Listener Poll - Discover, Be Inspired

This week I walk folks through the results of a listener poll. From legalization to favourite edibles to make, find out what fellow listeners think.

Ever wondered what it’s like to reach a five-year milestone in podcasting? Join me as I celebrate Bite Me’s fifth anniversary by sharing some of the most memorable moments, listener feedback, and personal growth stories from this incredible journey. Discover the power of community and gratitude as I thank both new and long-time supporters who’ve stuck with me through thick and thin. 

Get ready to tantalize your taste buds! We dive into a curated collection of favourite edibles as voted by you, our loyal listeners. From the sweet allure of cannabis-infused cookies and gummies to the savoury delight of rosemary battered olives, there's something for everyone. Learn about the challenges and joys of making edibles at home, and find out whether our community prefers DIY treats or the convenience of store-bought options. This episode is a treasure trove of tips, recipes, and insights on the delicious and versatile world of infused edibles.

Thirsty for more? Explore the exciting world of cannabis-infused beverages, inspired by a recent dispensary visit. Discover the health benefits and cost savings of homemade drinks, and get practical tips for crafting your own at home. We’ll also share listener ideas for future content, including simple recipes and diabetic-friendly options. Don’t miss out on joining the Bite Me Cannabis Club before summer’s end. It’s the perfect way to connect with fellow edibles enthusiasts and take your culinary adventures to the next level!

If you didn't have an opportunity to participate in the listener poll but want to share your thoughts, reach out!

Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:06

Welcome back friends, to episode 252, where I turn the lens on you, my dear listeners, and reveal the results of a poll that I recently conducted and for which I got many responses, and we're going to dig into those in this week's episode. Stay tuned. Welcome to Bite Me, the show about edibles, where I help you take control of your high life. I'm your host and certified Gange 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. Welcome back, friends. We're doing another episode of Bite Me this week, as always, because I do new episodes every single week, almost without fail. I would say in the last six months there have been a couple of failures in that regard, but hey, you know so I'm a one woman show and I've been going through a lot of shit in the last little while. So I am forgiving myself, and I hope you will too. But in any case, if you're joining for the first time, I'm glad you found me. I would love to learn how you discovered the show and if you've been listening for a while. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, because I couldn't do this without you. Remarkably, this episode is about a week away from five years of doing this show. Can you believe that Five years ago I started with my very first episode? I should link to it in the show notes. I should probably listen to it again and see what I sounded like, because it'd be pretty interesting to hear what I sound like doing an episode five years ago to now.

Speaker 2: 1:35

I would love to think that I use less filler words, but I know how many of them I have to edit out. So that probably hasn't happened. And I do have some words that I love to use, sort of like those I don't know colloquialisms or whatever, and God they bug me so much because I listen back to it afterwards I'm like do I really have to say that again? And I couldn't even tell you right now, as I'm recording this, or what those words are or those phrases, because sometimes they're phrases. But I'm sure I'll hear some of them when I go back to edit this because I just love them so much and I just like why can't I remove these from my vocabulary? So I hope there's not too many ums and ahs that they drive you crazy. I do try and edit most of them out.

Speaker 2: 2:19

Sadly there was no fan mail this week. I was off like a shot when I first introduced this new feature. That was, you know, a new feature that was introduced by my podcast host I can't really take credit for that and I got so many responses from listeners like you who wanted to text me and share their thoughts with me. And, of course, this is the first week since it's been introduced that I haven't gotten any fan mail. But if you want to send a message, you may be interested in sharing some of your thoughts on the poll results yourself. If you didn't participate in the poll, I'm certainly interested in your answers if you want to share anything with me afterwards. So by all means, send me a text message or you can always get a hold of me by email or Instagram, dm or whatever you're feeling.

Speaker 2: 3:04

It's my birthday coming up. Did I say it's my birthday? Not only is it going to mark five years since I started Bite Me, the show about edibles, but that also happens to fall on my birthday and this lady of a certain age is going to be turning 40 something. Well, why don't I just say it? I'm not really embarrassed about my age. I don't feel my age most of the time, until sometimes when I go out, I like to go out dancing and whatnot. Well, there's one of those filler words. I like to go dancing sometimes, but usually after I've been doing it for a few hours my knees start to ache a little bit and I'm like I'm tired, and then I'm like, oh yeah, there it is too, that 47 years of age is catching up with me. But you know what? I don't really mind it anymore. I just there might've been a time in my life where I'd be like party all night. I'm sure we've all been there. But those days for me are over and I'm embracing it. I love going to bed early. Now, if I'm going out for a night of dancing, I will stay up past. My bedtime Could be 12 to 1 am, 12 pm, 12 to 1am, 12pm to 1am, which is pretty damn late for me.

