420 Celebration - High Times & Recipes

Acapulco Gold, Texas Tea, Panama Red, Maui Wowie, Mary Jane, chronic, ganja, pot, weed, grass, kush, herb, joint, blunt, roach, cannabis, reefer, spliff, fatty, jay, doobie, and locoweed are just some of the euphemisms for marijuana.

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Many local pot shops have a green cross or green type somewhere on their building. This comes from when marijuana was first legal in L.A. for medical purposes only - I guess it's a play on the Red Cross?

420 Coast to Coast

Venice, Los Angeles

East Village, New York City

This month 420 is celebrated with pot shop gift bags (given with a minimum purchase) and free handouts. 

This year, Easter falls on 4/20 - eggcellent!

Here is my local marijuana dispensary, just down the street, where there's usually a line on this underground holiday. It's a cash-only business because banks will not service Marijuana dispensaries due to the Federal classification of Marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, the same as hard drugs like heroin, cocaine, and LSD. I often see a security guard stationed at pot shops. 

I'm not the Wake-and-Bake type, and I don't blaze up every day and night.

Hemp products have a following.

If you're out of the loop, 420 or April (4th month) and day 20, is an international celebration of all things marijuana. The term "420" supposedly originated in 1971 here in California by a bunch of high school buddies who would meet at 4:20pm to smoke weed. You can read about it here.

Los Angeles marijuana shops are open to anyone 18 years or older with a government-issued ID. 

Rewards Cards

When California introduced medical marijuana legally in 1996, I waited a couple of years before I got a prescription. Like a lot of locals, I was paranoid about putting my name in a database of users. But after a while, I realized that I'm never gonna run for President or head the FBI.

FYI, my medical condition was a pain in the...elbow.

Getting a prescription was a farce. Pay the doctor $100 bucks, pick your ailment, and walk out with legal papers. That song and dance is no longer played.

There are rules when entering an L.A. pot shop, besides showing your ID. First, no phones, although everyone carries one. That means no photography, but of course, that has never stopped me, yet!

I get it, but I had to think twice the first time I saw the sign.

Even man's best friend can be treated with cannabis. Not sure if they must provide a California ID?

Louisiana is entering the Stoned Age since decriminalizing Marijuana in 2021. I visited a Marijuana Dispensary in Baton Rouge, right down the street from a large Medical Center. 

The dispensary, Capitol Wellness Solutions, was like entering a bank or a high-end jewelry store with waist-high glass cases displaying all manner of marijuana packaging and paraphernalia. All the goodies are behind a pharmacist's counter. Every age of adult was there, from dyed to gray hair.

It's legal in Louisiana for medical use only...so far. And, this is coming from a State where Magic Mushrooms grow in cow fields and on the Mississippi levee. And buying pot was as easy as calling a "high" school classmate for a fat $10 baggie of "skunk" weed.

I've been a contributing citizen to the economy and a creative artist most of my life so all the boogeyman stories of reefer madness don't fly here.

When I was in high school, I primarily used it when listening to music, as it was the 1960's and getting high brought a heightened experience and meaning to the lyrical and sonic content of songs by The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, etc.

And it was just a fun thing to do with friends on the weekend and long summer dazes.

Just watch my Mom's recipe for Tex-Mex Enchiladas to see my high school buddy Marvin and me have a 1960s flashback hanging out and listening to album rock in my bedroom.

These days, I like a cannabis-infused edible from time to time. They will last a couple of hours, just right for an art show, movie, or musical concert at the Hollywood Bowl. 

Like alcohol, cannabis has similar laws and penalties for public intoxication and operating machinery/automobiles.

Check out some of the concerts I've seen there, including a Willie Nelson concert where I've never smelled so much marijuana in my life!

I'll leave you with another recipe should you be in need of some munchies while celebrating 420  - that is, not my recipe, but one from my brother from another daddy, the Swamp Chef! Check out a tasty cheesy Cajun Nachos video made with nephew Zak!

Cajun Natchos calls for cooked crawfish tail meat, but it's easy to substitute small shrimp or any favorite protein.

National Crawfish Day - Recipes

Today, I offer praise to the humble Mudbug, or Crawfish. Also known as Crayfish and Crawdads, there are even more colorful names depending on where you reside. I know Crawfish, and hopefully, you'll learn a few things about this delicious freshwater crustacean on National Crawfish Day.

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A Crawfish is like a miniature lobster. In Europe, they are known as Longastino. I can get them here is Los Angeles.

