420 Celebration - High Times & Recipes

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

Many 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?

Click on any photo to see larger.

This month 420 is celebrated and I missed the Smokeout because I was shooting marijuana store customers in line and store facades for this blog post...how ironic is that? I don't blaze up every day anyway.

Patients/customers practicing social distancing with masks during Covid-19.

If you're are 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.

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 really just pick your ailment and the doctor charged $100 bucks back in the day. Now it's legal in California so that song and dance is no longer played.

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 I have a 1960's 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 an hour or so, just right for an art show, movie, or musical concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

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 my brother from another daddy, the Swamp Chef plus our nephew Zak! Check out a tasty cheesy Cajun Nachos video!

Fig Pancakes - Video Recipe

My favorite jam is chunky Fig Jam and I'll add a new pancake favorite, Fig Pancakes.

California is not the cheapest place to get them, but sometimes they show up at my local 99c only Store. What I see much more often are dried figs. 

Even dry, the figs are still fairly moist like giant raisins and can be used for my Fig Pancake recipe.

It's surprising figs are not cheap here as I have lived on streets that have fig trees and they are very prolific with hundreds of fruit per tree. Maybe it's because the fruit is so delicate?

But recently I found a tree a few streets away in my present neighborhood. Once they start to ripen you have a week or so to pick the fruit before it rots and ants and flying insects get their share.

Figs are ripe when soft and sweet. The flesh inside is fragrant and loaded with small strawberry-like seeds. I eat the skin and all but do remove a stem if attached.

I've seen green figs that stay green when ripe and other green figs that turn dark brown or black when ripe. 

Ripe figs are very sweet at their peak. They are also juicy and sticky and will burst open where pressed. They can get a bit mushy so you have to slice them carefully.

For the pancake batter, I use a commercial brand. If you have a homemade recipe then use it. I can get a large box of dry pancake batter at my local 99c only Store or Dollar Tree. Regular grocery stores sell it cheap enough, too.

So start your day right, with my super-sweet cheap$kate breakfast of Fig Pancakes.

Fig Pancakes - Video

Play it here, video runs 1 minute, 55 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

The box directions above mention the cooking time to brown each side as 1.5 minutes each....hmmm, they must be using a super hot pan!

Ingredients (2 servings, using a pancake mix)

• 1 cup pancake mix - any favorite
• 3/4 cup water - okay to use milk for a richer pancake batter.
• 1 to 2 figs per Pancake - sliced. Enough slices to cover with batter. Okay to slice or roughly chop figs.
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil - to grease skillet. Add more when needed, depending on how many pancakes you make.
• Butter and your favorite Pancake Syrup - add as much as you like.

Directions
Prepare pancake batter according to package directions. My pancake mix calls for 1 cup of flour and 3/4 cup of water.

Mix pancake ingredients in a bowl. When mixed it will be like thick gravy.

Rinse and carefully slice ripe figs, remove the stem if necessary. I like a thick slice so usually, I get about 3 slices per fig. Okay to roughly chop figs

Start to heat the pan over medium/low heat. Arrange figs on a lightly oiled grill or frying pan. Pour on the pancake batter.

Brown each side of the pancake. Mine took about 2-3 minutes for each side. It really depends on how hot your pan gets. The box directions above mention the cooking time to brown each side as 1.5 minutes each....hmmm, they must be using a super hot pan!

If you want a dark brown pancake presentation, then just cook one side to get the right amount of brown, then cook the other side for a minute, to finish. Serve browned side up, on the plate.

I serve Fig Pancakes hot with melted butter and your favorite pancake syrup.