a warm area will help the process along. The longer you allow the cannabis to infuse the Everclear, the more potent your result will be. Allow it to sit for at least four weeks, giving it a shake every day. Strain before storing. For dosing, you will be needing a dropper marked with milliliters. You can also imbue your infusion with the energy of the full moon by placing it outside every month under the light of the moon.
Hard liquors can also be prepared in the same manner as the Everclear, but if you are in a hurry, these can be done on the stove or in a slow cooker in a short time. Again, I recommend 31/2 grams to 6 cups, but you can make it as strong as you like, as long as you practice with it safely. Alcohol and cannabis can be gently simmered at no more than 160 degrees for 20–30 minutes. Strain to store.
Tip: If you think your infusion is too strong, you can “water” it down by adding another cup of the same alcohol.
To infuse wine or champagne, open the bottle and place a 1/2 gram inside. Recork, then allow the cannabis to settle. You will need to gently swirl the bottle each day. Allow it to sit for at least a week. Strain to store.
As I stated earlier, red wine can also be infused with heat if you are going to be making a warm mulled red wine. Allow the wine to simmer for 20 minutes at less than 160 degrees.
Canna Honey
Combining these two gifts of the goddess together is one of my favorite ways to consume cannabis in an edible form. Not only can the honey be cooked and baked with, it can be used in teas and other beverages. It’s very versatile.
You can make canna honey in either a slow cooker or a Dutch oven.
You will need 3 pounds of raw organic honey, 14 grams of decarboxylated cannabis, and a cheesecloth. Tie up the cannabis in the cheesecloth. Place the cheesecloth inside the cooker and pour the honey over the top. If using a slow cooker, cook on low. If using a Dutch oven, preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Bake or slow cook for 5 hours, stirring every 20 minutes with a spatula, being sure to scrape down the sides. When done, remove the cheesecloth and squeeze out as much honey as you can. Save the honey-soaked cannabis for one of our recipes, or use it for whatever you’d prefer.
Canna Syrup
Simple syrup is a key ingredient in many cocktails, so infusing it with cannabis is another way to add cannabis to your beverages. This recipe is from Warren Bobrow’s Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics (Bobrow 2016, 43). You will need a saucepan with a lid, and a candy thermometer.
Ingredients
2 cups filtered spring water
1 cup raw (organic) honey
4 grams finely ground decarbed cannabis
1 tablespoon vegetarian liquid lecithin
Bring water to a roaring boil in a saucepan. Reduce temperature to 190 degrees. Add raw honey and stir until it’s totally dissolved. Add cannabis, cover saucepan, and reduce temp to 160 degrees. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the lecithin. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and strain through cheesecloth.
Recipes: Putting It into Practice
Now that we know how to infuse our base ingredients, the sky is the limit for what you can try. A recipe calls for oil? You got it! Butter? You got it! Decarboxylated flower (and leftover plant material strained from infusions) can also be chopped up and added to recipes. For some people, the taste can be an issue, so there are ways to work around that by increasing other flavorings or spices.
The recipes I am including are perfect for either a special treat for yourself or for groups practicing together.
There are other ways of cooking with cannabis, such as working with concentrates. In states where edible concentrate oil is available, this can be added to your foods as well with a lot less fuss. Since this book is directed more toward beginners, I am going to keep the cooking with cannabis skills at a beginner level. There are many great cannabis cookbooks already on the market, and with this being such a young and booming industry, there are bound to be incredible new releases all the time.
Pan’s Stuffed Mushrooms
Servings: approximately 24 mushrooms (depending on size)
Total creation time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
1½ cups water
2 tablespoons cannabutter
2 tablespoons butter (regular)
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon ground and finely chopped decarboxylated cannabis flower
1 box or bag of stuffing (6 ounces makes approximately 2 dozen mushrooms)
1 pound mushroom caps, destemmed and cleaned (either white button or baby portabella)
Ground pepper to taste
Add water, both butters, sage, and cannabis flower to a medium-size pot on the stove. Warm water enough for butter to melt, stirring until well blended. Pour in stuffing and stir until well coated and moist all over. Fill mushrooms to overflowing and place into a casserole dish. Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper. Bake 20–25 minutes at 375 degrees.
These make a great easy-to-share appetizer. Between the butter and the flower, they pack a punch.
Baked Cheese Sl-high-ders
Servings: 12
Total creation time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
Package of Hawaiian rolls (do not separate)
Sliced havarti (one slice will cover 4 rolls)
Sliced smoked gouda (one slice will cover 4 rolls)
2 tablespoons cannabutter, melted
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease casserole dish. Using a large bread knife, cut horizontally through all the rolls (still connected together) making a full top and a full bottom.
Put bottom half in the casserole dish. Use a pastry brush to brush melted cannabutter on the top side of the bottom half of the rolls. Cover the bottom half with cheese slices using a single layer of each type.
Place the top on and brush it with melted cannabutter.
Bake for 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
Easy to make a few or a bunch at once! When I first tried this out, I told my friend these would be great for when you have the munchies, and then they give you the munchies! The sweetness of the Hawaiian rolls helps offset the weed taste of the cannabutter.
