Table of Contents
Foreword
by Dennis Peron Medical Marijuana Pioneer
I first met Aunt Sandy while teaching the History of Medical Marijuana at Oaksterdam University. Over the years we have fostered our friendship, and I am honored to be a part of Aunt Sandys Medical Marijuana Cookbook.
Aunt Sandy has told me that she relies on my book all the time. She is referring to Brownie Marys Marijuana Cookbook and Dennis Perons Recipe for Social Change, co-authored with Mary Rathbun, in 1996. In the mid-70s, I met Brownie Mary Rathbun outside of a San Francisco caf. A friend pointed her out to me and from then on we were very close friends.
The 1980s AIDS epidemic happened at the height of Americas War on Drugs. We knew marijuana could relieve the pain and weight loss due to wasting syndrome in AIDS patients, but we were in the Belly of the Beast. Brownie Mary made cannabis brownies in my kitchen and distributed them for free to street kids and AIDS patients in a blatant act of defiance to the arcane drug laws. The sweet taste of the brownies helped them consume the medicine, which in turn restored their appetites and improved their quality of life. She continued to help people in need, regardless of her life missions conflict with our drug laws.
Brownie Mary died in 2000, but her legacy lives on through Aunt Sandys work. After suffering a stroke, I have been unable to smoke cannabis. Aunt Sandy brings me medicated foods every Tuesday. Her food is delicious, innovative, and nutritious, but more importantly Aunt Sandys foods truly relieve pain in the body, mind and soul. Her warmth and compassion shines through in her recipes. I truly believe that the information in this book is invaluable and could potentially be life changing for you, your friends, or a loved one.
Preface
by Richard Lee President, Oaksterdam University
Aunt Sandys edibles are a favorite around Blue Sky Coffeeshop, in Oakland, and in the Bay area. Since joining us, her recipes have also become popular with Oaksterdam University students, but more importantly Sandy herself has been part of the Oaksterdam family for years. Aunt Sandy is now taking cooking with cannabis to a higher level with this cookbook. We are proud to have Sandy enhance and contribute to our Methods of Ingestion curricululm. She is helping Oaksterdam University bring quality training to the cannabis and hospitality industry.
Keep the Faith!
Chapter 1
Welcome to Aunt Sandys Kitchen
Ever since I was a teenager I have loved cooking. My home-style cooking can best be described as comfort food. As I began to understand the therapeutic benefits of cooking with marijuana, I learned how these foods can also help to heal a persons mind as well as their body. I am delighted that Aunt Sandys Medical Marijuana CookbookComfort Food for Mind and Body can help you to learn the secrets of cooking with marijuana so that you too can provide relief and joy with foods from your kitchen.
One of the greatest feelings in the world is to cook wonderful food that people love. When that food also has the power to help a person feel better both physically and emotionally, that feeling becomes even greater. Early on I realized the therapeutic value of the cannabis plant, long before the idea came back to the mainstream. I began cooking marijuana foods in 1974 to help my brother relieve his chronic pain. At the time, I was nave and just added a bag of marijuanasticks, seeds, stemsand all to a cookie recipe and my poor brother had to eat it. Even though the cannabis did its job, the cookie was difficult to eat and had the bitter taste of chlorophyll from the plant material. Over the years I have perfected the process and have developed methods that enhance the taste of the food while lessening the harsh taste of marijuana.
Ive lived in California my whole life and have been a medical marijuana advocate for decades. In 1996 California passed the groundbreaking medical marijuana law Proposition 215, which allowed me to further explore the benefits of marijuana cooking in a safe and legal environment. I now have hundreds of patients that depend on my tasty, medicated foods to make their world a better place.
Currently I prepare my dishes for a select group of medical marijuana dispensing collectives in California. Being involved with these organizations has given me the opportunity to see first-hand how these foods have the power to change a persons life and bring them a level of comfort and healing that other medicines could not. When a patient comes up to me and tells me how one of my lemon bars helped her sleep through the night or manage his pain more regularly, it warms my heart. Those moments keep me working hard in the kitchen to provide the very best medicinal foods to the patients I serve. I now teach my craft to students at Oaklands revolutionary marijuana trade school, Oaksterdam University, so that others can learn to provide their own comfort foods for themselves or for the patients in their lives.
Im proud to be the mother of three successful daughters who support my vision to provide healing foods to patients. My daughters, a nurse, a chef, and a student, have experienced first-hand my passion for making home-cooked marijuana remedies. They have always been my buddies, and they totally understand the medical benefits of cannabis for patients in need. I thank them for their support, which has helped me to discover my callingcreating flavorful and effective therapies for an increasingly wider patient base.
My kitchen is a place of compassion and healing. While there are still certain legal and societal hurdles to jump to provide medical marijuana, I do not worry because I know whole-heartedly that what I am doing is right. It is unacceptable for those who oppose marijuana to allow for patients to suffer because of lack of understanding or misinformation about this wonderful and healing plant. Patients deserve to have safe access to reliable and effective marijuana medicines, and I am honored to be able to do my part to help.
By creating Aunt Sandys Medical Marijuana CookbookComfort Food for Mind and Body