Bite Me The Show About Edibles
Helping cooks make great cannabis edibles at home.
Create your own tasty, healthy cannabis edibles and take control of your high life! Bite Me is a weekly show that helps home cooks make fun, safe and effective cannabis edibles. Listen as host Margaret walks you through an marijuana infused recipe that she has tested in her home kitchen or interviews with expert guests. New episodes every Thursday.
Bite Me The Show About Edibles
It's All Going to Pot - The Fun Willie Nelson Cannabis Cookbook
Unlock the secrets of cannabis-infused culinary arts with Willie and Annie Nelson's captivating new cookbook! Join me as I dive into the heartwarming stories behind this unique collection, gifted to our show by devoted listeners, Steve and Terry from Minnesota. Discover how Willie credits cannabis for his vitality at 91, alongside his wife Annie's dedication to organic, sustainable living. Together, they embody the harmonious blend of food, family, and the healing power of cannabis, with personal tales from their extraordinary journey.
You'll find yourself inspired by Annie's evolution from crafting cannabis chocolates for Willie to launching Willie's Reserve, all while advocating for responsible dosing and creativity in the kitchen. With insights from guest Chef Andrea Drummer, who adds her culinary prowess to the cookbook, we explore how cannabis has brought balance and joy to the Nelsons' lives. Immerse yourself in the shared values of health and love as we present standout recipes that promise not just nourishment, but a lifestyle infused with passion and purpose.
Let’s celebrate the magic of organic farming and thoughtful cookbook creation as we explore the textured world of regenerative agriculture and community markets. While we long for vibrant winter recipes from this cookbook, we also invite you to share your favourite cannabis-infused creations, fostering a sense of community and connection. Whether you're a culinary enthusiast or a Willie Nelson fan, join us in honouring this intersection of culture, music, and the art of cooking with cannabis.
Visit the website for full show notes, free dosing calculator, recipes and more.
Welcome back, friends, to episode 287, where I'm doing a review of Willie and Annie Nelson's cannabis cookbook.
Speaker 1:Welcome to Bite Me, the show about edibles, where I help you take control of your high life. I'm your host and certified ganger, margaret, and I love helping cooks make safe and effective edibles at home. I'm so glad you're here, all right, and welcome back my friends to another exciting episode of Bite Me. I am so glad you're here. I am your host, margaret, and thank you for tuning in and sharing your time with me. It really means a lot and if you're just tuning in for the first time, I'm so glad you found me. Let me know how you discovered the show and if you've been around for a while, my heartfelt appreciation goes out to you. And this is particularly relevant today because I am going to be doing a review of Willie and Annie Nelson's Cannabis Cookbook that was gifted to me by Steve and Terry out of Minnesota. They have been longtime listeners and supporters. This was a delightful surprise not that long ago and I really appreciate it when listeners go out of their way to do kind things for me, because it really means a lot and I'm so grateful to have wonderful people like Terry and Steve listening, and there are many others out there. You know who you are. So all this love and support, it really does mean a lot to a small, independent podcaster like myself.
Speaker 1:I am independent. I sometimes make choices for this podcast because I don't want the podcast to start sounding a certain way. I listen to a lot of podcasts myself. I mean that probably doesn't surprise anybody. That's why I got into podcasting, because it's the medium itself that I really love and the one that I consume most when I am not recording my own. But I have found that a lot of podcasts now sort of join these podcast networks and of course there can be power networks, but a lot of the times what you do end up giving up is the ability to control what types of ads play on your podcast. For the most part I don't do a ton of ads, except things that are advertising my own stuff, if you will like. The Bite Me Cannabis Club is something that I founded or perhaps affiliate partners that I have for products that I've been using a long time in my own kitchen. And sometimes, when you join these networks, you might have access to higher revenue. But what are you giving up for that? And I listened to a lot of great podcasts that are doing gambling ads and ads for things that I don't necessarily personally align with, and so it's a real creative decision to sort of go the route that I'm going to remain independent. I digress this was not I do know where I was going with this. It was just it's listeners like you that really go a long way to making this show wonderful and keeping me on track and delivering something that I would also want to listen to, and that's often not a bunch of ads from big companies that I have no personal experience with, just so I can make a few extra.
