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Sure, we enjoy a nice warming dram of single malt or blended Scotch whisky on a cold winter’s night. But sometimes we prefer the change of pace of a wintry hot toddy, rusty nail, or godfather. Luckily, there are plenty of high-quality, reasonably priced scotches with flavors that are well-suited for winter cocktails.

Regarding those aforementioned flavors, scotch offers two very different avenues for mixing. You can go with smoky whiskies to build your penicillin, Rob Roy, or blood and sand. Or you can grab a bottle of sherry-finished Scotch whisky and use those deeply resonant flavors of plums, holiday spices, orange, and chocolate to build a Scotch old fashioned, sour, or toddy.

To help you find the best possible options, we asked 15 bartenders to tell us their picks for the best Scotch whiskies to mix with this winter. Keep scrolling to see all of their selections.

Harleston Green Blended Scotch Whisky

Kimberly Schow, bar director at Hotel Dryce in Fort Worth, Texas

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $13

Why This Whisky?

At Hotel Dryce, we are currently using Harleston Green Blended Scotch in our cocktails, and we love it due to its mellow, easy mixability. You can’t go wrong with a rusty nail or Scotch and soda to warm up on a winter night.

Johnnie Walker Black Label Blended Scotch Whisky

Juliana Ortiz, food and beverage manager at The Vinoy Renaissance in St. Petersburg, Florida

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $28

Why This Whisky?

Johnnie Walker Black Label is one of the most popular scotches that customers request for wintry cocktails and for good reason. It’s full-bodied and the perfect balance of sweet, spicy, fruity, and smoky all in one sip and mixes well.

Dewar’s White Label Blended Scotch Whisky

Nick du Mortier, lead mixologist at Bar Pendry in Chicago

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $25

Why This Whisky?

Dewar’s White Label is always going to play nicely in mixed drinks. It’s one of the few Scotches I drink that makes me want more of its subtle flavors of lemon and honey. Mix it with some freshly squeezed lemon juice, balance it all with a citric acid-spiked chamomile tea honey syrup, and you’ll feel like you’ve rounded the fifth corner to spring.

Talisker 10 Single Malt Whisky

Aaron Ramirez, lead bartender at The Restaurant at Mr. C Beverly Hills in Los Angeles

ABV: 45.8%

Average Price: $65

Why This Whisky?

My favorite scotch to mix with is a Talisker 10. It has a peaty, smoky flavor which makes it the perfect choice for a penicillin shot or godfather cocktail. Overall, it’s a pretty well-rounded, complex addition to wintry cocktails.

Laphroaig 10 Single Malt Whisky

Christopher Devern, lead bartender of Red Owl Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $62

Why This Whisky?

Laphroaig 10 Year is my pick. This classic Islay single malt adds warming complexity to cocktails like a penicillin. Smoke and peat in the winter are a great way to warm up. Also, try adding a half-ounce to an old fashioned to bring it to a new level of complexity.

Lagavulin 16 Single Malt Whisky

Sean Ingenthron, bartender at Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, Golf Club & Spa in Carlsbad, California

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $80

Why This Whisky?

My favorite Scotch whisky to mix in the winter months is Lagavulin 16. It’s from Islay and carries with it heavy peated flavors and aromas. These heavily smoky and wintery profiles are perfect for an Islay old fashioned when paired with rich sugar and Creole bitters.

Glenmorangie X Single Malt Whisky

Mark Phelan, beverage director at 16″ On Center in Chicago

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $38

Why This Whisky?

Glenmorangie X is a recent addition to the scotch landscape. When our team blind tasted it alongside other value-driven options, it was the unanimous favorite. It has a body and richness that stands up well in cocktails both shaken and stirred. Plus, it’s a single malt versus a blended scotch, so it is a fine sip on its own.

The Dalmore 12 Single Malt Whisky

Marla White, lead bartender at Lona Cocina & Tequileria in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $65

Why This Whisky?

