Kentucky Bourbon Balls

Ever had a close call with airport security that left your heart racing? That's exactly what happened to me returning from Berlin, with a carry-on full of podcasting gear and some deliciously secret edibles from Feeling Dank Edibles. This episode is bursting with appreciation, as I share the warm fuzzies from your incredible fan mail via Buzzsprout and the tales of my recent travel escapades. Discover the serendipitous airport encounter that thankfully focused on my recording equipment rather than my sweet stash, and how that unexpected spotlight ties into the magical world of podcasting.

Now, let's get into the kitchen where creativity meets indulgence. Thanks to a recipe from a listener named Steve, we're transforming Kentucky bourbon balls into Canadian whiskey balls, crafting a treat that's as flexible with potency as it is with flavor. Savor the step-by-step journey of mixing, rolling, and tasting these homemade delights that are as perfect for a cozy night in as they are for a thoughtful gift. And for my friends from High on Homegrown who've joined the community—your voices have been heard, and your presence has made our podcast family all the richer. Grab your aprons, and let's whip up some magic together.
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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

And welcome back my friends. In this week's episode we're doing Kentucky bourbon balls. Welcome to Bite Me, the show about edibles, where I help you take control of your high life. I'm your host and certified gongier, marge, and I love helping cooks make safe and effective edibles at home. I'm so glad you're here and thank you for joining me today. Hello friends, and here we are at episode. What episode am I in? 248, I believe, if memory serves me correctly, and I have returned home to Canada at the time of this recording.

Speaker 1: 0:40

I am recording this relatively late, although I had a plan in place because I knew I'd be tired and need something, need a recipe to do, because I've been kind of skating by without doing recipes necessarily, and I know you've probably been waiting for some. This one I did a little while ago, but we'll get into that in a minute. I posed a question to y'all last week and I believe the question was where did you hear about Bite Me, the show about edibles? Because there's this new feature where, if you tap the fan mail button or link in the podcast player where you're listening to your podcast, your episodes, you can shoot me a text. Now I can't reply to those text messages via the app that they use within Buzzsprout. This is perhaps some technical details you guys don't really need to know, but just know that that is the reason why you haven't gotten a reply, because I'm going to reply to you all right here and I've been really blown away by the responses I don't know how many messages I got, but it was quite a few been really blown away by the responses. I don't know how many messages I got, but it was quite a few and I just want to give a big shout out to all of you who did reach out and message me via this new feature, and I'm really loving it and I really appreciate my podcasting host that rolled it out and introduced it to all the hosts so that they can easily receive messages from the people who are listening to their shows, and this is something that they have added to the platform free of charge as well.

Speaker 1: 2:07

Because if you are out there considering starting a podcast, may I suggest Buzzsprout as your host? Because Buzzsprout, if you're listening to this, you are awesome. Seriously, I don't think I've encountered any other kind of software as a service, if you will, that has the same kind of philosophy as Buzzsprout does, and I know you're not tuning into the show to listen to me wax poetic about my podcasting host, but honestly, they have the best customer service and they provide exceptional service to people like me, small, independent podcasters who need reliable, ethical services like a podcast host. So if you have questions about that, you can always shoot me a message too. You can always hit that fan mail. I mean, I suppose that's for shorter things, but if you want to send a fan mail, please do. I love getting those. It's so cool to read them and you can always send me longer messages via email, the podcast hotline, which allows you to record a voice message, or you can DM me on Instagram, which is the platform that I am most active on. So, just to go through a few of these, I got a message that said they first heard about me on High on Homegrown and I am on their Sunday afternoon live streams of their new show, and they did do grow guides for a long time. I think they're going to be resuming those soon. So if you're tuning into that, that's where I appear most often. I don't tend to do the interviews because the time zones it's always a thing, and after being in Europe for the last almost couple months. I can fully appreciate that now, but I am on their Sunday shows every week, most weeks, and I really enjoy being on High and Homegrown. So someone from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland said they first heard me on High and Homegrown. Thanks for listening, hey, marge, a fabulous episode today. I loved following your journey in Germany. Welcome home. And that is Amanda from High Ladies Podcast. Oh, it's so nice to hear that there's other podcasters listening to fellow podcasters, because I also enjoy listening to the High Ladies podcast too and if you haven't heard of that one, check it out. They really focus on the Canadian cannabis industry and they are crushing it.

