It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to host a party at home. I miss it. I think the last opportunity we had to have a party was last year when we threw a little housewarming after we moved into our house. This house was made for entertaining. Laid out perfectly for a party both inside and out (even if there are some parts that need updating/fixing). It’s one of the things that made me fall in love with the house when we first saw it.
I’m sure it’s unsurprising to learn that I’ve been dying to host an infused dinner party ever since we moved into this house. I had fully intended to spend the summer hosting friends and family for small gatherings full of infused treats. Unfortunately, the pandemic sort of changed those plans. Even though I can’t hold the giant edible garden party of my dreams, I can share my tips for planning and hosting a small gathering of folks whom you feel safe sharing a meal with right now.
Make a plan
If you want this dinner party to go well, you need to make a plan. Start with the menu. How many courses will you serve? Will it be a proper sit down meal or more of a blaze and graze situation? Once you’ve figured out what and how you’ll serve the food, get together all of the recipes and resources. What can be made a day in advance? What can be made a week in advance (and frozen)? What parts of the recipes will be infused?
Since you’ll likely be infusing the food yourself, make sure to start getting the infusions together in advance. Do you need butter? Tinctures? Coconut oil? Since all of those base infusions can be stored safely for weeks or months, make sure to get those out of the way early. Don’t forget to label your infusions with the strain name, type, and dosage.
Make sure to also survey your guests on their dosage preferences during the planning phase, too.
Dose lightly
I’m going to sound fairly boring here, but I would opt to dose on the lighter side. Especially if you’re also serving any kind of alcohol (personally I wouldn’t serve alcohol but leave the option to your guests if they’d like to BYOB). And even more especially if you are unsure of your guests tolerance level or familiarity with edibles (you shouldn’t be if you surveyed in advance, but just in case).
Stick to around 10mg per course per person, less if everyone is brand new to edibles, with the option to add more through toppings, sauces, or other additions. Since there will likely be other substances in the equation like smokeables, or alcohol, keep it low key. You don’t want anyone to have a bad time.
Add CBD to counteract
If you are concerned that you may unintentionally overdose a guest, plan to have some CBD on hand. CBD is known to help reduce and/or balance the effects of THC consumption. CBD doesn’t need to be an integral part of your meal, but I think it is smart to incorporate it towards the end of the meal.
It’s a perfect addition for a dessert or speciality cocktail/mocktail. It doesn’t have to be a lot of CBD but 5-10 mg should help to reduce the psychoactive effects of the THC.
Dose the dressings and sauces
Maybe this advice is a little strange. You can infuse anything you’re serving, of course. My thought process here is that while you can serve each course pre-dosed on the plate, infusing the dressings and sauces will allow your guests to up their dose on their own by adding a little extra to their plates.
Know your strains and strengths
You should know exactly what strains you used and their strengths for the sake of your guests. You should probably also find out beforehand if anyone has any particular sensitivities to a certain strain (or certain types of strains). For an elevated experience, you should try to pair your strains with your menu by terpene profiles. This will help cover up some of the flavor of the cannabis flower that some people find unpleasant while still allowing those flavors to complement the meal.
Mark dosage
Clearly label items with cannabis and mark what the dosage is. If there is activated kief in the seasoning on the chicken, say how much kief you used and what your best guess of dosage is for one portion. If it’s a sauce or a dressing, label how many MG per tablespoon. Don’t do any crazy mathematics, just go with your best estimate (and don’t forget to use the dosage calculator below).
You want the infused dishes clearly marked so that there is no confusion for your guests. You may also want to give them small notebooks and golf pencils so that they can keep track of how much they’ve ingested as well. Might work, might not. Probably not, especially after a certain point
If you’re wondering how to label clearly, you could hang a large sign and use color coding (blue sticker= 10mg thc/tablespoon; red sticker = 10mg thc/cup, etc). You could go the fancy route with little cards on holders like a proper catering situation. There’s no wrong move here, just label that food and especially if your guests are self serving, buffet style.
Allow your guests to self serve/dose themselves
I think this is an important piece of advice. If everything is clearly labeled, you’re putting it in their hands to control their dose. Hopefully everyone you invite has self control and knows themselves well enough to not go overboard.
This is one reason why I also recommend sticking to dosing the sauces, gravies, and dressings. You can only use so much gravy before you’re full of mashed potatoes, you know what I mean? I think everyone can have a good time without throwing up in your bathroom, don’t you? You should do what you can to facilitate that.
Make sure there’s plenty of space to get comfy
As dinner winds down, you may notice your guests are ready to just relax and enjoy the feast you prepared. Maybe they’re feeling a little woozy or sleepy and just not quite ready to make the trek home. Make sure you have some cozy space for everyone to enjoy the high together. Put on a funny movie, roll up a blunt, and enjoy the time together. Some of your guests may not be able to safely get themselves home, you should be prepared to host them for the evening or arrange for a DD if you’d rather keep your space to yourself (no judgements).
In conclusion…
Keep it simple and don’t overthink it. Any of your favorite recipes can be turned into infused dishes (but if you need help, hit that contact form on the contact page and I can walk you through it).
