Cann, the best-selling sparkling cannabis drink, dropped holiday short film directed by Lake Bell that reimagines an anxiety-filled family gathering with cannabis drinks rather than alcohol. The film ends with everyone dancing, laughing, and the tagline, “You can’t change your family, you cann change your drink.”
From my own journey coming out of the cannabis closet and seeing the positive change in my relationship with my family, I fully support Cann’s message.
This made me think about how we can bring cannabis to the dinner table to normalize it alongside alcohol. Cannabis, just like food, has a way of bringing people together and bridging differences. Being high and enjoying a delicious meal is one of life’s greatest pleasures, why not share that experience?
Vol. 12 // In This Issue:
Ideas for how to put cannabis at your holiday table
Recipe: Easy Peppermint Pot Brownie
Best introductory cannabis products to try with your parents
What’s Cooking This Week:
Read // The New York Times: “At Danksgiving, There’s No Need to Go Outside for a Smoke”
Read // The New York Times: Cannabis weddings are blow up, “With This Weed, I Thee Wed”
Watch // CBS Sunday Morning: Cannabis, it’s what’s for dinner
How to Incorporate Cannabis at Your Table
As a host and cannabis guide, it’s our job to help family and guests consume responsibly and have a pleasant experience with cannabis, which is the key to destigmatizing and changing their opinion. Here’s a few tips:
Start low at 5mg THC or less, and wait at least 2 hours for effects to start before consuming more.
The high from edibles feel stronger and last longer than smoking. Effects from an edible can last 4-6 hours compared to an hour or two from smoking a joint or vape.
Clearly label cannabis-infused foods or set them in a designated area, so that unknowing family members can’t accidentally overconsume.
If someone does have a bad experience, get them into a quiet area to stay calm and try to sleep it off. Bookmark this guide for “What to do when you get too high.”
Cocktail Hour: Make low-dose cannabis drinks and cocktails a part of your bar in addition to beer, wine and cocktails. Try Cann, Artet, Pamos, Mad Lilly, Malus, Herbacee, and HiFi Hops.
Appetizer + Snacks: Jazz up the charcuterie board with infused crackers and honey. Mix in a few infused chips with the chips and dip. Mix in a couple handfuls of infused popcorn into the Reindeer Snack Mix. Try Tempo crackers, TSUMo tortilla chips, Potli or Kikoko honey, and Mellow Vibes potcorn.
Main Course + Condiments: When it comes to a main course, I like to keep the main food course not-infused so that everyone can eat and enjoy what they want without worrying about consuming too much THC. Instead, pass around a tray of infused condiments with dosing instructions. Try Potli Sriracha, Saucy bbq sauce and vinaigrette, Pantry olive oil, and Kiva turkey gravy.
Dessert: If I’m making dessert for a multi-course infused meal, I’ll often make it non-infused or with CBD only to help mellow out the high from dinner. Bake a batch of my hot chocolate marshmallow cookies for dessert and it will have even the most skeptical person eyeballing these chewy, fudgey, toasted marshmallow-filled cookies. Alternatively, a warm cup of apple cider by the fire sounds like a perfect way to end the evening.
Make This: Easiest 5mg THC Peppermint Pot Brownies
Pot brownies are a classic OG edible for a reason, they’re delicious and easy to make. If you’re new to baking with cannabis, this is a GREAT first recipe to try to practice dosing and cannamath.
Follow my recipe to make low-dose 5mg brownies from a box brownie mix. To jazz it up and make peppermint brownies for the holidays, simple place unwrapped York Peppermint Patties on top of the brownies after baking while the pan is still warm. Let the peppermint patties melt and use a butter knife or small spatula to swirl and spread the peppermint on top of the brownies.
Best Introductory Products to Try With Your Parents
Better sleep. Less pain. Reduce stress and anxiety. These are the top three reasons why more people are looking to cannabis. I bet if you told your parents and family members that cannabis can help them get a better night’s sleep, relieve aches and pain, and reduce stress without smoking, they’d probably be curious to learn more even if they aren’t ready to try it right away.
I gave my mom a jar of balm two years ago for the pain in her wrist. Last week she gave me back the empty jar and asked if I had more. “I’m glad you like it [cannabis],” I said.
“It’s not that I like it. It works and it smells nice. It’s not stinky like the Chinese balms and oils.”
HAHAHA! Okay mom. Smoking is a touchy topic with my parents. They don’t like it and there is a negative stigma associated with it. But they do love topicals for pain relief because it doesn’t make them feel high. Try these products to introduce your family to the benefits of cannabis.
Topicals: Try balm, body oils, bath bombs, and transdermal patches from Papa & Barkley, Mary’s Medicinals, Om, and Kush Queen.
Coffee + Tea: Try cannabis infused coffee K-cups from Kush Cups, and cannabis tea from Kikoko.
How do your parents feel about cannabis? What has their response been like?
COMING UP NEXT WEEK (PAID SUBSCRIBERS):
Vol. 12.5 // How to Make Cannabis Infused Holiday Cookies
Add these to your holiday cookie boxes! Next Sunday, I’ll share a step-by-step guide for how to make cannabutter and make holiday cookies.
As we head into the holiday season, just a reminder to be kind and patient with yourself and loved ones. You can’t change the other person, but you CAN change how you choose to react.
XOXO, Christina W.