Speaker 1: 4:15

Someone from Minnesota I found your show by listening to High and Homegrown. I'm glad I found Bite Me. It's a wealth of knowledge and a lot of fun to listen to. Well, thank you. Whoever you are from Minnesota, I really appreciate your message. I got some messages from a fellow in Rochester, new York, and he was sort of testing out the system with me and it appears to have worked. Someone from Massachusetts said they also learned about Bite Me, the show about edibles on High on Homegrown as well.

Speaker 1: 4:48

A listener from Ohio I found your podcast, listening to High on Homegrown when you were a guest. I've really enjoyed it so far. Thanks for all the great content. Thank you so much for your message and yes, I first discovered High on Homegrown because I was a guest on their show and this was way back pretty early in my podcasting days, so I remember being fairly nervous, but it was a lot of fun. They made it pretty easy and it was only a few months later that they asked me to join the panel. So I did, and I've actually met some really cool people through High and Homegrown too.

Speaker 1: 5:21

So, as you can hear here, a lot of people found Bite Me, the Show, bad Edibles through High and Homegrown. And lastly, someone from Texas said hey, love the show, need some recipes for small batches, savory, sweet. Well, I would also suggest first of all, thank you for the message, because I love getting suggestions that people want to hear because obviously that'll help me create content that you guys want to actually listen to, and today's episode should be right down your alley if you're looking for something sweet. As far as savory, I'm pretty jet-lagged right now, so I can probably. I can't really think of anything off the top of my head, but I know I've done stuff and if you go to bitemepodcastcom, there's a recipes page which I will be revamping very soon to hopefully make it easier to navigate. But you can find some savory recipes over there and I'm sure there's some small batch stuff that you might find appropriate and if not, I will certainly work on some recipes in that regard.

Speaker 1: 6:19

So thank you so much for all the fan mail, everyone out there, people who took the time to send me a message. I really appreciate it and if you're just tuning in for the first time, I hope you enjoy the show. And if you've been a longtime listener, thank you so much because I couldn't do this show without you. Now for this week's fan mail question where's the most interesting place that you've consumed edibles or cannabis? Send me a fan mail, let me know. I'll read your answers out on the show next week.

Speaker 1: 6:50

Now I'm back in Ottawa. I'm not yet back in my hometown, but I flew into Ottawa because that is where my sister lives and it seemed like a great way to spend a few days with her before I head home, because I don't get to Ottawa often enough because it is a really long drive from where I live. It's like four hours-ish give or take and everyone's busy, so sometimes it can be hard to make the time. But let me tell you what a harrowing adventure getting home. I don't know if I've ever had a travel experience quite like that. I should have known when I left my friend's apartment at 5 am the nature of the travel day that was to come.

Speaker 1: 7:27

I planned my route to the airport. I was taking the U-Bahn, or the S-Bahn as we like to say in Berlin, which is the subway, and S-Bahn is the above ground trains, and I planned my route so that I like to get to the airport pretty early. You know, if it's an international flight and they're like be there three hours early, I get there three hours early because otherwise I can get a little anxious. I just like to have that I'm there, I'm ready, I have lots of time, because sometimes you do encounter problems on your way.

Speaker 1: 7:55

I took the subway and then I switched to the train that I had to take. That was going to take me all the way to the airport, and at one of the stations it just stopped and there were other passengers on the train. We started saying like do you know what's going on? Are you on your way to the airport. Of course, these people weren't even Germans, so I think they're Russian. Thank God for translation apps. But we ended up all having to get off the train and of course there was no announcement made, there was no signage, nothing to say that this train wasn't going anywhere. So we have no idea what happened. But thankfully we were able to take another train on the same station, so it wasn't a scramble in that regard, but it did change up the flow and that was a harbinger of things to come.