Speaker 1:Today we are doing a review of the cookbook Willie and Annie Nelson's Cannabis Cookbook. Now, I am somebody that has quite a number of cookbook cannabis cookbooks specifically on my shelf. I had a quick peek before I came to do this recording this morning. I do tend to record in the mornings. I have about a dozen cannabis cookbooks on my shelf and I feel like each one of the ones that I have sort of has a different angle, introduces something new to the reader. Some of them have been books that I've purchased from podcast guests because I had them on the show, because I was really impressed with their work and liked the direction and what they were doing in the world. So I am kind of selective, though, about the cannabis cookbooks that I buy. However, this gift was a very nice surprise. I wasn't really aware that they had come out with a cookbook or maybe I've heard about it a little bit somewhere online but when I received it I was immediately excited to dive in, and there is something really cool about the fact that Willie and Annie Nelson came out with this cookbook. It is truly a celebration of food, family and the healing power of cannabis.
Speaker 1:Whether you are familiar with the work of Willie Nelson or not, it's pretty clear that he is a huge advocate for cannabis. Once I got this book, I have to admit I'm not a big country fan listener and I haven't listened to a lot of Willie Nelson's work. But as someone who is such a tireless advocate for cannabis and breaking stigma because you can't really argue with the lazy stoner stereotype when you have a man of his vintage still actively producing work I mean it's incredible. So today we're going to be discussing some of the cookbook's origins, some of the standout recipes and how it reflects on Willie and Annie's personal journey with cannabis Buckle in. It's going to be a fun little ride.
Speaker 1:So to start out with Willie Nelson, as I already mentioned, has been a longstanding advocate for cannabis legalization and, of course, as his role as a cultural icon in the cannabis community. And there is a podcast that I listen to periodically and that is Great Moments in Weed History with David Biedenstock, who has been a podcast guest. A few years ago I'll link to that in the show notes, but he has done I'm certain I've listened to it an episode on Willie Nelson smoking a joint on the roof of the White House. So this man is brazen, but in very smart ways. He also has founded Willie's Reserve, which is a cannabis brand, and he's been outspoken in his support for hemp farming. And at the age of 91, he is currently 91 years old I looked up his birth date, it is 1933, which makes him two years younger than my own father and this man has done 102 studio albums 102. That's wild to me, like a career. And of course that doesn't even include live albums and collaborations and all the other things that you can do that he has done with his music career Just outstanding. And if you weren't aware, willie Nelson is on tour in 2025. So, at the age of 91, this man is still on tour, and I love how he starts out the book because he dedicates the book. So they dedicate the book, excuse me, they dedicate the book to all the family farmers who cultivate the food, fiber and fuel necessary to keep the world fed, clothed and moving forward in a wholesome way, and to all those who make sure the hungry have access to the sustenance they require.
Speaker 1:I thought I would start out with the intro that Willie Nelson himself wrote for the book Eating and eating well. Another matter altogether. How do you define well? Well, everyone would define it differently. I'd say well means healthy and hearty, eating with gusto, eating food that hasn't been tainted with chemicals, farm-to-table food that tastes real and right. Cannabis is food, it's medicine, it's energy, it's health. Without this special herb we affectionately call weed, I'd never be offering up a cookbook at the age of 91. Without weed and my wife, annie, I'd probably be dead decades ago. With weed, I'm still striving and thriving and creating new music, not to mention having cool chefs like Andrea Drummer and Annie to cook up cannabis-flavored meals that provide nourishment for body and soul.
Speaker 1:Before pot, I was one of those fools who, throwing back bourbon and beer, thought I could take on the world. That meant picking on guys bigger than me. Those other stories I'm happy to forget. The pot stories are the ones I'm glad to remember. That's because they're good-hearted stories, mostly with happy endings. I say mostly because there were, in truth, a couple of decidedly unpleasant busts. Overall, though, cannabis turned my mean to mellow. It helped me find the groove in the grind of a hectic but beautiful life, creating music. Now I want us to help you create something, some beautiful food.
Speaker 1:I love the idea of incorporating cannabis into a wholesome diet. I've been a champion of its legalization since the stone ages. I couldn't be happier that the arguments advocating the many uses of the plant have finally prevailed. Over a lifetime of study, I learned that pot is more than pleasure. Its positive properties are limitless. It's a blessing and a blast. It's good fuel. Together with Chef Drummer, one of the most celebrated cannabis chefs, and my wife Annie, the most celebrated chef in our home, I'm excited to help you cook up a whole mess of wholesome meals.