The Dalmore 12 is my go-to. The aging process for this scotch is very interesting and makes a complex single malt. The first stage of aging happens in American white oak ex-bourbon barrels. Then it is transferred to 30-year-old sherry casks. The sherry mixed with the peat flavors brings heat and earthiness that will warm up your cocktails during the winter months.

Aberlour 12 Single Malt Whisky

Robert Kidd, bar manager at Le Cavalier in Wilmington, Delaware

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $40

Why This Whisky?

Having a nice peaty scotch to work within the winter seems like the go-to. Personally, I find this flavor profile can be a bit overpowering. I have been using Aberlour 12-Year instead. Aberlour is not peaty and has lovely notes of caramel, dried fruits, and a touch of nuttiness from the Oloroso sherry casks it’s finished in. If you do want to bring that smokiness to your drink, try just spraying a layer of peaty scotch over your drink or rinsing the glass.

This will give you a supple smokiness that allows other flavors to come through.

Highland Park 12 Single Malt Whisky

Lee Noble, lead mixologist at Art in the Age in Philadelphia

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $50

Why This Whisky?

Highland Park 12 is a nice dram on its own, mixed into a Scotch cocktail, or subbed in for bourbon or rye in a classic whisky cocktail recipe. The full, round flavors, like heather honey and vanilla with some citrus, with a gentle smoke profile, make it a versatile single malt to mix with this season.

The Famous Grouse Smoky Black Blended Scotch Whisky

John Tran, restaurant manager of BluSky Restaurant & Bar in Anaheim, California

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $27

Why This Whisky?

I love the fact that this scotch is very price-friendly, so I don’t feel guilty turning it into a winter cocktail. Throw into a blood and sand cocktail and enjoy the peat singing a gentle melody with the support of the other spirits in the mix and this cocktail is one to love.

Monkey Shoulder Blended Scotch Whisky

Zach Wilks, bartender at Anthony’s Chophouse in Carmel, Indiana

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $35

Why This Whisky?

For winter cocktails, I always reach for Monkey Shoulder. It’s a blended scotch from the Speyside region with a great richness that rounds out cocktails and gives a touch of vanilla and subtle fruit flavors. It’s a great way to add an interesting new dimension to too many common whisky cocktails.

The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask Single Malt Whisky

Vanessa Consiglieri, bar manager at Botanico Gin & Cookhouse in Coconut Grove, Florida

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $80

Why This Whisky?

My favorite scotch to mix with during the winter months would have to be The Balvenie 14-Year-Old Caribbean Cask because it’s very well-rounded and works well in a variety of cocktails. I also enjoy this scotch neat or on the rocks because of its sweet, warm notes.

Pig’s Nose Blended Scotch Whisky

Andres Bedoya, bartender at The Apothecary 330 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $25

Why This Whisky?

If I’m mixing with a scotch in the winter, I prefer to use a blended scotch. My biggest discovery has been Pig’s Nose Blended Scotch Whisky. It’s not sweet or smokey, just a perfect blend that is great to use in a penicillin and many other cocktails.

Ardbeg Wee Beastie Single Malt Whisky

Cassie Stockbridge, bartender at Lobby Bar at The Godfrey Hotel in Boston

ABV: 47.4%

Average Price: $45

Why This Whisky?

The Scotch sour is a classic cocktail that is perfect during the long winter months. Ardbeg Wee Beastie is my scotch of choice to mix in this drink. The crisp and sweet-tart initial taste complements the smoky and peaty finish to make this cocktail unlike any other whiskey sour you’ve ever tasted.

Even though 2021 was a year marred by a global pandemic, National Geographic still found a way to add 2 million photos to its vast archives this year. The publication is commemorating the tremendous work its photographers have done in 2021 by sharing some of their most remarkable shots in the January issue as part of its Year in Pictures campaign.