Speaker 1: 8:37

Because next thing, I get to the airport in plenty of time and I get bored, my flight and we taxi out to the runway, but before we get to the runway the plane stops and it sits there for two hours. Now. I think there was a medical emergency. I shouldn't say I think there was a medical emergency of some kind. I didn't really know what was happening. It was happening further back on the plane, but paramedics did board the plane for a little bit and then left. So the passengers still remained on the plane, so they must have been okay, thankfully. But it did delay the plane. We sat on the tarmac for about two hours before the plane took off.

Speaker 1: 9:12

Well, that was long enough for me to miss my next connecting flight, because we were landing as that flight was taking off, and then they actually canceled the flight. There must have been enough people on the previous flight to warrant canceling it, so they rebooked me, which is fine. They rebooked me, however, from Paris, because that's where the connecting flight was leaving from to Toronto and then Ottawa. Now you might be thinking, well, why not just skip the flight to Ottawa? Well, one, I really wanted to visit my sister, of course, and two, I had driven there and left my car with my sister for while I was gone in Europe, and I really need to get my car back so I can drive around back home. And so, yeah, I couldn't just skip it, because otherwise I could have just found my way home from Toronto. But that flight got canceled, so I had to go on this next flight. I had to wait six hours in Paris for this next flight to leave, and so, that's fine. I am more than capable of entertaining myself.

Speaker 1: 10:13

Thank God that I bought a couple more books at a bookstore in Berlin in my last couple of days, because I almost finished one of them. It's actually a very compelling book Little Monsters by Adrienne Brodeur. It's not necessarily a new book, but it's very readable and I've been enjoying it quite a bit. Well, when I land in Toronto, I learned that my and this is late at night at this point. I've been going all day and I think I landed in Toronto around nine o'clock PM and of course there's a six hour time difference there. So I went, you know, went back six hours. So I land and my flight's been canceled due to maintenance issues.

Speaker 1: 10:53

And I get a text from Air Canada at this point, who was supposed to be flying me to Ottawa from there and flying to Ottawa is a super quick flight too, so it was pretty discouraging. I was really looking forward to seeing my sister and sleeping in a nice cozy bed at her house, and Air Canada was like don't worry, we'll handle this for you. We're working hard on rebooking you another flight and we'll let you know within half an hour. Well, half an hour comes and goes and I get another message saying hey, we're having trouble finding you something. Hope you don't mind, but we'll let you know as soon as we get something. Well, they never did message me again, which I'm like what would have happened if I hadn't actually been proactive and called their customer service.

Speaker 1: 11:35

I called customer service, I was put on hold for quite a while and then they're like oh yeah, we rebooked you a flight. You just got to go find the Air Canada customer service counter in the airport and they'll get you a voucher for a hotel that night. Apparently, they don't have a customer service counter in one of the terminals, so of course I had to go to the other terminal and I did cry a couple times during this. I was so tired. It was late at night. I finally did talk to somebody in person and I got to the hotel near the airport in Toronto at around 1230 at night, only to have to get up around five o'clock in the morning Actually, I think it was 5.30 so I could get on the next plane back to Ottawa, which was, of course, delayed, fortunately only for about 20 minutes. But God was I happy to get to Ottawa and my sister picked me up and we went straight to the spa. Yes, that's right, we went straight to the spa and we spent the entire day there for the most part, and it was just what we both needed. My sister works a lot and it was just Mother's Day and I was in Berlin on Mother's Day and actually I had a really lovely day with my friend's family, but I was far from home, and so it was a nice way for my sister to reacquaint ourselves with each other and spend some time together in a spa while we were detoxing a little bit me especially from all the inflammation I probably generated from all that cortisol, all that stress, so it was a great way to spend some time.