Speaker 1:There's an abundance of information here. Abundance is the key. An abundance of care about the food we eat, an abundance of creativity in preparing the food, an abundance of love in sharing the food with others and, because I'm a storyteller by trade, an abundance of stories that carry the fragrance of the precious plant is, after all, the centerpiece of this book. Be patient and get to know the dosage that suits you the best. Willie Nelson, of course he mentions Annie, and she is a contributor to this book as well and she has a passion for organic, sustainable living, and they have shared values around health and wellness, which in large part inspired this cookbook, and I'll just take a second to read her introduction. Start low, go slow. I've always said that about cannabis. Well, actually I say that about life in general. If you believe in the many benefits of cannabis, you'll want to bring folks to understand it instead of scaring them off with a bad experience, especially when it can help so many when dosed properly.
Speaker 1:I started making edibles for my husband when he had a bad bout of pneumonia and couldn't smoke. For him, it was medicine, because he needed to leave his lungs alone. I have a bit of a scientific mind and a pretty good working knowledge of the human body, so I began my mission to create an edible he would like. Concentrating anything means you concentrate good or bad, always choose good. I found the best and cleanest cannabis to create my chocolates. I'm not a smoker, so creating an edible to bypass the smoke was a steep learning curve for me and very much had its ups and downs. I haven't smoked pot since the 70s. Back then I would take a hit, laugh my ass off and binge munchies. My only reference at the time to current pot strains was Willie offering me a hit and me thinking it was going to be a fun afternoon. I spent it asleep because bed was the only place safe enough for me while it wore off. Yes, I'm a supreme lightweight.
Speaker 1:So when I started developing edibles for him, I focused on a dose that would find a happy medium, knowing he had a sweet tooth and would likely eat more than one. The experience was hysterical at times. One night, after having finally gotten the five simple ingredients perfected, I slipped into bed, maybe a little too high, not wanting to wake him because sleep is so good. I lay there vacillating between oh my God, I'm way too high to laughing so hard and trying not to wake him. In the end I'd found a great dose and he became my guinea pig from then on. Turns out. Everyone loved the ones Willie taste tested for me. A friend was going to travel and had anxiety so asked for some chocolate to help through the flight. Willie gave him some. Turns out this friend had an edible company and wanted mine. We didn't agree on ingredients but it started people coming to us with business proposals. That's the genesis of us getting into the cannabis business. We named the company Willie's Reserve.
Speaker 1:I've used my base and made other bases in many recipes and always enjoy Andrea Drummers. Always I'm celiac and have friends with glucose issues, so my edibles needed to be gluten-free, with an even glycemic level. Cooking gluten-free is not difficult. Ingredients can be substituted easy enough in all recipes without compromising the integrity of a dish, including flours, sauces and condiments. I hope you find adventure and always remember the basics. Have fun and remember to never dose anyone. It's unkind, turns them off unnecessarily and breaks our Nelson family rule of don't be an asshole, don't be an asshole, don't be a goddamn asshole. It sounds like Annie Wilson is also a big fan of edibles, so I applaud that. This cookbook of course does aim to destigmatize cannabis use and promote its benefits for health, relaxation and creativity, and it does talk about responsible dosing and education for beginners. And with that I am going to read the note from Chef Andrea, who was the creator of many of the recipes in this cookbook.
Speaker 1:My career as a cannabis chef began out of sheer necessity. If you're at all familiar with the grueling work of cooks the world over, you understand the toll it can take on one's body. Oblivious to this truth, my reality check came after one year in the kitchen in the form of sciatica. After several prescriptions of opiates literally flushed down the toilet, I began experimenting with infusing food with cannabis as an alternative to living with chronic pain. My intention for myself was the same as I share in these recipes to make cannabis cuisine safe, accessible and easy.
Speaker 1:While consuming too much THC will do no harm to the body, the ramifications can prove unpleasant. To that end, brands are creating safely packaged products with easy dosing directions. In addition, trained chefs are introducing recipes suitable for regular use and that integrate easily into your lifestyle. On average, the legal single dose of THC equates to 10 milligrams per serving. This book contains recipes that make it easy to tailor the dosage to the individual. Using simple mathematics, the THC component can also be eliminated altogether for a family-friendly meal. That's just as appetizing. Dosages in the recipes range from 8% THC to 46% THC per serving.
