Matcha Marshmallow Corn Flakes Squares inspired by Saving Grace

Aaaaaah, April 20th...aka the day when pot smokers around the world (or maybe it's just the country?) raise their buds high as a nod to the fact that it's 420 ALL DAY LONG. If you're not familiar with the history, there are all sorts of 420 origins stories. The one that I heard back in the days was that 420 was the police code for "marijuana smoking in progress" in California, so as a way of sticking it to the man, the date has blossomed into a day to salute the herb.

Those were the days before Google, so I figured I'd google it to see if that was true. Well, to some people it is, but I did find some other supposed roots in the number. Maybe that's part of its appeal? Anyway, since the day is upon us, my f'ing fab friend Sophia from NY Foodgasm suggested we make some 4/20-inspired food. With so many fun ideas floating around in my head, I happily agreed.

I decided to take one of my favorite stoner movies and use it as inspiration. I have a fairly long list of favorites that includes Dazed and Confused, Pineapple Express, Half-Baked, The Big Lebowski, Friday, anything Cheech & Chong, any Harold and Kumar flick, and the awesome British stoner flick, Saving Grace (my choice for today).

This movie from 2000, is set in a small fishing village in Cornwall, England. It begins with the funeral of Grace's husband, who has recently jumped from a plane without a parachute. Although she knows he was having an affair, she soon finds out that the comfortable life she was accustomed to was about to be pulled out from under her due to bad inventments and mortgaging their house to the hilt. He owed all sorts of people money...meaning she now owes all sorts of people money.

Grace is sort of "high society", holding regular tea parties and gatherings in her home. She's also an amazing gardener who lovingly and expertly grows orchids in her greenhouse. She's kind and well-liked (and according to a friend, she has amazing hair). But she doesn't know how she can possibly raise the kind of money needed to save her home in the short time period she was given.

Fortunately Grace has a horrible gardener-slash-maintenance-slash-all-around-handy-man named Matthew who, along with his good friends, likes to smoke pot. He'd been unsuccessfully trying to grow some plants in a hidden (and dark) spot on the church grounds, and asked Grace if she help his plants. From here, an idea hatched...in both of their minds. With her green thumb and his knowledge, they could grow, harvest, and sell enough hydroponically grown bud to pay off the debt that Grace's late husband left her and still have profit to split!

Well, as you can probably guess, hijinks and hilarity ensue. While they do their best to do this in secret, the whole village basically knows what Grace and Matthew are up to. But this is a tight-knit community, and they keep their mouths shut.

There is plenty of smoking throughout, and food is seen or mentioned quite a few times, but mostly in an offhand way. From the food seen at the funeral in the opening scene to drinks in the local pub to locally caught fish to the term "salmon poaching" (which seriously made me consider making poached salmon).

But there is one scene in particular...my favorite scene in the whole movie, in fact...that takes the cake as far as food goes in Saving Grace. And it's a "munchies" scene, of course. It begins with 2 ladies from the village. This is towards the end of the film, so we're deep into it. They stop by Grace's for a lunch that they'd arranged a while ago, but Grace had forgotten about it, and was in London trying to arrange a buyer for their crop.

"Would you like some Corn Flakes? They're heavenly."

The ladies eventually wander into the greenhouse and Harvey, a friend who has been tasked with watching the house and the plants, answers their inquiries about what Grace is growing with the fairly genius reply of "tea". Well, these ladies like tea, and one of them has very sticky fingers. So, they go home and she brews them a pot of tea using Grace's special tea leaves.

These two also run (and own, perhaps?) the town store. When somebody looking to collect a debt from Grace later and asks them for directions, they are pretty off their rockers. The one who swiped the "tea" leaves pops up from behind the counter asking if he'd like some Corn Flakes. If you have't seen it, it might be hard to imagine why it's so funny...but trust me, it really is. You can catch a glimpse of that scene and so much more in this trailer (or scroll to the bottom for the entire store scene):
How could I not use that scene as inspiration? And what stoner wouldn't love to munch on a couple of these gooey, marshmallow corn flakes squares!? For a bit of fun, I infused them with some Matcha, as a nod to the "tea" that made the corn flakes so heavenly in the first place. These are also super simple to make, even when you're flying high (or so I'd imagine). Plus, they're equally as delicious and addictive when you're stone sober.

Matcha Marshmallow Corn Flakes Squares

These marshmallow corn flakes squares infused with Matcha are the perfect way to satisfy the munchies!

by Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez

Prep Time: 5 minutes (active) + 30 minutes (inactive)

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Keywords: dessert marshmallows matcha bars American

Ingredients (16 squares)

• 4 ounces (1/2 cup / 1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon Matcha green tea powder
• pinch of fine salt
• 6 cups mini marshmallows
• 6 cups Corn Flakes

Instructions

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment or wax paper and grease it lightly.

Place the butter in a large non-stick pot over low heat until melted. Stir in the Matcha and salt until no dry spots remain. Add the marshmallows and cook, stirring almost constantly, until they are completely melted.

Dump the corn flakes into the pot and gently stir until they are entirely coated in marshmallow. Scoop into prepared pan and use a greased heat-safe rubber spatula or greased hands to press down into an even, compact layer.

Allow to cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before cutting into squares and devouring!

Have you seen Saving Grace? What is your favorite "stoner movie"...and what type of food would it inspire you to whip up? 


For more fun #420Food, check out these Lasagna Tacos from Sophia at NY Foodgasm, a true stoner's delight!