How To Add Weed To Your Friendsgiving Celebration This Year

This article was originally published on The Fresh Toast and appears here with permission.

However you do it, have a great time with your friends and remember it is all about being together with those you chose this Thanksgiving.

Friendsgiving season is officially upon us. The trend first surfaced in the mid-2000s when people began reimagining a traditional meal without family but with friends. What’s a Friendsgiving feast these days without some marijuana?

Unlike the family events that require you to “forget something in your car” with your favorite cousin, at Friendsgiving (in states where cannabis is recreationally legal), you can celebrate freely with your friends. Here are some tips.

Infuse Your Feast

Introducing weed to your meal is easy, since so much of the flavor (and THC) is fat-soluble, the butter-heavy meal is a great way to infuse cannabis if you want a group experience.

While infused butter is an easy go-to for guests to make any dish 420 friendly, you might want to consider exempting main courses due to people overindulging. You can do a smaller version so people can do a taste test. And new innovations like the Stündenglass Gravity Infuser truly puts on a show with a futuristic 360 degree gravity system and tray cloche that adds a cooled, flavorful smoke to anything from gravy to some drumsticks.

The easiest option is the dessert course. If you really want to think outside of the box, HighOnLove’s Dark Chocolate Body Paint doesn’t have to be reserved for the bedroom. Mom won’t be around to stop you from playing with your food at this dinner table, so why not have a little fun? The body paint comes with a tiny paint brush you can use to create your own hemp or THC infused edible masterpiece. Apple cider donuts, pecan pie, strawberries, whatever you have out for your sweet tooth friends could pair with this delectable chocolate. The hemp-infused version is available online, while the THC infused Body Paint is available for Colorado locals.

Seasonal Accessories

If infusing the feast isn’t your jam, festive glass pieces that double as functional pieces of art could add a touch of whimsy and can provide a conversation topic. To keep the vibes merry and high with your favorite flower, guests can puff on CannaStyle’s Bread Bowl in between servings, or sip out of the top of one of their PSL Bongs.

Remember, you normally won’t share wine glasses, and the same idea applies when sharing pipes and joints. So whenever you do share a joint across the table, or take a puff from a friend’s bong, Moose Labs’ MouthPeace or MouthPeace Mini has made it post-Covid safe. MouthPeaces give you the freedom to share pipes, rigs, joints, blunts, e-cigs, and vapes without sharing germs.

Cooking Tips to Keep You Sane

Chef Justin Khanna has worked in some of the top restaurants in the world and now advises food-tech startups, hosts pop-up dinners and publishes educational content. Here he offers some basic tips for your feast:

• Don’t get overwhelmed.  Making a prep list is the easiest way to avoid feeling scattered. Think about it: this is probably one of the biggest meals of your year, you should treat it differently than a standard dinner party with friends! Making a quick checklist of the dishes you’re preparing can help make sure components don’t go missing and also give you a great sense of how to answer when your guests come over and ask, “what can I help with?”
• Don’t go it alone. Speaking of asking for help, this ends up being a huge win of having your friends be your guests. It’s not about grandma making the entire meal (that was my Thanksgiving tradition), so spread the load. Ask folks what they’re comfortable making or bringing, and use that opportunity to build out the meal. It’s way easier to know that someone else has the turkey covered, and you can use your oven for other projects throughout the day.
• Don’t forget snacks. Let’s face it, your guests are going to arrive hungry. This doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, but offering some nibbles on arrival can be a phenomenal way to give yourself “buffer time” on serving the big meal. Considering folks probably want to catch up (or get to know one another on a first meet), offer up a charcuterie or butter board, crudités and dips, or even a baked cheese appetizer as a way to let everyone settle in without getting hangry.

However you do it, have a great time with your friends and remember it is all about being together with those you chose this Thanksgiving.