Speaker 1:The intent is to present the possibilities and to acknowledge the varied tolerances. The number of milligrams one should consume is contingent upon a number of factors body weight, metabolism, tolerance, dosage, type of edibles. Other factors to consider are the strains of cannabis used, the maturation process of the plant and your overall experience with edibles, since the body metabolizes THC differently through the liver when you're eating than it does through lungs when you're smoking. The experience can vary from person to person. For most, the effects last longer. For some, they are more intense. To simplify edible THC consumption, the standard recommendation is as followed 1 to 2.5 milligrams is considered a microdose. 3 to 5 milligrams is low dosage. 10 to 15 milligrams is moderate. 20 to 30 milligrams is high. 50 to 100 milligrams is acute. 100 to 500 milligrams is considered macro dosing. My recommendation would be the same as I adhered to when first using edibles for medicinal application Start low and exert patience, and you can easily adjust these dosages in the recipes in the book and, most important, enjoy.
Speaker 1:I love how she breaks down the different factors that can affect the number of milligrams one should consume, because a lot of people often erroneously think that if you have a monster tolerance to smoking cannabis, that that will translate into edibles, and I've seen time and time again over the course of personal experience and anecdotally through people I've interviewed on this podcast, of which there are probably close to 60 by now. That is just untrue. As she mentions, there's a whole bunch of factors that go into how you might process the milligrams in an edible, and none of it has to do with your tolerance to smoking. There's something good to keep in mind and I also like how she breaks down the doses and if anybody is just starting out with edibles for the first time, start with the microdose, because I've also met people that find two milligrams to be just enough. If you start with a five milligram dose, I know people who are five milligrams is a lot, so always start with that microdose and work your way up from there. According to her chart, I have a high tolerance when I'm in and around 20 to 25 milligrams. I can tolerate that and often consume that in the evenings, but sometimes, depending on what I'm doing, I'm going to aim for a 15 milligram dose and I do find that the cannabis beverages on the legal market anyway, with their nano emulsion can hit me at 10 milligrams and on an empty stomach at five.
Speaker 1:These are all sort of fun things that you learn about yourself as you begin to experiment, which is another reason why it's good to write this stuff down or to keep a log. The Bite Me Edibles Journal is a great resource, but you can put a note on your phone or a blank notebook, whatever suits you best. Now, the one thing I also like is, of course, they show you how to do the base infusions, and they focus on some that often don't get covered in a lot of cannabis cookbooks. They start out with cannabis ghee, they next do vegan cannabis butter, cannabis avocado oil, cannabis coconut oil and cannabis grapeseed oil. So they show you how to infuse all of these different base infusions so you can use them throughout the book, and a lot of these ones will also have a relatively decent shelf life and are stable when used in cooking. So that's another wonderful thing about the particular infusions that they chose. They didn't do butter, they didn't do olive oil, they didn't do alcohol some of those classics that you see in a lot of cookbooks. They're doing something different there as well, and, of course, they start out by how to do the THC dosing for the recipes, which is always important. And, again, like any recipe, as she says, you can change the infusion level and you don't have to infuse it at all.
Speaker 1:The variety of recipes in this book is really what sets it apart, in my opinion, from a lot of other books that I have on my shelf, because the number of savory dishes is remarkable. A lot of the times when I get cannabis cookbooks, the focus is probably more largely on the sweet side. That's what we tend to think about. This one, I would say, more heavily focuses the savory dishes. There are, of course, desserts and beverages, but they do focus on the savory side, spicy foods and, of course, the gluten-free and vegan options as well. So here are some of the recipes that make this book stand out to me the vegan crab cakes with mango jalapeno butter. If you're looking for something vegan, this. I love crab cakes and my daughter used to make crab cakes as a special in her restaurant and of course, they were vegan, and the jalapeno butter is with a vegan butter. They were so delicious. I'm excited to try these out.
Speaker 1:There was a number of other vegan recipes. Again, like I mentioned, I think there's some vegan ice cream options just so many things that if you are trying to issue dairy and animal products, then you're going to have a lot of options in this book. Now they also have classic comfort foods like the truffle mac and cheese, the herb crusted grilled cheese and a curry ketchup. And I mentioned those two because I have tried those recipes the herb crusted grilled cheese and the curry ketchup and they turned out beautifully, and sometimes you just want that comfort food. Grilled cheese and mac and cheese are two of those things. So they have a beautiful selection of comfort foods. There's also condiments and dressings like miso, caesar salad dressing, infused mayonnaise, kalamata, olive butter, sriracha, ranch sauce all kinds of beautiful condiments and dressings.
Speaker 1:Now, of course, there's creative mains. These mains are meat-based, but you have your grilled pork chops with pineapple, pico de gallo, cacao, coq au vin, which I bring up specifically because I did a couple of episodes recently on chocolate, a 50-50 burger. There's steak recipes in there with beautiful sauces to go with it. Those are the standouts to me. And then there were beverages to serve yourself or to friends, hot and cold.
