Danksgiving Day Recipes

For some of you, the holidays are a tough time - family bickering over politics, an extreme need for perfection, the days are shorter, and anxiety is at an all time high. There’s one way to loosen everyone up - cannabis infused Thanksgiving day foods. This is sure to make your Danksgiving dinner all the merrier with quite a few laughs. Of course you need to let your guests know that these recipes are infused with cannabis before serving them!

One thing to touch on before we go into the recipes - decarbing your flower. 

Decarbing your flower -

Making sure you decarb your flower is important for both taste and potency. Decarboxylation is the process that converts the THCa (a nonreactive cannabinoid) to convert into THC (the cannabinoid that causes you to get high) naturally. When cannabis is smoked, the decarboxylation process occurs due to the heat of the flame. If one does not decarb their flower first, it will lead to a weak or inactive edible.

The best way to decarb the flower is by heating your oven to 245 degrees fahrenheit. Next line your baking sheet with parchment paper and place your flower on top. The parchment paper helps with the flower not sticking to the tray. Stick the tray in the oven for 30-40 minutes, shaking the tray every 10 minutes to ensure that all buds are equally cooked through. Once it is finished cooking make sure you let it cool before making the butter.

Once your flower is decarbed, it is time to make the butter! 

You will need -

• 1 cup of butter
• 1 cup of ground up cannabis that has been decarbed (usually about 7 to 10 grams)
• 1 cup of water

Directions -

1. Take out crockpot and turn on to low
2. Combine one cup of butter and one cup of ground up decarbed cannabis
3. Let butter melt into water then add in cannabis and stir to combine
4. Cook on low for eight to twelve hours
5. Strain the flower out of the butter using a mesh strainer - I’ve found cheesecloth to be the best because you can really squeeze out all of the butter by twisting it into a little ball
6. Wait for your cannabutter to cool before using and it will separate on top of the water. You need to remove the butter and pour off the water. You can also scrape off the "scum" layer. Some people say it tastes nasty, I've never tasted it directly and voila - your very own cannabutter!  

Now that we have our cannabutter already made, it’s time to start cooking those Danksgiving day goodies! Although we will only have our recipes listed below, it’s easy to transfer cannabutter into any of your favorite Thanksgiving day creations. Personally, I love to throw a slab on some green beans as a side or into a cranberry sauce. 

First up is a favorite side for many...cannabis infused mashed potatoes! This is always a crowd fav because it’s so easy to make and quite tasty too!

Ingredients -

• 3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes
• ¾ cup whole milk
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• 10 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 8 tablespoons cold butter
• 5 tablespoons cannabutter (more or less depending on how stoned you want to get)
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• Optional - my favorite spice from Trader Joes - 21 seasoning salute to taste

Directions - 

1. Cut potatoes into 1 inch cubes - you can either peel the skin or leave it on
2. Add potatoes into a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender - usually about 12 minutes’
3. While the potatoes are cooking, combine milk, heavy cream, and garlic in a pot and then strain to remove garlic - once again, I like to use cheesecloth so you get everything out
4. Drain the potatoes and place them back in the pot - make sure the heat is off on the stove
5. Mash potatoes - usually a potato masher is best, but a fork also works!
6. Add in your butter and cannabutter, mixing the whole time
7. Add in your milk/heavy cream mixture, a little at a time until it is full incorporated into the potatoes
8. Season with salt and pepper to taste
9. Make sure you let your guests know there is cannabutter in it and enjoy!

Recipe number two is a Thanksgiving staple, the delectable, creamy pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream! Although there are a variety of Thanksgiving desserts, this cannabis filled pumpkin pie really takes Danksgiving to the next level!