National Geographic hopes its readers will see it as more than “a collection of pretty photographs,” Whitney Johnson, director of visuals and immersive experiences, told National Geographic.

The images were chosen as powerful examples of human resilience in the face of a pandemic and climate crisis.

“In many ways, there are messages of hope, there are messages of compassion for one and another,” says Kathy Moran, deputy director of photography, told National Geographic. “A number of the images featured show that there is hope, resilience, and there are solutions to many of the problems that we are facing as a society.”

National Geographic was kind enough to share some photos with Upworthy that embody 2021’s turbulence—from political rancor and climate change to COVID developments and conflicts around the globe.

You can see more images on its Year in Pictures site. (You just have to provide your email.)

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With a cooler of COVID-19 vaccines in hand, Nazir Ahmed looks for shepherds and nomadic herders in the meadows of Tosamaidan, southwest of Srinagar in the Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir. In the race to vaccinate against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, healthcare workers have gone to extreme lengths to reach remote communities.

From Srinagar, it took Ahmed and a half dozen colleagues three hours driving and then walking to reach this isolated spot. They spent four hours searching for people and vaccinated more than 10.

Firefighters spent months in 2021 battling to contain California’s Dixie fire, which burned nearly a million acres and destroyed most of Greenville, a town of around a thousand. The number and size of wildfires across western North America have increased in recent years, driven in part by climate change, which intensifies hot, dry conditions that suck water from living and dead plants, making them likelier to burn.

Part of the solution, scientists agree, is more widespread use of “good” fire: controlled, low-intensity burns that clear leaf litter and brush from the forest floor, reducing the fuel for wildfires.

Police officer Michael Fanone struggles against Trump supporters after they dragged him down the steps of the U.S. Capitol. At a rally earlier that day, then President Donald Trump falsely claimed that he’d won the 2020 presidential election “in a landslide” and urged supporters to go to the Capitol, where the House of Representatives was certifying the election results.

“You’ll never take back our country with weakness,” Trump said. Five people died as a result of the attack. Some 140 police officers were injured. More than 600 people have been arrested. The assault on the Capitol is the focus of a congressional investigation.

Stonehenge, built some 5,000 years ago in southern England, first underwent conservation work in 1901 after one of the sarsens and its lintel fell—a concern for public safety. Preservation in September involved repairing cracks and repacking joints with mortar to stabilize the stones and protect them from erosion.

Two months earlier, a judge had ruled that plans to move the nearby highway underground to reduce traffic and noise were unlawful, suspending a project many archaeologists worried would destroy undiscovered artifacts. Photographer Reuben Wu layered 11 exposures taken over 30 minutes to create the lighting effects in this image.

The U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August, after a 20-year occupation, ended what’s been called America’s longest modern war. But the war there goes on for Hafiza, 70, seen here with a grandson. She has lived near the city of Faizabad since the Taliban took over her home village in 2019.

Her sons’ choices leave Hafiza grieved and on uncertain ground: Two of them fought with the Afghan National Army, one with a militia, and one with the Taliban. The fighting in Afghanistan was among dozens of ongoing conflicts around the world in 2021—recent to ancient, international to regional, stoked by greed, creed, or history.

Back in August, Chromatics announced that the band was breaking up after 20 years. While we may never see the release of their way-too anticipated Dear Tommy, the group’s library of italo-disco-leaning synthpop marked a distinct period in indie music’s boon in the 2000s. Chromatics singer Ruth Radelet was always a radiant presence at the front of the band and today she just released her first solo track since the breakup.

A cover of Elliott Smith’s epic “Twilight,” Radelet captures the beauty of Smith’s softly stated poetic lyrics, but with an aesthetic distinct to her time with Chromatics. Released via the Kill Rock Stars label, the song is part of the year-long Stars Rock Kill (Rock Stars) 30th Anniversary overs series. More importantly, though, it marks a rebirth for Radelet’s as a solo artist. She shared a statement on the impact of Elliott’s music on her career:

“Growing up in Portland, I couldn’t help but be influenced by Elliott Smith – his music was just in the water there. I still feel a sort of homesick nostalgia every time I hear one of his songs, and I’ll forever associate his music with the rainy weather and the gritty, small town feeling Portland had back then.