Speaker 2: 4:11

I've also been experimenting and I just took a shot before I started this episode because I love the cognitive clarity that it gives me. But I've been experimenting with Magic Mind for the last little while actually, and I've really been enjoying using it because it has time-released caffeine in it. But it's not a caffeine replacement. It's not a coffee replacement, because I still love to start my mornings with my coffee ritual, which is really what it's become. This is not a replacement for coffee. This is to be used in conjunction with it.

Speaker 2: 4:44

There have been over 200 scientific studies behind every ingredient in Magic Mind, and many of the ingredients are mushrooms. There are so many things that mushrooms can do for our environment. They've done studies where they can consume plastic, they can clean up sites that have been spilled with oil. The things, the nutrition they provide, the cognitive clarity, nevermind the mind expanding benefits of certain types of mushrooms. There's just so many different types of mushrooms and so the mushrooms in this Magic Mind which are organically grown in California and they use the fruiting body, not the mycelium, which is like the root system that grows under the ground. So I really enjoy using Magic Mind.

Speaker 2: 5:31

It's my mental performance shot. I like to use it before I sit down to work, in particular when I'm sitting down to record, because sometimes I've got to really be on my game, because I am talking here alone in my office, which can be interesting to think that there's a bunch of people on the other end listening to what I'm saying, and so you really have to get yourself into the headspace. So this mental performance shot is really part of my work routine and it helps me stay focused and mentally clear and productive. And I love using these shots before I do an interview because I still get nervous before I do interviews. I've done over 50 interviews, I believe, by now with some really amazing people and I still get nervous because I want it to be amazing. So these mental performance shots really helped me gather myself and be on the top of my game, because a lot of the times I have the questions prepared but you have to be able to sort of roll with how the conversation goes.

Speaker 2: 6:26

I add my own spin on the questions. I don't want to be just reading questions off a page. I want it to be more natural and flowing, and so you have to be like mentally alert and focused in order to do that. And mushroom nootropics and adaptogens are that's what really helps me, actually a lot more than caffeine itself. The coffee or the caffeine and coffee is great, but it's actually these additional ingredients that really help me to be focused and mentally clear. If you want to try it out for yourself, you can go to magicmindcom forward slash, bite me and if you use the code, bite me 20 at checkout forward slash, bite me, and if you use the code bite me 20 at checkout, you'll get a discount on your order, and that may be 48% off your first subscription or 20% off a one-time purchase if you want to just check it out, so try bite me. 20 at magicmindcom forward slash, bite me, and I would love to hear what you think about it. You know how to get ahold of me. Hear what you think about it. You know how to get a hold of me.

Speaker 2: 7:30

We are digging into these poll results and, like I said, I can't remember where I posted this poll. I think it was kind of like all over the place, but I was really interested to learn about what things you folks are interested in when it comes to edibles, the podcast, all things, cannabis, and the first question I asked in this poll was is cannabis legal where you live? A surprisingly high number of 84% said yes. They are in a place where cannabis is legal, which tells me that most of you therefore have access to some kind of dispensary. You may have access to home grow so you can grow your own cannabis, and usually access is just easier and, of course, there's very little risk when you're in a place where cannabis is legal, so I was happy to hear that one day, one day, my friends, I would love to see 100% saying yes, because we're all in a place where cannabis is deemed safe and effective for people to use and the stigma surrounding it has finally disappeared and all that brainwashing and propaganda that we've been putting up for the last fucking hundred years is finally wiped from the slate and we can look back at it in the history books as a dark time in our history because we just didn't fully grasp or understand the power of this plant. And whether you're a listener or you know people that are using cannabis for just topicals, because it helps with their physical pain, makes them feel better, or you're all the way up to using dabs, or however you use cannabis, there's something for everyone, and I fully admit that sometimes cannabis isn't necessarily for everyone, but they can often use cannabis topicals and those people are benefiting from cannabis as well.

