"munchies" news and stories

Forget White Castle, Harold and Kumar. It's time for a munchie makeover.

Buddy's Cannabis Patient Collective in Mountain View, California, appears to have taken the concept of the munchies to a whole different level.

Here are some of the goodies off the menu board, as reported by a (no doubt stoked) reporter for the San Jose Mercury News: macaroni and cheese with truffles, roasted sun-dried tomato soup and cheddar jalapeño muffins. They've even elevated the notion of the pot brownie beyond our wildest imagination: three different types of Ghiradelli chocolate with a hint of lavender.

The gourmet edibles are all created by an award-winning Bay Area chef who prefers to remain anonymous, and most contain "cannabutter," which, according to the Mercury News, is made by cooking butter, water and ground marijuana then letting it cool. Buddy's provides their secret chef with the high-grade hemp, and in return, he (or she) sends back things like pissaliere topped with sun-dried tomatoes, basil and braised onions.

In the mood for grapefruit today? Turn on your toaster oven.

I got this recipe from the really cool book Munchies by Kevin Telles Roberts. He suggests you try it as a snack at 1:30 in the morning, but I don't see any reason why you can't have it as an ordinary breakfast treat.

Set your toaster oven to 450 degrees. Cut and section a grapefruit. Put a pat of butter in the center of each half and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and sugar. Bake for about 10 minutes, until cinnamon/sugar is melted.

We've all had grapefruit sprinkled with sugar, of course, but I wonder how the baking changes the taste. I've been wanting to eat more grapefruit anyway, so I'm going to try it this Sunday morning.

What would a collection of SuperBowl dip recipes be without a little blue cheese, considering that it is held to be the gold standard of hot wing dips - excluding hot wing sauce itself, of course. Blue cheese (or bleu cheese, if you prefer) dip is made with a pungent, creamy cheese that cuts into the spiciness of hot wings by adding a new layer of flavor and a cooling sensation that dulls the heat of the chicken. The strongly flavored cheese, in most of these dips, is often combined with sour cream, mayonnaise or cream cheese, each of which contributes to the overall texture of the dip without bumping up the flavor to the point where it overpowers the hot wing itself.

This particular dip is a pretty standard recipe that you'll probably find in several different places. It calls for sour cream and mayonnaise in addition to the cheese, so "healthy" is not something that could be applied. You can always substitute low fat or nonfat sour cream/mayonnaise; using a good quality blue cheese will make up for any loss of flavor in either of those ingredients.

Yogurt is a great base for dips because it is so versatile, like a blank canvas. You can add it to avocados for an ultra-creamy guacamole, use it tone down hot salsas and use it on its own, as I have done here, to showcase other flavors.

Like many yogurt dips, this one is incredibly easy to make. It has only a few ingredients and requires little more than a stir to bring it together, yet it as at least as satisfying as those "ranch-style" dips that often turn up at parties. It goes well with potato chips, pita chips, crackers and veggies.

Earlier this week the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency served 11 warrants in the Los Angeles seizing what it called "large quantities of marijuana-laced edibles." Among the items seized were chocolate bars made with cannabutter and Grape Ape Soda whose labels bears a marijuana leaf and the warning "For Medicinal Use Only." Back in the day sugary snacks were for eating after one had smoked the evil weed. This begs the question: Does eating marijuana-laced snacks give you the munchies?

This isn't the first time that the DEA has busted makers of marijuana-laced candy or snacks. Take a look at this photo from last year's arrest of a San Francisco fellow who's now serving 70 months. Along with KeefKat and Buddhafinger (center row), there's Double Puff Oeo (lower left corner) obviously a takeoff on many a stoner's favorite snack, Oreos. Wonder if they're good with hemp milk?

[via Boing Boing]

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