Speaker 1: 13:05

When I got back, am I a little jet lagged? Yes, but do I have edibles Also? Yes, I was able to get some beautiful edibles from Feeling Dank Edibles in Berlin before I left. Did I bring them home with me? Yes, I did. Was I worried about it? Not at all. They weren't labeled. You couldn't tell. You'd have to like send them off to a lab to figure out that they were infused and, quite frankly, I'm like I don't give a shit. Would I travel with cannabis? Absolutely not, but I feel like edibles are a little bit different.

Speaker 1: 13:44

Now, when I was going through one of the airports, at one point I can't remember when, because it was all a bit of a blur One of my carry-on bag did get flagged and the border agent or the agent or whoever was going through it with me, in front of me, and did pull up the canister that I put this chocolate in and then put it back. Did I have a moment of trepidation at that point? Not really, actually, because usually what they're looking for in my carry-on I had my microphones and some of my other podcasting equipment, because I don't want that to get lost if my luggage happened to get lost and that's usually what's getting flagged when it goes through the x-rays. So I try.

Speaker 1: 14:10

This is vegan chocolate. This particular creator makes vegan chocolate using rosin to infuse it and it was so good I had like a strawberry coconut flavor, and what a nice fellow. Has been living in Berlin for quite a while and has been doing this and I would suggest you check him out if you're in the area, because beautiful vegan chocolate infused with rosin, so highly recommend, and he makes various different potencies as well, depending on what you're after. I had a chocolate bar that was 25 milligrams per square, which is sort of a perfect amount for me. So thank you for that gift. I definitely had some edibles last night, but I was also planning ahead because, yes, friends, marge is pretty smart some days when she really wants to be.

Speaker 1: 15:03

And I made these beautiful Kentucky bourbon balls I believe I owe thanks to you, steve, for sending me this recipe originally and I made them a little while before I left for Berlin back in fuck, when was that? March? That seems so long ago. But I left. I made them before I left, probably a week or two before I left, because you can freeze these quite beautifully. So this is another reason why this recipe is so great and it makes a batch of these individual bourbon balls. So that person who messaged to say they were looking for small batches and stuff this one would definitely fall into that category if it sounds like it would appeal to you. And it's not a recipe that requires a whole ton of ingredients, which makes it pretty simple and approachable to make.

Speaker 1: 15:53

Maybe I should be calling them Canadian whiskey balls, but I don't want to upset anybody. So I hope you know I kind of used Canadian whiskey because I had some Canadian whiskey. I was making an infused hot toddy. I made several of them actually last winter and I bought a bottle of whiskey for that purpose. I don't tend to drink whiskey very often but you know, a nice infused hot toddy is lovely in the winter, especially if you're feeling a little under the weather. But these Kentucky bourbon balls are another reason. Canadian whiskey balls are another reason why I might want to use them.

Speaker 1: 16:26

So what you'll need is a cup of chopped nuts. I used a mixture of different ones. You need five tablespoons of Kentucky bourbon, canadian whiskey I don't know whatever you happen to have on hand. You need a package of confectioner's sugar 16 ounces. You need half a cup of butter softened and whatever ratio based on your preferred tolerance, so you could use all infused butter or you could use ratio. You need some waxed paper, parchment paper, and you need some semi-sweet chocolate. I think they said just chocolate. I use chocolate chips, I'm pretty sure, if I recall.

Speaker 1: 17:06

And basically you start out by putting the nuts in a sealed jar. Like I said, I used a variety. So I think at the time I had walnuts and cashews. I probably put in almonds. I forget what else I would have had, but I know I always typically have those in my pantry, so I would have chopped those up. You put them in a jar and then you pour the bourbon, the whiskey, over the nuts and you allow them to soak overnight. It says in brackets in the recipe that I was sent, multiple days is ideal.

