Yesterday marked our third week in Colorado. Nowhere have we noticed any evidence of the passage and enactment of Amendment 64, which won 55% of the popular vote in November, 2012. As you likely guessed, that’s the one legalizing the sale, possession, and home consumption of modest amounts (one ounce, formerly known as “a lid”) of recreational marijuana. If you follow Doonesbury you know that Zonker Harris moved out here to grow and market fine artisanal hemp. It’s a difficult commodity to cultivate commercially, no ag college offers a class on cannabis horticulture, but Zonk has had years of experience based on asking his plants what they want. He also has a solid marketing strategy. His brand will be known as Woody Creek, and distributed on a limited basis to the gay male community. The brand’s tagline will be “Gay buds, grown by buds, for buds.”
Last night I caught of whiff of it, or that of a tough competitor. A couple of early twenties women in a tent not far from our site were the source. Street pot has a distinct odor that’s quite acrid. (Yo, we worked in the French Quarter for years!) But this scent was smooth and well-rounded, with absolutely no harsh overtones. The free market has already done great things for this heretofore underground industry. Better yet, this morning our two smokers took half an hour to run around the lake that Kat and I needed nearly two hours to hike. I say that for $300 an ounce, the public has earned a right to The Good Stuff.
Speaking of good stuff, traveling has taught us the regional boundaries of foods. Grits are hard to find north of Ohio. Frozen crawfish appear here and there, but don’t count on finding them anywhere every day except Louisiana. Good frozen biscuits – Mary B’s, of course – are available as far north as Cincinnati, as far east as Tennessee, and west to Austin. I am hooked on Mary B’s buttermilk biscuits. I have had none in four months.
The New York Times, of all papers, turned me on to a better way to make biscuits from near scratch. If everything falls into place, they’re better than Mary B’s.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/magazine/you-are-making-your-biscuits-wrong.html?_r=0
Ignore the Bisquik instructions: cut up three pats of butter on a dinner plate. Sprinkle a half a teaspoon each of sugar and salt over the beurre. Add half a cup or so (I never measure) of Bisquik and cut it into the butter with a salad fork. Add enough milk or buttermilk to get it good and wet. Mix and mix until you have a wet, sticky ball. Put some more Bisquik on a plate and work the gooey mess into the dry. Don’t work it too much! Just get the texture to near something you think a biscuit should look like before baking. Set it aside to rise for maybe 20 – 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450. Cook until you smell something real good, then check it out. Serve with butter, orange marmalade or honey, or maybe some bacon and cheese grits.
Now there’s a breakfast to satisfy The Munchies!
Life on the Blue Highways 
Not to forget the tremendous tax benefit CO is generating from the sales. Brilliant.
If we were to do that in Cocke County, we would be wealthy.
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Or at least middle of the road?
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Oh, and YUM!
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Try it. You’ll love it.
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Three hundred an ounce? Holy cow.
It had better be exceptional for that price. 🙂
It’s hardly a surprise that the price went up once it was legalized.
Yep, that tax revenue. The holy cash cow.
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Mmm. Biscuits. 🙂
Your recipe here sounds great.
Here is another recipe for when you don’t feel like waiting for the dough to rise, or do any kneading, etc.
I dubbed these No Roll Biscuits, as I have no room for rolling/kneading in my tiny kitchen.
These are cut in the pan, and no rising time required.
Sometimes I like to mix right into the dough some shredded cheese, or chopped veggies, or both.
If you brought one with you, use a sifter for the dry ingredients.
Kosher salt is not necessary; any will do. Increase the sugar if desired. Also, any kind of milk is fine.
Since I am not a milk drinker, I keep powdered milk around for baking.
http://www.bigredkitchen.com/2010/12/advent-day-13-pool-of-butter-biscuits/
One more tip:
Spreading the dough with floured fingers did not work for me.
It became a comedy of sorts trying to get the gooey dough off with one hand, only to have it stuck to the other, and so on.
Instead, I melted extra butter to put on my hands, which made this task much easier.
Serve with any topping; side of contact high optional. 😉
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If I recall correctly, street stuff was close to $50 40 years ago. After inflation that’s $200 in today’s dollars. Quality, legality, and tax revenue make the difference worthwhile … but I don’t want to get hooked or escalate from maui wowie to heroin!
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After I wrote the above, I got to thinking the same thing about past costs for it.
There were some “brands” back then that cost as much, or more, as some stuff now, or so I heard.
Yes, to be sure, you don’t want to be pushed on to the hard stuff after Mary Jane. 😉 🙂
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On another note, I hope you all had a lovely holiday weekend.
Stunning weather up here in the Catskills for it, and again today.
Wishing the same for you in all of your travels. 🙂
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Next post is about a small town Independence Day parade.
The Catskills? Is that where that famous Billy Crystal joke takes place? You know, “Ah, Rose, you wouldn’t like the place at all. The rooms are out-dated, and the food was terrible. And such small portions!”
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Not sure about that exact joke, but it sounds right considering Crystal’s history, and that of the Catskills. 🙂
http://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus/2012/01/last-resort-dirty-dancing-and-the-legacy-of-the-jewish-catskills/
I love it here.
It has changed a lot since the above. There are not many, but some few remnants remain.
Wish I could have visited here in its heyday.
Off to check out your latest post. 🙂
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Upon further review, it was the Berkshires.
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Lately, I’ve been watching some cooking channels, and came across reruns of a show featuring a guy named David Rocco.
Following is an easy recipe from one of the episodes. It is basically pizza dough, which can be used for many purposes.
What Rocco did with it here was of particular interest to me, and I thought you all might like it, too.
I wasn’t quite sure where to post this, but figured here with the biscuit recipe was a good spot.
Not shown on link below:
–He also used it as a “carrier” for some meat and cheese (without the honey), sort of stuffing it like a tiny bun/pocket.
–He said one need not cut the dough, but can make tiny pizzas, simply tear off pieces for cooking, and so forth.
–Sprinkle with salt right after cooking, if desired.
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/david-rocco/i-cocoli.html
It seems to me that there are almost unlimited options for the I Cocoli. 🙂
More:
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/shows/david-roccos-dolce-vita.html
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Flatbread from Walmart is real easy; that’s what we use.
Jackson
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Yes, flatbread is much easier, as is using pre-made, frozen pizza dough, but I also like the idea of hot off the stove, no additives, etc. when making things from scratch.
I had a “D’ough” (ha ha) moment after I wrote the original entry here:
It’s no wonder I like the I Cocoli as they cook up similar to beignets―but without the added eggs, milk, sugar, and shortening that are in the beignets. 🙂
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