Speaker 2: 9:21

The next question I asked what are your favorite edibles to eat? And this was a really interesting question, like the answers I got were really interesting. The question itself is not particularly interesting, but I was just really interested in what people like to consume and I got a variety of answers and I love some of the creativity that I saw and many of these were doing it for almost five years. So I have a ton of episodes so I can in the show notes. There's going to be some pretty lengthy show notes, I believe, for this episode because I can link to a lot of past episodes I've done. That can help people find what they're looking for when it comes to their favorite edibles to eat. Now, one of the first responses I got that got a lot of like, that got a high percentage of responses, was anything with cannabis in it, and I love that. Or one of the other answers that got a lot of responses was cookies, and I'm very happy to hear that because I have done a number of cookie episodes and I'll link to some of those in the show notes as well, most recently the Oreo cheesecake cookies, which I finally finished eating and they were so good. But I've done a lot of cookie recipes so I'll link to those in the show notes.

Speaker 2: 10:27

Gummies was the next answer that probably got the most responses and, of course, gummies I have found since I started this show are probably I don't want to say the most challenging edible to make, because obviously there's ones that are more challenging. But when I was first starting to do gummy recipes for this show and sort of trying to find ones, that because I'm not a professional chef I'm not necessarily developing my own recipes but I'm looking for recipes out there that I can infuse, and many gummies especially ones I'm doing air quotes here, if you can envision it the ones that are quote natural gummies were often disappointingly lacking the consistency not consistency but the texture of a real gummy that you would buy in a store, because they were almost more like jello. So I've tried a ton of different gummy recipes and I have found sometimes, at the end of the day, the pre-made gummy mixes that you can now get. There are ones that are available through Loran which I have really enjoyed making. The ones with Loran are great too, because you can there's uncolored and unflavored, so you would add the food coloring and the flavoring that you like. So they're very customizable. And then Levo also does a gummy mix and those ones already have color and flavor in them. Both of these gummy making kits make making gummies pretty simple and of course you just have to add your own concentrates to it or infusion to it in order to infuse them. So those are a great option actually, because sometimes gummies can be a little finicky and fussy to make.

Speaker 2: 12:01

Chocolate also got a number of responses, not surprising. Who doesn't love infused chocolate? And I don't know if I've done as many chocolate recipes like just straight up chocolate, but I know I've done at least one and after trying the Feeling Dank Edibles vegan chocolate that was gifted to me while I was in Berlin, I would definitely be willing to try it again because it was delicious and they really keep well as well. I make a lovely gift if you're trying to make something look really beautiful that you want to share with somebody that you care about. Peanut butter balls was a very specific response that I thought. You know what? Who doesn't love peanut butter? I'm going to have to try and make those. I have done peanut butter cookies. I've probably done other peanut butter recipes. I've even done an infused hazelnut spread which is not peanut butter but hazelnuts delicious nonetheless. You should check that out.

Speaker 2: 12:53

Another specific response high confection treats like Oreo truffles. Now, I don't know what Oreo truffles are, but I am intrigued. I have done truffles before. I used to think truffles were really difficult to make until I tried them the first time, and they're actually very simple. So if you're interested in something chocolatey like that, oatmeal crazing cookies, homemade edibles made by my hands I love that response because that's why a lot of us are here, because we love making our own edibles. Another specific answer was rose gummies from California, and I love to see that answer because those rose gummies were Turkish Delights and I had Nathan who was the co-founder of Rose Delights on the show. It might've been last summer, actually. I'll link to that one in the show notes too, because I think they're doing a beautiful job of creating these lovely artisanal gummies that are a true reflection of farm-to-table process.

Speaker 2: 13:52

Oil was another response. You've got something you can put right in your coffee, your tea, drizzle it on salad, whatever it's just ready to use. You don't necessarily even have to bake it into anything. Savory, strong truffles, drinks, sweets and no preferences as long as it's good, were some of the answers that I got. I have done many savory recipes for the show as well, and I'll link to some of those in the show notes because I have done things like salad dressings. I have done deep fried rosemary battered olives, which were delicious Pesto. Pesto was a fantastic recipe to infuse and I have noted this so that I can focus on some more savory recipes for those of you who are looking for that, who don't necessarily have the raging sweet tooth like I do.