Speaker 1: 17:32

So you're infusing the nuts with this bourbon. Then your next step is to mix the sugar and the butter in a medium bowl. You fold in your soaked nuts. So you're doing this after you've already done the process of infusing your chopped nuts. So you fold in the soaked nuts and you form the mixture into three quarter inch sized balls and you stab them with toothpicks and you freeze them overnight, if you can. So this recipe is great. It does come in a few different steps, but it's still super easy to make.

Speaker 1: 18:05

So you're not necessarily making them in a day, but very easy to make. Then you're going to line your baking tray with waxed paper or parchment paper and set it aside. Next you melt your chocolate in a double broiler and you're stirring it frequently, making it nice and gooey. You don't want to scor. Melt your chocolate in a double broiler and you're stirring it frequently, making it nice and gooey. You don't want to scorch your chocolate. And then you take your frozen bourbon balls, canadian whiskey balls, whichever, and you dip them in the melted chocolate, arrange them on the prepared tray and then that's it.

Speaker 1: 18:38

Now they do, the ones that I made because I think it's suggested somewhere in the recipe. Where did I see that? I have in my notes here that I did that. I did eight tablespoons of Gibson's and one cup of mixed nuts, so this recipe isn't for the kids, although I guess because they're edibles. None of these recipes are for the kids. So I hope you're 19 plus if you're listening to this. But I think I did the eight tablespoons because the original recipe creator was saying that the five tablespoons was maybe not quite enough. You could do a bit more. But these do have a pretty distinctive taste of the bourbon or the whiskey in the finished product, so you might want to adjust that based on your own preferences. Five tablespoons is how the recipe is written. Eight tablespoons is what I ended up using. Oh, here's the note I was looking for. Next time I'd like a little more bourbon flavor. Well, you're going to get it if you do the eight tablespoons, but maybe you want to experiment with six instead, depending on your preferences. But this is a recipe that's so easy to make you may want to do it more than once. Anyway, there's another note here.

Speaker 1: 19:50

We found them to be a little sugary and raw the day we made them A day or two later much better A week or two later real good. The rawness of the sugar mellowed out. I had been eating those for a few days before I left, and then what I did was I brought the container of Kentucky bourbon balls with me or maybe I just brought a few, because the first night I was in was last night. So I ate one of those vegan chocolates that I got from Feeling Dank Edibles and it was delightful. But I had these Canadian whiskey balls in the freezer at my sister's place because I knew I didn't know what was going to be happening in Berlin, what would be the status of my edible stock once I got back, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't without.

Speaker 1: 20:30

Now. The one advantage, of course, is I'm in Canada again and there's a dispenser in every corner, but frankly, I love my homemade edibles. So I have these bourbon balls in her freezer, which I will be enjoying this evening. They're really good. They are really good. So this is sort of a fun recipe to try, and they are sweet, as you can tell from the confectioner's sugar the amount that you need to use but a little different with the soaked nuts in the bourbon or the whiskey. So I'd recommend you try these out and I think you'll really enjoy them. And once again, they freeze beautifully. So this is something that you can easily. You don't have to eat up the whole batch in a certain period of time, throw them in the freezer, make sure you label it and then go from there. So if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with somebody else that you care about, because sharing is the best way to spread the word about Bite Me, the show about edibles, and somebody else out there might really enjoy making some Kentucky bourbon balls.

Speaker 1: 21:33

Once again, you can talk to me email, podcast, hotline, dm and now fan mail. You can also stay up to get up to date with the newsletter, which I highly recommend you subscribe to. I try not to spam anybody, so please consider that. Of course, there's always the Bite Me Cannabis Club, which I'm really trying to grow, so please consider joining that. It is still free for the first bunch of members. Also consider joining the Bite Me Cannabis Club, and you know what won't give you travel woes the products and services that I recommend on the Marge Recommends page. So check those out, because those also help support the show. I'm your host Marge and until next time, my friends stay high.