Elliott was a brilliant songwriter, and I have always been blown away by his ability to craft such lovely, catchy melodies around devastatingly sad lyrics. Twilight is a beautiful example of that, and one of my favorite songs he ever wrote. I first had the idea to cover it many years ago and am grateful for the opportunity to do so for Kill Rock Stars, who have released so much of Elliott’s work and have been such an important force in Northwest music history.

This one’s for you, Elliott, thank you for everything.”

Listen to Ruth Radelet’s cover of “Twilight” by Elliott Smith above.

Roddy Ricch’s new album, Live Life Fast, drops this Friday, and the latest part of the rollout has arrived: The guest list, which includes collaborators like Future, Lil Baby, and more. Roddy shared the guest list on social media today building on the momentum he created by the trailer he released last week and the cover art, which he shared before that.

In addition to the above-mentioned superstars, the guest list Roddy shared includes names like deadpan Atlanta bogeyman 21 Savage, rising R&B star Alex Isley, alt-R&B singer Bibi Bourelly, Brooklyn drill flag-waver Fivio Foreign, drip purveyor Gunna, the multihyphenate Jamie Foxx, Florida rap rebel Kodak Black, Migos member Takeoff, and LA hook master Ty Dolla Sign. Roddy also showed off the producers at the bottom of the poster he shared: Beezo, Boi 1-Da, Cardo, D Keyz, G-Ry, Heavy Mellow, Jasper Harris, Kenny Beats, Lil CC, Mustard, Rex Kudo, Ronny J, Sonic, Southside, Tarentino, TM88, and Wheezy.

Roddy’s ending the year strong with his new album, much as he did with the release of his debut, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial. Led by the inescapable lead single “Late At Night,” Live Life Fast is set to launch Roddy into an even higher level of the atmosphere in 2022.

Live Life Fast is due on 12/17 via Atlantic Records.

In what’s sure to be another damaging blow to Republican politicians with ties to the January 6 riot following Donald Trump‘s “Stop The Steal” rally, two rising stars in the MAGA world have revealed that they are cooperating with Congress and telling everything they know about the events leading up to the attacks. The couple, Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lynn Lawrence, have ties to Steve Bannon going all the way back to 2014, and that’s how they found themselves heavily involved in the “Big Lie” movement following the 2020 presidential election.

Via Rolling Stone:

“The people and the history books deserve a real account of what happened,” Stockton explains. Lawrence puts it more bluntly: “Violent shit happened,” she says. “We want to get to the bottom of that.”

In a lengthy interview with Rolling Stone, the two reveal that they were involved in Bannon’s “We Build The Wall” political group that ended up bilking MAGA supporters and resulted in Bannon getting arrested by USPS officers. While Bannon ultimately secured a pardon from Trump, Stockton and Lawrence believed they were exposed legally even though they had not faced any charges yet.

Those circumstances put them on the radar of Republican Paul Gosar, who allegedly dangled pardons in front of the couple in exchange for their efforts in protesting the election results and helping to organize the “Stop the Steal” really. While Stockton and Lawrence did attend the Jan. 6 event, they fled as soon as they realized that Trump had none of the evidence that he boasted and that things were about to get violent:

Stockton claims he was so upset by the speech that he turned to Lawrence and said, “Let’s get the f*ck out of here.” He was incensed by both Trump’s call to march and the lack of concrete evidence that was presented onstage.

“We assumed that him sitting with all the access to all the agencies of government and classified information he … had access to vastly more information than we did,” Stockton says. “We trusted when he told us that it was black-and-white and that there was clear evidence over, and over, and over again. We trusted that it would be there, and it ended up being a bluff, and he finally got caught in it.”