Speaker 2: 14:42

The next question was do you prefer to make your own or buy? And I found this interesting because there were a number of responses where the people said that they preferred to buy, and some of the rationale was they turn out better. Some were also looking to make their own. They were buying but they were looking to start making their own. And then some people said it was easier to buy but more cost effective to make your own. A hundred percent. I agree with all of that. Sometimes, depending on what you're making like, if you want something super consistent, you want like gummies we've already talked about those Gummies can be finicky and tricky and a little more time-consuming, depending on how you're doing them. And if you're not wanting to spend an afternoon in the kitchen doing this, then sometimes it's easier to go and just buy them and you know you're going to have a very repeatable, consistent experience, the downside, of course, being they are easier to buy but it is so much more cost effective to make your own Like.

Speaker 2: 15:40

Recently I went to a dispensary. I was out of town and I wanted to get a cannabis beverage and I love cannabis beverages. I wanted to try. I love going into the dispensaries. Like I said, I'm trying out different things, trying out new things, and there was a couple of beverages I was like, oh, I haven't tried those ones before. One beverage was $9. $9.07 Canadian after tax, a 10 milligram drink. That's pretty pricey and I can infuse some honey. Honey is wonderful in infused drinks because it doesn't separate the same way like if you were using an oil and it's just so much less expensive. I can make a whole batch of honey for probably nine bucks. Now I do have to put a little time and effort in, but the payoff it's probably also healthier for me too, because I know the drink that I bought had quite a bit of sugar in it. You really do have to watch that for some of the drinks that you're finding on the market too. Some of them are very high in sugar.

Speaker 2: 16:34

Of course, many people, probably the majority of the answers were mostly that they make their own, which makes sense because you're listening to a podcast that helps cooks make great edibles at home, so of course, we're all making our own edibles and if you are new to making edibles, you have questions. You can always reach out to me. Maybe join the Bite Me Cannabis Club, because you can ask other people for advice as you started on your journey, experimenting, and it doesn't need to be intimidating. Are there any cannabis chefs or content creators or people that you admire? And I have to say, I was really flattered that so many of you were like you, marge, we admire you, and I was just like. I was really flattered that so many of you were like you, marge, we admire you, and I was just like, oh, that's like so sweet. But of course, I know there's a lot of amazing content creators out there and chefs that are doing some really cool shit in this space, and these are the types of people that I like to have on my show. There was a number of names that I have not heard before and, of course, I've started following them on Instagram and if I can get an opportunity to have some of these folks on my show, I will definitely make an attempt at reaching out to them. Sometimes those attempts go well and sometimes they go nowhere, but that doesn't mean you can't keep trying.

Speaker 2: 17:44

Is there any content, information, recipes that you'd like to see from Bite Me? Love the responses? I'm going to be doing my best to take from these lists and including some of these into future episodes, which is why I like to do these types of polls, because it really helps me sort of concentrate on bringing content that you, my dear listeners, are looking for Summer salad, more cooking, science, home soda infusions and the length of time until you feel it hit. I've done a number of episodes with people who are experts in the beverages space, so I'll link to those, but do know that beverages usually hit faster and the duration is much shorter.

Speaker 2: 18:28

Real, simple recipes and ingredients. Three to five ingredient recipes Coconut dipped chocolate balls, very specific. Let's see if we can't get that one done. Diabetic friendly recipes I'm sure I've got a few. I'm going to see if I can find ones that I've done, because sometimes I also have a cannabis recipes page on my website and sometimes I've missed uploading some of those onto that page, but you can certainly search the website as well. Hard sweets like buttermints, humbugs trends, ways to infuse, more interviews with people in the industry. Low carb again. Diabetic friendly recipes infused breakfast foods. I haven't done a lot of those, I've done a few. It's been a while, but who doesn't love an infused breakfast? That's like a true wake and bake and Mexican been a while.

Speaker 1: 19:13

but who doesn't love an infused breakfast? That's like a true wake and bake, and Mexican.

Speaker 2: 19:16

And I think that about wraps up the poll. I think that was like five questions and I just wanted to share with you some of these results so you have an idea of what to expect moving forward. I would love to get your feedback If there's anything that I missed or that you would like to share with me. By all means, fan mail, email, podcast, hotline, DM me on Instagram. Consider joining the Bite Me Cannabis Club. By the end of the summer, I'll be closing off the free membership, but you can meet with other like-minded edibles enthusiasts and cannabis people over there and ask questions and be able to interact a little more directly. I'm your host, Marge, and until next time, my friends, stay high.