You can cook them the same way as a lobster, too. Normally, they are boiled in a spicy broth of water with a package of Crab Boil. There are spicy packages from Louisiana and milder types carried by most grocers.

And you feed on the Crawfish tail, just like a lobster. You can even get a sliver of claw meat if the Crawfish is large enough.

Peeling a Crawfish Tail

Due to their small size, Crawfish cook quickly like shrimp. They only take 10 minutes of boiling, and then you turn off the heat and let them stew in the spicy broth -- the longer they steep in the broth, the spicier the crawfish. 

Now it's time to eat the hot, tiny Crawfish tails. Just watch my video below to see how I do the deed. And a warning, I do suck the head of a Crawfish just like a real Cajun does - it's loaded with a whole lotta juicy flavor.

How to Eat a Crawfish - Video

I learned to peel a cooked Crawfish early on. When a bag of boiled Crawfish is dumped on the table, you'd better know how to make quick work to get the tail meat, or you will be left behind. Like with anything, the more you peel them, the speedier you will get.

     30-pound bags of live Crawfish

The meaty Crawfish tail is small like a bay shrimp, but milder in fishy flavor. Sometimes referred to as seafood, they are not from the salty water of the sea, but are from freshwater ponds, swamps, and bayous. These days, you are more likely to get them from Crawfish Farms that are just shallow freshwater ponds. 

In the wild, a mudbug, or crawfish, will burrow into mud and create a Crawfish Mound or Chimney. I have seen them in ditches or fields that flood. The burrows are for protection from predators. An adult crawfish digs deep, a foot or more.

I lived in Louisiana in my high school daze, where Crawfish culture has risen to edible art. Think of any recipe you would make with shrimp, and you can substitute Crawfish tail meat instead. 

During Crawfish Season, from about February to May, you can buy them at supermarkets and even gas stations with a deli counter. 

You can buy them live or already cooked. They cost anywhere from $3 per pound for live to $5 per pound for cooked whole Crawfish. My fave Louisiana local market, Rouse's Supermarkets, has good deals on freshly boiled crawfish sold in large coolers at the entrance and inside the store in the seafood section.

You can buy precooked and peeled Crawfish Tails in frozen 12-ounce or one-pound packages in the $10-$15 range. The cheapest packages come from China. The tail meat is usually smaller than locally raised crawfish. And they are somewhat controversial, as the low cost puts a financial strain on Louisiana-farmed crawfish. 

Crawfish are tasty any time of day, even in a breakfast Omelet with Cheese & Crawfish. A recipe by my brother from another daddy, the Swamp Chef.

While on the expensive side, they will provide an ample entree, enough to serve your family --especially if you follow Chef Tony's Crawfish Etouffee recipe, below. 

My family usually orders them cooked, but almost every local has attended or thrown a live Crawfish Boil in their backyard at one time or another. 

My niece Candyse (top center) and her family.

If you are feeding a party, budget about 3 pounds of whole Crawfish per person. A basic Crawfish Boil usually has lemon halves, corn, and potatoes that start in a spicy boil for an hour - the live Crawfish are added for about 10 more minutes or until they are bright orange/red and done. Turn off the heat and let it all soak up the spices for half an hour.  

I've yet to meet a local Louisiana adult or child who does not like cooked Crawfish. Now the exception is if Crawfish is extra-spicy, of course, so you may want to pull them early from the crab boil broth if you have kids or sensitive palates to contend with. Get out plenty of paper towels or napkins; it's a messy meal.

Cajuns in Louisiana have come up with tasty local Crawfish entree or appetizer recipes, everything from a spin on Fettuccine Alfredo with Crawfish to an Omelet stuffed with Crawfish, and even a flaky Crawfish Pie or Turnover.

My brother from another daddy, the Swamp Chef, has decadent Cajun Nachos made with, you guessed it, Crawfish. And it's built on a bed of tortilla chips topped with a can of red beans, cheese, Crawfish tails, and more cheese, oh, and don't forget the hot sauce!

 Be sure to hang in there past the wacky video intro with my nephew Zak and the Swamp Chef, followed by the Cajun Nachos recipe.

Cajun Nachos - Video

Crawfish for Thanksgiving? If you have had oysters in your Turkey Stuffing, then it's not too much of a stretch to make a Crawfish Stuffing!

A fave Louisiana potato chip purveyor, Zapp's, does a crawfish-flavored version. How do they taste? They are very salty, of course, and have a mild shrimp taste.

I'll leave you with a selection from the deli case of Rouses Market in Gonzales, Louisiana - a great local grocer with a fine selection of frozen Crawfish Entrees.