Rolling Stone has been able to confirm that the couple did not participate in the attack on the Capitol. Disgusted by Trump’s refusal to quell the violence, they are now fully cooperating with the Jan. 6 committee to make sure the truth is told “on both sides.” Despite everything that happened, Stockton and Lawrence are still big believers in Trump’s messages, and while they don’t believe the actual election was rigged, they do believe that “Big Tech” and the media colluded to help Biden win.

(Via Rolling Stone)

The Brooklyn Nets are still playing basketball without Kyrie Irving, whose refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has led to the team telling him to stay home because they do not want him to be a part-time player. Irving cannot play in home games due to New York City’s current vaccine mandate, which does not appear to be going away any time soon.

As a result, there are questions about whether or not the Nets will try to wait this out or look to trade him in an attempt to surround Kevin Durant and James Harden with more talent amid their championship push this season. According to a report by Ian Begley of SNY, this piqued the interest of the Dallas Mavericks, which reportedly got in touch about a potential Irving deal.

Begley’s report indicates that, at some point during the conversation, Kristaps Porzingis’ name was thrown around, but it is unclear if the Mavericks implied they’d be willing to part ways with him or the Nets asked about his availability in a deal. After the report became public, Mavs owner Mark Cuban refuted it to Marc Stein.

Dallas would, in theory, be quite the trade partner for Irving. Beyond the fact that Texas does not have this sort of mandate — Mavericks guard Trey Burke has said he will not get the COVID vaccine — Irving would give the Mavericks a perimeter creator who can take some of the load off of Luka Doncic, while the Nets would be able to get back a package of players that add depth around their two stars. With players who signed contracts this offseason becoming eligible for trades beginning on Dec. 15, perhaps the market for an Irving trade will heat up, and Dallas could find themselves among his potential suitors.

Cooking with cannabis has never been easier. Weed’s slow but steady march toward federal legalization has put us in a place where things like cannabis-infused butter, oils, and extracts are readily available in every state with a legal recreational market. The days of stinking up your entire apartment complex or house block for hours by slow extracting THC out of cannabis on your stovetop are over, cooking with cannabis is as easy as cooking with any other herb!

That said, we’re still going to need good recipes. Especially if you’re someone who doesn’t really know their way around the kitchen. Or weed.

To help you get high off your own supply, we linked up with culinary genius Charleen Caabay to hit us with some mouth-watering dishes sure to leave us satiated and high as kites. In addition to being a Chopped champion, Chef Caabay has owned two award-winning Oakland restaurants and serves as the co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at the People’s Ecosystem, an organization that focuses on providing cannabis education services and products for minority-owned cannabis businesses.

Currently, Chef Caabay is working on a cannabis edible and beverage line which she hopes to launch in the first quarter of 2022 (and that we hope to sample). For now, we linked up with her to talk weed as a culinary ingredient and she provided us with a full dinner’s worth of stony recipes. Ready to make THC-infused chicken wings, stuffed macaroni and cheese, and lumpia?

Let’s go!

You come from a long lineage of cooks, but I know you’re also from the Bay Area, so I was wondering how deep your history with cannabis goes as the area is a hot spot for that. When did you become interested in cannabis as a culinary ingredient?

Prior to opening the restaurant I’ve always been an advocate of cannabis recreationally. It just tied in together naturally because I was so fascinated with extracting the cannabis plant, in the legacy market we’d make the infused butter and then you’d go into making brownies and cookies. From that, I just wanted to make it more efficient because there was such a big stigma when it came to edibles.

I started playing with ideas in my restaurant after hours and I was able to extract it in a high dose and I tested it and when I got it tested I was able to dose it at a perfect amount suitable for anybody that was just starting to eat edibles. Food has always been my passion so the two combined. I was able to create recipes that work, as far as the food itself, with a good dose of cannabis.