Baked Brie
Servings: approximately 24
Total creation time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
8 sheets of phyllo dough (be sure it is fully thawed before trying to pick it up and separate from the roll)
4 tablespoons melted cannabutter
1 wheel of brie
1 egg, beaten
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Lay out a sheet of phyllo dough on a baking sheet. (Keep phyllo not being used under a damp paper towel, as it dries out very quickly.) Gently brush with melted butter. Place another sheet on top, and, again, gently brush with melted butter. You do not want to soak the sheets, so be careful with how much you use. Repeat the process until you have stacked and buttered all 8 sheets. Place the brie in the center of the dough and wrap it up by folding the dough over the top all the way around. Brush the top again with more butter, then with the beaten egg wash. Bake for 35–40 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving with crackers.
Baked brie is incredible no matter what, so adding a hint of THC to it can only make it even more divine.
Because you will be using such a small amount of butter here, you might want to use a higher concentration cannabutter.
The Devil’s Eggs
Servings: 12
Total creation time: 1 hour
Ingredients
6 hardboiled eggs
2 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons cooked, diced bacon
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon canned green chilies, chopped
1 tablespoon diced red onion
4 tablespoons coconut canna oil
Slice the eggs in half the long way, scooping the yolks into a bowl. Put the whites on a plate. Smash yolks in a bowl with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Scoop mixture back into the egg whites and chill for 30 minutes.
Yes, Pagans get flack and people think we worship the devil. Nope. Not why these are called the Devil’s Eggs. It’s not even for the use of “devil’s weed.” Not at all. It’s the bacon, onion, and green chilies that gave these eggs their name. I love them!
These eggs are divine—and loaded with canna oil. Perfect for maintaining a high.
High Thyme Meatballs
Servings: approximately 12
Total creation time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
3 tablespoons chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 tablespoons steak sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together by hand in a large bowl. Roll into balls about 11/2 inches in diameter. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Be sure centers are fully cooked.
Easy to make and bake. Perfect dipped in a sweet and sour sauce (if you have edible oil available to you, add a little to your sauce for more potency) or marinara. Serve with toothpicks for easy dipping.
Lord Shiva’s Spiced Nuts
Servings: approximately 12
Total creation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
11/2 cups cashews
11/2 cups pecans
1 cup Brazil nuts
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
Sprinkle of cayenne pepper (to taste)
Sea salt
3 tablespoons coconut canna oil (you may substitute canna olive oil)
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Mix nuts together. Blend dry ingredients together and then add oil. Mix well. Pour over nuts, mixing as you go and ensuring they are all covered. Spread out in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
These Indian spiced nuts are the perfect complement for many of your meditations, particularly when calling in the Divine Masculine.
Green Fairy Lavender Cookies
Servings: approximately 24
Total creation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup cannabutter
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs (at room temperature)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2¼ cups flour
2 tablespoons finely ground lavender buds
Preheat oven to 325.
Use a hand mixer to blend butter, sugars, and eggs together. When smooth and well blended, add baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract and blend. Use a large spatula to blend in the flour. When everything is well blended, add lavender buds and mix well. Scoop balls with a tablespoon and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 8–10 minutes. Keep a close eye on them to ensure they bake all the way through but don’t burn.
The light, peaceful combination of lavender and vanilla is both aromatic and relaxing. The effect of these cookies is purely magical.
Salted Caramel Ooey Gooey
Chocolaty Bars of Goodness
Servings: approximately 12
Total creation time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1 cup baking cocoa
1 cup canna coconut oil
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup RumChata
4 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1½ cups flour
1 10-ounce bag mini chocolate chips
11 ounces caramel baking candy
11 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon course sea salt or pink Himalayan salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 9 x 13-inch pan. Using a hand mixer, combine the sugar, cocoa, oil, milk, RumChata, and egg. Blend well. Add salt and baking powder to the mixture and blend. Slowly add flour, blending it in as you go. Switch to a large spatula and mix in the mini chips.
Spread a little more than half of the mixture into the bottom of the pan, smoothing it out all over. The mix will be very thick. Bake for 14 minutes.
While that layer bakes, place the caramel in a glass bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Add the sweetened condensed milk and heat for another 30 seconds. Stir as much as you can and then heat for another 30 seconds. You will need to do this 3–4 times until the caramel blends completely with the milk.
After the 14 minutes have passed, remove the pan from the oven and slowly pour caramel mixture all over the top. Sprinkle the salt all over the caramel. Because the brownie mixture is so thick, the second layer must be “plopped” down to avoid having to spread it as much as possible. Use a tablespoon to plop batter blobs down close enough to touch each other. Gently spread batter where needed to cover as well as you can.
Bake for another 40–45 minutes. Check center with a toothpick to see if it is done.
These are basically highly caramel-infused brownies. They are RICH. A little goes a long way because they are so decadent and high in THC.
