CANNABIS RECIPES

MANGO SORBET

In the bowl of a food processor, combine all the ingredients. Process until smooth. Pour the mixture into a bowl. Cover and chill for 2 hours. Pour the mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon sorbet into glasses immediately and serve or keep in the freezer in a freezer safe bowl or container. Serves 4.

2 medium ripe mangoes, about 2 cups, cubed 1 cup fresh pineapple, in chunks 3 tablespoons pineapple juice 4 teaspoons canna-oil 1 tablespoon lime juice 2 tablespoons agave

ANGELBERRY FROZEN TRIFLE

REFRESH & RELAX

MAGICAL BANANA SUNDAE

3 medium bananas, peeled and sliced 1 tablespoon lemon juice 4 teaspoons canna-oil 2 tablespoons canola oil 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 1 teaspoon agave nectar or honey ½ teaspoon vanilla 4 tablespoons walnuts, chopped

In a blender combine the yogurt, oil and blueberries. Place 1/3 of the blueberry/yogurt mixture in a bowl and keep in the fridge. Divide the angel food cake among the 4 bowls. Pour 2/3 of the blueberry mixture over the cake. Freeze. Remove from the freezer and top with the sliced strawberries. Top with the remaining blueberry/yogurt mixture. Freeze again until firm. At serving time allow the dessert to sit at room temperature for about 5-10 minutes. Serves 4.

12 ounces nonfat vanilla yogurt 4 teaspoons canna-butter or oil 1 ½ cups blueberries 1 cup angel food cake, torn in small pieces 1 cup strawberries, thinly sliced

Isn’t this just nuts? Honestly, I am in a constant state of shock, and more than ever,

Cannabis is my friend. And for a little extra support, I am adding some CBD oil to my morning coffee and nighttime warm milk. It’s delicious - just warm the milk, add CBD oil, a teaspoon of honey, some vanilla and cinnamon. If you want to make some CBD oil, follow the recipe for THC infusions - you won’t get high, but you will feel better. And who doesn’t want to feel better? These icy treats will refresh! And if you make a bunch, they will be ready in your freezer at a moments notice. Think of all the possibilities in the fruit department. The superb CBD is from East Fork Cultivars and the strain Life Coach is from Noble Farms, where they grow some serious herb. Last week I made a blueberry almond pie with their Blueberry Kush. It made me a tiny bit happy that we didn’t really have to share the pie. #sixfeetapart #Dontfeartheedible

DIAMONDS

93.12% THCA 1.48% myrcene .685% limonene

SAUCE

42% THC 23.3% total terps 7.4% myrcene 3.3% limonene 2.8% terpinolene 2.3% pinene 2.7% caryophyllene

“WAFTS OF FLORAL, CITRUS, PINE AND GAS MAKE FOR UNDENIABLY SPICY AND DIVERSE AROMAS.”

MPX STRAWDAIRY LAMB QUEEN DIAMOND SAUCE

Melting Point Extracts, one of Maryland’s premier medical extraction companies, just put out their StrawDairy Lamb Queen diamond sauce - an exquisite example of quality crystalline medicine. First and foremost, I want to acknowledge that MPX diamonds have consistently been the largest diamond chunks I’ve had the experience of purchasing, with these Lamb Queens being nothing short of boulders. And the sauce dripping from these rocks is equally eye-popping, if not moreso.

As a patient I am always extremely excited by big, fat diamonds dripping in a stanky, sticky sauce. But as a reviewer and someone concerned with the quality of my products, the massive size of these diamonds makes it easy spot any potential impurities in the crystal formation - something you can’t do as easily or at all with smaller, sugary diamonds. Simply hold these Lamb Queens up to a light and watch it shine through, glittery and alluring.

There is a very loud, yet indistinct, terpene profile that bursts from the 23.3% total terp count, with a 7% myrcene dominance and equal ratios of limonene, terpinolene, caryophyllene and pinene.

Best described as a diesel essence combined with the finest cleaning smells at the grocery store, wafts of floral, citrus, pine and gas make for undeniably spicy and diverse aromas.

The dabs themselves echoed the flavor diversity in that each and every dab contained a different nuance that was never repeated, but always well paired.

One dab gave me a flash of an orange field in the distance, the next gave me the sensation of walking through a pine forest after a light rain, and yet another dab had me staring across a spicy clove field.

And while each dab was robust, invigorating and took me to a new place, I never went back to the same place twice.

This is truly a new sensation for me, as I am quite used to dialing in my temps and experiencing a consistent gram’s worth of flavor and aroma.

However, the Lamb Queens took me through a harmonious rhythm of nuanced flavor profiles that was akin to being led on a journey through an album’s worth of music.

The effects were consistently heavy, pain relieving, anxiolytic and moderately clear headed - which really puts the cherry on top. Being able to experience different flavor profiles, but still experience quality and consistent relief, makes this dab a powerhouse on the market.

musings from a parent & Cannabis consumer

Natural-Anxiety-Banishers in Covid-Country-USA

“I’ve been doing a lot of bird watching recently. On my TV,” said my friend without a hint of sarcasm. “It totally chills me out.” We were sitting on the beach watching the waves roll in, discussing ways our lives had changed since Covid quarantining, more specifically how we were filling the seemingly unending hours that stretched before us - every, single, day - without losing our freaking minds. Both of us admitted that we were feeling more and more anxiety the longer the pandemic continued.

Not only were we bored and feeling increasingly anxious at home, but our spouses and kids were also there feeling bored and increasingly anxious at home. And this was for all of the unending hours that stretched before us - every, single, day.