Ingredients for Pumpkin Pie -

• 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups canned pumpkin - make sure you mash it if it does not come mashed
• 1 cup of sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 cup half and half
• ⅓ cup cannabutter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (make sure it’s the good stuff!)
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 pie crust (usually I get 9 inch)

Ingredients for Whipped Cream - 

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners sugar

Directions for the Pumpkin Pie - 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat the cream in a large mixing bowl. 
3. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined
4. Add the sugar and salt and beat until it is mixed in fully
5. Add the lightly beaten eggs, half and half, and melted cannabutter and beat until combined
6. Beat in the remaining ingredients until combined - vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg
7. Put the pie crust into the pan, making sure to press down evenly
8. Pour the filling into the pie crust
9. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the center is set
10. While pie is cooking, take out a large bowl and whip cream until stiff peaks form
11. Beat in vanilla and sugar until peaks form - make sure not to over-beat because cream will become lumpy and have a consistency like butter
12. Let the pie cool before topping with whipped cream

My personal favorite side of Thanksgiving has always been stuffing, so what better way to eat it then infused with cannabis!

Ingredients -

• 12 cups of dry bread pieces - chunks work best
• 3 and ½ cups of chicken broth
• ⅔ cup of cannabutter
• 3 stalks of celery
• 2 sweet onions
• 2 teaspoons of parsley - fresh is best
• 1 teaspoon of poultry seasoning
• 1 tablespoon of spice mix - a combination of thyme, sage, and rosemary
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions - 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Turn the stove on to medium and heat cannabutter in a large saucepan
3. Once the cannabutter has melted, saute the onions and celery until tender
4. Add in seasoning and spices
5. Pour the bread pieces in a large mixing bowl
6. Slowly add the chicken broth over the bread pieces until soft - make sure you don’t pour too much in and make them mushy. Sometimes you won’t use all the broth (and that’s ok!)
7. Toss the bread pieces together with the cannabutter/veggie/spice mixture until they are all covered and mix slowly (this is important because if you mix too hard, it will be a giant pile of mushy bread).
8. Take out a baking pan (like the type you use for brownies) and cook it in the oven for 35-40 minutes

Note - you can also fill your turkey up with the stuffing mixture!

For our final recipe we have a cannabasted turkey to truly elevate your Danksgiving. This recipe can be modified based on your favorite Thanksgiving turkey recipe, so long as it uses butter to baste!

Ingredients - 

• 15 lb turkey
• 1 cup of cannabutter
• 4 tablespoons of spice mix - a combination of thyme, sage, and rosemary
• 2 cups of turkey stock (you can also use water)
• A little bit of stuffing to flavor the turkey (about 3 cups - don’t pack it too tight, just enough to give off the flavor)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Tools - 

• A heavy duty roasting pan with a rack
• A meat thermometer
• Bakers twine
• Aluminum foil
• Baster

Directions - 

1. Make sure your oven rack is on the lowest tier - move if necessary
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees 
3. Unwrap the turkey and remove the giblets and neck (but save for your gravy!)
4. Rinse your turkey and pat dry with paper towels
5. Let the turkey sit at room temperature for an hour
6. Starting at the neck end, slide your hand between the skin and breast meat to loosen the skin (to make it easier to baste)
7. Melt your cannabutter and combine with spices
8. Fill baster with spiced cannabutter and baste under the skin - this keeps the turkey extra flavorful
9. Stuff your turkey, although make sure to not stuff it too full! You do this to get an extra flavorful turkey
10. Tuck the wing tips under and tie the legs together loosely with bakers twine
11. Rub remaining herb cannabutter over the outside of the turkey
12. Sprinkle turkey generously with salt and pepper
13. Put your turkey stock (or water) in the bottom of the pan
14. Place turkey on the rack in the pan and close the door
15. Check the turkey after 3 hours and if the skin is starting to get too brown, gently lay a piece of buttered foil over the turkey
16. Every so often, baste the turkey with butter
17. 15 lbs of turkey should cook for about 3 hours and 45 minutes - 4 hours
18. Stick the meat thermometer in and when internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, take that bad boy out!
19. Take stuffing out of the turkey and save for later
20. Let the turkey rest for 30 minutes before carving
21. Enjoy and get blazed!

For all these recipes, please make sure that you let your guests know they are canna-filled before you serve them and have a very happy, merry Thanksgiving!

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