Thanksgiving & Weed: Cannabis-Powered Friendsgiving Ideas

by James Han

There’s no better time to enjoy cannabis, with its strain-specific aromas and tasting notes ranging from the sweet to the pungent, than Thanksgiving. But powering your late-afternoon feast with curated weed blends isn’t the only way to experience a turkey-day high. This year, invite your inner circle of cannabis connoisseurs for an unforgettable day (or weekend) of herb-inspired entertainment, meals and classy cocktails galore. Here are our favorite friendsgiving ideas for the most sophisticated smokers.

Plan Out Thanksgiving Weed-Inspired Group Activities

Crafts, board games and puzzles are quintessential friendsgiving group activities, but you can elevate your night with cannabis-powered activities designed to unleash your creativity, engage in spirited repartee, practice gratitude from the inside out and more.

1. Do a Yin Yoga Set To Inspire Gratitude

Vigorous, “yang”-style yoga styles can help you feel more alert, strengthen your tendons and break out a sweat, but sinking into a restorative “yin”-style practice is the perfect way to open your heart, release any pent-up stress and experience gratitude with your friends. This is an ideal pre-meal activity that can be done as soon as the entire group arrives at your home (or the seaside town you’ve escaped to for the weekend). Set the tone with solfeggio healing frequencies or soothing jazz, candles scented with Arabian rose and palo santo, and soft blankets, cushions or mats for your guests. Offer everyone a puff of calming Phantom, a blend of THC and CBD for harmonious balance, and guide them through these 12 poses with a follow-up chat about everything you’re thankful for.

2. Get Creative With Weed and Painting

Renowned artists have credited cannabis with their creative breakthroughs for decades, but even amateur creatives can enjoy the benefits of THC for the imagination. Instead of turkey hands and other time-worn crafts, take your afternoon to the next level with a group cannabis-and-painting session, complete with palettes, shared acrylics or watercolors, canvas panels, individual paint brush sets and a hit of sativa-dominant Over the Rainbow to induce euphoria, clarity and awareness. You can opt for a guided experience from YouTube that you cast on your TV or project onto a wall, or let your friends paint an abstract representation of “gratitude.”

See our complete guide for more inspiration: Everything You Need To Host Your Next Weed & Paint Night

3. Escape Into Nature

Thanksgiving is often thought of as an indoor holiday — many establishments are closed, after all — but there’s nothing stopping you from stepping outside and going on a group excursion into nature. Whether it’s a quick trip to the park with picnic snacks and Mistifi pens to expand your awareness and senses or a deeper plunge into one of California’s unbeatable scenic vistas, getting out of the house can be a great way to bond with friends on a small adventure before heading back home for food and drinks.

4. Ask Each Other Deep, Cerebral Questions

Light banter hardly belongs at friendsgiving, where you have the opportunity to be vulnerable, curious and unabashedly philosophical with the people closest to you. (Some sativa-heavy or THC-and-CBD-balanced strains can help facilitate this.) While “Would You Rather?” and “21 Questions” tend to veer toward the superficial, take the opportunity to steer the conversation toward more probing queries that reveal the quirks and endlessly fascinating machinations of how your and your friends’ minds work, while retaining plenty of whimsy and laughs. Questions you can ask include:

What is your very first memory?
Is there time, or just movement?
What does color taste like?
What’s your theme music?

For 16 other questions, check out our guide on Highdeas: 20 Deep Questions To Ask Your Friends When You’re High.

Create Innovative Potluck and Weed Pairings

Abundant foods and heavy plates are a hallmark of any successful Thanksgiving, but you can elevate the entire eating experience by devising cannabis-and-food pairings with your friends. (Don’t feel the need to build an entire menu — sticking to one course or meal component, such as dessert, drinks or post-binge coffee and tea is already perfect, and will allow you to have a potluck so you’re not stuck in the kitchen all day.)

Ingredient and Cannabis Pairing Ideas

Cannabis strains have terpenes, or aromas, that lend specific tasting notes to different blends. Here are some ideas based on the terpene profiles of our three Mistifi pens.

Citrus, pine and tropical notes (Over the Rainbow). Use complementary ingredients such as yuzu, kaffir leaves, Meyer lemon and finger limes to accentuate this pen’s bright citrus aromas; white and green asparagus, fish, matsutake mushrooms and rosemary to pair with pine; and vanilla, guava, mango, honey, mascarpone and crème fraîche to highlight the tropical notes.
Berry, floral and earthy notes (Houdini). Cardamom, bergamot, mint, lavender, ginger, citrus and basil match wonderfully with berry notes; orange blossom honey, dandelion greens, ginger, lychee, schizandra, hibiscus, coconut and thyme pair well with floral undertones; and dark chocolate, nuts, beetroot, coffee, roasted onions and miso are the perfect way to add complexity and texture to earthiness.
Juniper, woody and citrus notes (Phantom). Peach, apricot, mango, vanilla, rosemary, caraway, duck, rhubarb, sweet potatoes, pork and hazelnuts can develop depth with juniper notes; pork belly, walnuts, maple syrup, parsley, rosemary and vinegar add nuance to woody notes; and capers, garlic, ricotta, saffron, coriander and star anise round out citrus aromas.

Unique Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas

With the ingredient and terpene pairings above in mind, here are some culinary friendsgiving ideas for every course:

Recommended Reading:

End the Night With a Cinema Marathon

After a busy day of activities and eats, what better way to cap off the night than nursing your food belly on the couch with a film marathon? After everyone’s settled and cozy (you can offer a face mask to your friends for soothing and refreshing), pass around your Mistifi Houdini pen, the indica-rich strains of which will leave everyone with the most pleasant kind of body high.

Here are a few Thanksgiving-themed classic films:

“Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986). This Woody Allen classic focuses on the lives of three sisters over the course of three Thanksgivings, with Allen’s notable neurotic humor and penchant for amped romantic and family drama dispersed throughout.
“Home for the Holidays” (1995). Most of us know Jodie Foster from her famous performances, but did you know that she directed this quirky Thanksgiving comedy about (you guessed it) a family that ends up fighting their way through dinner?
“Plains, Trains and Automobiles” (1987). This Steve Martin and John Candy comedy follows a marketing executive and shower ring salesman (respectively) as they try to make their way back home for the holidays.

Want more film recommendations? Check out 6 Transcendent Films That Are Even Better High.

James Han is a writer, editor and content strategist based in Los Angeles. When he’s not deep in a Google Doc, you can find him reading, watching films and taking long walks.

References:

Yoga Journal – 12 Yin Yoga Poses To Awaken Dormant Energy and Recharge Your Practice

High Times – Five Artists Who Smoke Weed

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