Zen Garden Fruit Delight
Servings: 8
Total creation time: at least 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup citrus rum
1 cup banana rum
1 gram decarboxylated cannabis
1 tablespoon organic raw honey
1 pint strawberries
1 pint blueberries
2 cups pineapple chunks
2 cups watermelon chunks
Combine the rums in a pan on the stove and infuse with cannabis. You can do this either by tying up the cannabis in cheesecloth and soaking it in the rum, or allowing it to float freely and strain later. Heat rum on low; do not let it boil. Allow cannabis at least 20 minutes to steep. The longer you allow the cannabis to steep, the more concentrated it will be. Remove cannabis from rum. While still warm, add a tablespoon of organic raw honey. Place fruit in a bowl, pour rum over the top, and chill overnight.
In the morning, pour off the alcohol (reserving the rum if you want) and serve the fruits with toothpicks. You can make drinks with the reserved rum.
I literally came up with this by looking at what was almost empty in my liquor cabinet. I may have to do that more often because this worked out fantastically. Not only do you get infused fruit, but you can use the rum to make an awesome punch too.
Peanut Buddha Balls
Servings: approximately 24
Total creation time: 3 hours
Ingredients
1 cup peanut butter
6 tablespoons softened cannabutter
2 cups powdered sugar
16 ounces milk chocolate for melting
Using a hand mixer, combine the peanut butter and cannabutter until well blended. Slowly add some powdered sugar and mix in with a wooden spoon. Continue adding powdered sugar and blending. Do not overmix. Peanut butter should appear flat, not shiny and oily. Roll the mixture into balls an inch in diameter and refrigerate for 2 hours. When hardened, melt chocolate and dip each ball in it, covering them. Use a fork to lift them out, gently shake off the excess chocolate, and set them on wax paper for the chocolate to harden. Store in the refrigerator.
It’s chocolate! It’s peanut butter! It’s cannabis!
These are rich, rich, rich, rich, and you will want to eat several. Just remember, they are loaded with cannabutter!
Cerridwen’s Cider
Servings: 4
Total creation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
4 cups apple cider
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 large navel orange, sliced into rings
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon canna honey
1 teaspoon decarboxylated cannabis in a tea infuser ball (You can also use the cannabis that you used to make your canna honey.)
Place all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Set temp to low and gently simmer while covered for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Serve in mugs with some of the orange slices and cranberries in each mug.
Make this alcoholic by adding in infused whisky or infused cinnamon whisky.
This is a bold, tart, warming drink perfect for any workings that deal with gaining wisdom, or just something to drink on a cool fall or winter night.
Vin du Jardin
Servings: 4
Total creation time: 5 minute prep, minimum 24 hours chilling
Ingredients
1 bottle rosé wine
1 gram decarboxylated cannabis
2 tablespoons food grade lavender buds
An infusion pitcher or pitcher with cheesecloth
If you have an infusion pitcher, simply place all the ingredients where they need to go. If you do not have an infusion pitcher, tie the cannabis and lavender up in the cheesecloth, place it in a regular pitcher or carafe, and pour the wine over it. Allow it to set and chill for at least 24 hours.
This drink gives you the light taste of lavender with a little THC kick. It’s perfect for spring or hot summer nights. It is uplifting and cheery and relaxing, all at the same time.
Ambrosia Smoothie
Servings: 2
Total creation time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup watermelon, cut into chunks
2 cups blueberries
1 cup pomegranate juice
1 tablespoon honey (this can be canna honey if you want to boost the THC level)
2 tablespoons canna oil (while I prefer the taste of coconut oil in this, it is more difficult to blend with the other items)
2 cups ice
Put everything but the ice in a blender and puree. Once it is well-blended, add the ice and puree again.
Cannabis is a healthier alternative to many medicines, and you can make healthy foods with it too. This smoothie is nectar for the gods—sweet, natural, and yummy!
Cuchulainn’s Meditation Tea
Servings: 1
Total creation time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
Food grade lavender flower buds
Food grade chamomile flowers
Decarboxylated cannabis
Canna honey to taste
For each cup of tea, use 1 tablespoon of lavender, 1 tablespoon of chamomile, and ¼ teaspoon cannabis.
If you are making this for your solitary practice, you should still make a couple of cups at a time; refrigerate any tea you don’t use.
Tie the lavender and cannabis up in cheesecloth and add to a pot of hot water on the stove. Keep it just below a low simmer for 10 minutes.
You can also make large batches of this using the low setting on a slow cooker. The longer you let it set, the stronger it will be both in flavor and potency.
This is my new favorite tea. It’s smooth, it’s relaxing, it’s downright groovy, and enough of it will help you sleep at night.
Mellow Merlot
Servings: 4
Total creation time: at least 3 hours
Ingredients
2 cinnamon sticks
2 whole cloves
2 whole allspice
1 gram decarboxylated cannabis
1 bottle merlot
1 cup apple juice
Tie spices and cannabis up in a cheesecloth. Pour merlot and apple juice into a crockpot, then add the spice bundle. Set on low–medium for several hours. The longer you leave it, the stronger it will be both in flavor and THC content.