What are the best extraction practices, is it dependent on the recipe?

It varies. At first, I started with doing the butter. That was just more difficult when it came to dosing, then I got into extracting it as a concentrate. I learned how to extract it in the traditional way, the Rick Simpson oil, so I could get a higher yield.

Once I learned, that it became my preference. Get a high concentrated extract, create a cannabis oil, and from that oil, add it to another oil, butter, coconut oil, or canola oil. It’s more consistent in terms of dosing.

People know how to extract but a lot of times they don’t know what they’re extracting and there are so many strains out there that results vary. It can be trial and error and for somebody just starting, that’s my concern, for the person new to the edible scene they may not have the best experience the first go around.

How do you get a handle on proper dosing == is that challenging or is that something we can we do ourselves?

With dispensaries out now there are so many options. There are clean extracts available, you can get extracts that are solvent-free that weren’t extracted with chemicals or an alcohol base. People can still do it at home but I highly recommend getting something that has been tested and gives you solid numbers whether it’s 500 mg THC per gram or 100 mg THC per gram, it can vary. Take that concentrate and that oil and mix it in with your own home products, like butter, coconut oil, or canola oil. It’ll make the math easier.

How do you work with cannabis flavors? Are you incorporating the terpenes into your dishes or are you looking for a more neutral extract so it’s more about the medicinal quality?

I go both ways, I love variety. There are times when I want to taste the cannabis, so I’ll go with the traditional method and extract it from the butter. But on the occasions, I don’t want to taste it at all and I just want, like, a bowl of soup that’s medicated, I’ll go the concentrate route with fewer terpenes.

I’m for terpenes because it’s a healing component when it comes to creating edibles, but it’s a preference. Some people don’t want to taste cannabis at all. As far as me, I like variety — I like the options.

What’s the mission behind the People’s Ecosystem?

We started as the People’s Dispensary because we wanted to create generational wealth in the community in hopes of having a store that can support the community through an impact fund but we learned that going that route was challenging when it came to getting licenses in different cities and then we pivoted during the pandemic and created the People’s Ecosystem.

Similar to cannabis oil, we’re full spectrum, we dabble in a bit of everything but our main focus is supporting BIPOC communities and women-led companies to help them get into the market and provide funds in an attempt to keep them sustainable.

The industry is can be very challenging — they don’t make it as easy as it seems.

What’s the easiest cannabis recipe to start with?

If you’re starting just go with the classic butter. If you have an infused butter you can use it on a lot of things. Even if you don’t use butter you can use medicated olive oil and you can use that oil to create a dressing or salad. Butter can mix in a stir fry. Use it as a cooking agent, that allows you to create so many things. A butter to a piece of toast and you’re good to go.

What would be a perfect way to experience this delicious food? Should we smoke before we eat it or rely on the high of the food itself, what’s your suggestion? Are you a post-meal smoker or a pre-meal smoker?

I’m a regular user so I can go before or after! It’s always great, I love medicating, and I love having a joint as I cook, but let’s say if I don’t, I’m not an everyday smoker. I do love the process of creating the dish and once it’s done, cool, I can have a seat in front of the tv, put a movie on, and then I know once I’m done with my meal I’m going to be nice and cozy I’m good to go. Then have a joint after or maybe I’ll just pass out.

Anybody that does eat something medicated, you have to have a plan. I know some people say “I’m going to eat this its medicated and I have all these chores to do.” Well, if you’re a functional stoner by all means, go ahead, but you have to understand the state of mind you’re going to be in.

For me, I’m highly functional… most of the time!