“I don’t know,” my friend sighed. “Now I just hate the days when I have to go somewhere or do stuff.” I think she was joking, but it’s totally open to interpretation.

I think most of us agree it is a royal pain in the ass to go somewhere or do anything in Covid-Country-USA. It often feels like adding insult to injury, especially in Maryland’s summer heat and humidity. It’s like this: You can’t stand being at home for one more second, but being out and about is fraught with so many complications that you wish you’d never left home in the first place.

Staying in produces anxiety. Going out produces anxiety.

I prefer to use Cannabis to help quell my anxiety, so it’s no wonder that most of the time I go out, I swing by a dispensary hoping that I won’t see a Soviet-era-like ‘bread line’ formed outside - only to find myself waiting in it.

And as waiting in Soviet-era-like dispensary lines when you’re short on time and wearing a mask in 90 degree heat also produces anxiety, the neverending cycle continues. So, what’s a girl to do to try and break the dark cycle of this Covid quarantine anxiety? To hear some in the media tell it, legal Cannabis users are just staying home and getting wasted. Well, I disagree with certain news outlets on that specific point.

Obviously, that’s not any more true than reporting that drinkers are staying home and doing the same, but just in case you’re tempted, here are two suggestions for natural-anxiety-banishers, which my non-Cannabis using friend and I have both found to work very well - with or without medical Cannabis.

First natural-anxiety-banisher: “Hamilton” (the musical).

Seriously. Just watch and rewatch “Hamilton” on repeat. I’m not going to say much more because you’ve already heard everybody talk about how amazing “Hamilton” is, and everybody is right.

If you don’t have the video option, stream the album, but being able to watch the musical with closed captions is a huge bonus. I know many of you are laughing at me for suggesting that you watch the musical “Hamilton” in order to reduce anxiety, but please, take my word for it. It works. I tested this theory at the dentist yesterday.

Of course the medical Cannabis I took also helped reduce my anxiety, but the medical Cannabis coupled with the “Hamilton” soundtrack streaming through my headphones? I have never felt so relaxed and euphoric at the dentist.The difference wasn’t Bose, it was “Hamilton.”

As an aside, now more than ever, I think our nation’s complainers could learn a lot from Lin Manuel Miranda’s genius commentary on our history. Get your kids into it. Maybe we can avoid the cycle of history repeating itself again.

My second tip for reducing anxiety - effective with or without Cannabis, but I think better with - is backyard bird and squirrel videos.

My friend was totally right. Watching the bird and squirrel videos ‘for dogs and cats’ on YouTube is so relaxing. I started leaving these videos on TV for Garcia a few weeks ago because Garcia, ever the effective communicator, had started to demonstrate his Covid quarantine anxiety by peeing on my pillow while I was out. I was probably waiting in a Soviet-era-like dispensary line at the time. As you can probably understand, Garcia’s thoughtful and direct expression of his anxiety did nothing but increase mine. And so the dark cycle continues.

So, after my friend told me about them, I searched YouTube and discovered that this is a real thing: People have full YouTube channels dedicated to filming and live streaming backyard wildlife - the kind your cat or dog looks at out the window all day. Take it from me, it’s cool.

You should see the elaborate dining rooms these squirrels have convinced people to set up for them.

Garcia may have his own staircase onto the bed, but my squirrels don’t eat off suspended picnic tables. Some videos run for as long as 12 hours.

Amazingly, since I started playing these videos on his big screen all day, Garcia hasn’t expressed anxiety over anything except a missed meal. First natural-anxiety-banisher: “Hamilton” (the musical). second natural-anxiety-banisher: backyard bird & squirrel videos.

And, Leafers, I’ve got to admit that Garcia is on to something. It really is so peaceful to have our home filled with the sounds of birds chirping and squirrels chewing.

Sometimes it’s a little confusing when the video includes the unintentional taped sounds of young kids you don’t have fighting in the background. Really, don’t you think you’d edit out your child screaming at her sibling - “I’m going to tell Dad and he’s going to murder you!” - out of the peaceful backyard sounds video?

While I definitely started playing these videos to calm Garcia’s anxiety, I have found that they also have the same calming effect on me. Sometimes, I’ll walk in from a particularly stressful afternoon of trying to follow the arrows in all my favorite stores and realize that Garcia isn’t barking. If I told you how much time, money and effort has gone into trying to get this dog to not bark, you’d lose whatever respect you have for me.

More often than not these days, I plop down on the couch next to Garcia whenever I notice the birds are chirping in my house.

The first few days, I’d be wandering around the house and start hearing these exquisite bird songs, so I would venture outside, peer up at the trees, and see nothing.

Like the sirens, it took me a few days to remember I was just hearing the birds on Garcia’s video. I started popping into Garcia’s room whenever I became aware of the bird songs. Note: Whatever room he wants to be in at the time is ‘Garcia’s Room.’

I’ve found that once I’m drawn into Garcia’s room by the birdsong, I stay awhile to look at the amazing creatures up close on Garcia’s HDTV. My mind drops everything else and becomes immersed in birds and beauty on the big screen. Who knew their feathers looked like that up close?

I’m obviously not a doctor, but I’m sure my heart rate slows and I become so much more relaxed. The best outcome is when the birdsong brings the whole house together in the same room, like a church bell.

I am not sure why I’m not constantly aware of the birds chirping throughout the house, but I have decided that when I do become aware of the chirping, it’s my brain’s way of telling me to take a break.

I have also found that watching the videos for awhile during the break is a form of meditation — medication in my book.

Wow. After all these years of calling Garcia lazy for lying in the window just watching stuff, I never would have guessed that he was actually years ahead of me in the field of natural healing. -Dysco