If you’re wondering why most of the town is in a haze of skunk-scented purple fog today, the answer is 420. As in the national Pot Smokers’ Holiday. Which is, of course, celebrated on April 20.
Whether you’re a friend of the kind herb or just a bystander, there’s no getting around the fact that NorCal tends to take its ganja pretty seriously. One of the largest cash crops in the state, it’s not a stretch to say that pot is literally all around us. In backyards, back pockets and an ever-growing number of clinics, toking up in the Redwood Empire is about as shocking as buying a Subaru Outback or a new pair of Keens. In fact, it’s become so much a part of the local culture that the Press Democrat just launched a blog dedicated to local news of the pufferati.
So whether you’re post-spliff or just embracing your inner stoner on a natural high, BiteClub wants to know what your favorite midnight munchies are… Here are some favorites from my Facebook buds. Add yours in the comments below, and feel free to give yourself a special stoner name for today.
Jerry Gimme Some Berry: I’m content with gummy bears! For the Irie crowd, I’m going to be putting together fruit tarts with mangos, kiwis, and strawberries (y’know, the whole yellow green red thang). I’ve slipped these into the case for the last five years without the bosses knowing what I’m up to! Teeheehee….
SmokingMyScooter: Most likely popscicles.
Reppresent: Honey cashews and strawberry milanos and chocolate…
KushMama: Mother’s pink and white frosted animal cookies scoopin’ up chocolate brownie ice cream
Clarevoyance: says onion dip and chips….da best!
11 hours ago · LikeUnlike
Buggin: POPCORN… from the kettle w/butter & salt. But what makes this even better… you have to have a drink – orange juice!
Julia Julia: Popcorn. There is always the Ritz cracker/cream cheese/jam route
Comatoasted: A bag of cheetos puffs, a tub of cream cheese frosting and some gummy bears.
So why does BiteClub care? Medical or recreational, there’s also no getting around the fact that marijuana has a culinary component. While there’s long been a puff-puff-pass subculture in the food industry, here in Santa Rosa, one local chef is putting his food science skills to work making shelf-stable marijuana candies for dispensaries as well as hosting pot-themed dinners where Mary Jane is the host. It’s a side gig, of course, but with so many amateurs getting into the increasingly lucrative THC snack business, its a step up to have a kitchen vet who understands food science and how to extract and measure THC dosage, not to mention being well versed in issues of food sanitation.
On this day of midnight runs for Cheetos and brownie mix, BiteClub asked him for his favorite pot-laced dishes. The answer: Mashed potatoes, butter-basted chicken and risotto. There is the classic Rasta Pasta as well. Classy. There’s also new crop of cookbooks and websites devoted to using marijuana as an additive in both savory and sweet desserts that go far beyond the brownie.
For dedicated Kush potatoes, all the hubbub around 4/20 seems a bit amateur-hour. Because really, when has any smoker needed an excuse to toke up? Regardless, on this hashy holiday, whether you partake or keep on the straight and narrow, just know that wishes of a Merry 420 are an invitation to smoke ’em if you got ’em. Or you know…not.
(Do I really need to state the obvious? Marijuana isn’t for everyone and is a polarizing debate with two sides. Marijuana possession remains illegal except for approved medical use and duh, is definitely not for kids.)