Speaker 1:The one that I'm probably going to be trying first is the emboldened Bloody Mary. I don't necessarily do a lot of Bloody Marys In Canada. We tend to do Caesars, which are a little bit different. I love them both, and anything with a little bit of heat or spice is welcome in my home or in my hand. And then, of course, you have your expected sweets that any book should have. But the ones that I have my eye on are the fried apple pies, and these are like little hand pies and the photograph of them looks so good that I have to try them. And then the next one Southern Hoe Cakes with Calabrian Honey Butter. Now, I'm not really sure what a hoe cake is. I've never had something like that. It looks like a stack of pancakes and I love pancakes. I don't make them too often because there's something about the combination of all the carbs in the pancakes and then the maple syrup on top Canadian maple syrup, of course, I don't know, it's just so carby and delicious, but every so often it's such a lovely treat on a slow Sunday morning and the picture of these looks so good. Honestly, the food photography is second to none.
Speaker 1:The other fun thing about this book is interspersed with quotes from Mr Nelson himself and sort of his philosophy of living. It's interspersed with stories, but I did find one that I really liked. That, I think, really exemplifies his feeling about food. Vegetables as well as meat can be tainted with pesticides and poisons. Organic and regenerative farmers are a gift and we should recognize and support them. Farming, like music, is magical. Songs and soil are rooted in mystery. Both require loving cultivation.
Speaker 1:I've lived the farm life. I love the tastes and smells. I've been shaped by the farm life as a kid. That's all I knew. It grounded me. I learned the satisfaction of cultivating the land in a way that the land allows you to live. I learned the satisfaction of cultivating the land in a way that the land allows you to live, picking food in the fields, picking on my guitar, getting the right rhythms, the natural rhythms, staying in tune with the mystical forces that feed our souls. It's beautiful and a little poetic, and he is correct that the organic and regenerative farmers are a gift and we need to support them. And that's one reason why I love to shop at my local farmer's markets markets because a lot of those farmers are making the choices that will allow them to farm the land that they're on for centuries to come, hopefully. So this book is a lovely standout amongst other cannabis books and I'm really excited to dig more into this book. I have to admit that I'm recording this in February.
Speaker 1:My cooking habits change a lot in the wintertime. I tend to do a lot of like roasted food in the oven, roasted stuff in the oven, and maybe that's because I haven't actually even been making that many stews or chilies this year. But sometimes maybe it's just a little bit of more lazier cooking. I'm hibernating, I'm not focusing on that as much. There are so many dishes in this book that I will definitely be getting into, especially as the bounty of the local farmer's market starts to wake up again, because I do try and buy locally as much as possible, which means I'm eating a lot of root vegetables right now, which I love. But you know, after a winter full of squash potatoes and carrots and parsnips and squash potatoes and carrots and parsnips and squash potato, and sometimes you throw in a nod rutabaga, it can get to be maybe a little bit boring.
Speaker 1:And these recipes are bright and fun and exciting and I would love to have Chef Andrea Drummer on the show. So if any of you have contacts, let me know. I mean it'd be cool to have Willie and Annie Nelson. But honestly, willie Nelson's going to be touring all this summer. I think it would be a lot of fun to get her on the show, but she has a huge following, so that might prove difficult, but I'm not up to the task.
Speaker 1:Of course, I'd be remiss if I say that this book was perfect. There is one thing and I find this with a lot of cookbooks, not just cannabis cookbooks but my one critique not the stories, not the excellent selection of recipes, not the beautiful photography, not the fact that it's hardcover, but the fact that these books are never bound in such a way that they lie flat when you're cooking. So I mean, it depends on where you are in the book, but if you have like a recipe that you're doing at the end of the book you're going to have, it's not going to lie open. Why do they make cookbooks like that? Why don't they make them so they can just lie open properly? That would be my one complaint about this book, which is also a complaint that extends to a lot of cannabis cookbooks, because they don't lie flat.
Speaker 1:Now I turn the table to you what is your favorite cannabis cookbook? Do you have one you go back to time and time again, or a favorite recipe from one of your cannabis cookbooks on your shelf, and have you tried the Willie and Annie Nelson cannabis cookbook? I would love to hear you share your thoughts with me and I can always shout them out on a future episode. If you have any friends or family that are Willie Nelson fans, maybe you'll consider sharing this episode with them. That's it for this week, my friends. I am your host, margaret, and until next time, stay high.