Roasted Tamarind Chicken Wings

THC: 10mgs

Ingredients:

• 2lbs – whole chicken wings
• 2 Tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 Tbsp ground ginger
• ½ cup tamarind paste
• ½ cup brown coconut sugar
• ½ cup water
• 3 Tbsp Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• 2 Tbls Cannabis-infused Coconut Oil – 5mg/Tbls

Prep:

Clean chicken with cold water. Salt and pepper chicken wings. Coat chicken with olive oil and mix in half of the chopped garlic. Put in the refrigerator to marinate for about 30min.

Heat a small saucepan with water until boiling. Add coconut sugar, tamarind paste, ginger, and garlic to the mixture. Reduce the mixture until the sauce thickens. Add pepper for taste. Add infused coconut oil.

Turn heat off and set aside.

Cook:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line the cooking sheet with foil. Put chicken wings on the cooking sheet. Brush chicken with the tamarind mixture. Cook for about 15min and glaze the chicken thoroughly. Cook for another 15 min and add more glaze. Finally, cook for about 10min and add the rest of the glaze.

Baked Stuffed Mac n Cheese

THC: 20mgs, 2-3mgs each

Ingredients:

• 3 cups elbow macaroni
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 lb block of cheddar cheese
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup milk
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cups bread crumbs
• 1 cup flour
• 3 eggs
• 20mgs Cannabis Infused Coconut MCT tincture

Cook

Cook the elbow noodles until soft. Cut a block of cheddar cheese in big chunks, melt on the stove. Once melted add the cannabis tincture to cheese and mix. Put in a small rectangle container. Let cool in the refrigerator.

Heat a medium saucepan, with butter, and ½ cup flour to make a roux. Add the shredded cheese and milk. Mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat off. Add the elbow macaroni and mix well. Spread in a pan and let cool.

Prepare 3 bowls for a coating station. One with the remaining flour. The second bowl with the eggs, mix well. Third bowl with bread crumbs. Have a baking sheet ready. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Prep cooled cannabis-infused cheese and cut into eight 1-inch cubes. Make ½ cup balls with the chilled mac n cheese. Cover each cube of cheese in the middle of the mac and cheese ball. Make firm. Dip in egg mixture, then flour, back to egg mixture, then breadcrumbs. Repeat eight times, making eight balls. Flash freeze in the freezer for about 30min.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake mac and cheese for about 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

Coconut Corn Pudding Eggroll / Maja Blanca Lumpia

THC: 20mgs, 2-3mgs each

Ingredients

• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 can corn
• 1 can condensed milk – ube flavor
• ½ cup cornstarch
• ½ cup water
• 1 package Eggroll wrapper
• 2 cups Cooking oil
• ½ cup 20mgs Cannabis-Infused Butter

Cook:

Heat a medium saucepan over heat. Mix together coconut milk, evaporated milk, condensed milk, and corn in a pan. Bring to a slight boil. Add cannabis butter after the heat has been turned off, and mix thoroughly Make a cornstarch slurry by adding water and cornstarch. Add slurry to the mixture slowly, and mix thoroughly till thickens. You want to be sure the thickness is very creamy-like. Place in a baking pan, let cool in the refrigerator.

Prepare eggroll wrappers, and separate. Prepare a small slurry to paste the eggrolls after rolling. When rolling you will add about 2 heaping tablespoons of the coconut pudding mixture to the wrapper. Put in the center of the wrapper, fold over, fold the sides in, and continue rolling. Seal the wrappers with the slurry.

Preheat cooking oil in a medium saucepan. Fry each lumpia until golden brown. Let cool and serve.

Murders At Starved Rock (HBO, 8:00 & 9:00pm) — A 60-year-old murder mystery rears its head with the convicted killer (Chester Weger) behind bars while seeking exoneration (and insisting that he’s innocent). David Raccuglia presents the fruits of 15 years of research while attempting to uncover the truth about the crimes committed by the local “bogeyman.” This rural community runs on rumors and opinions, and the townspeople are clearly divided with grey areas and alleged police misconduct in this case, which might make everyone involved question what they thought they knew.

The Future Diary (Netflix film) — This reality-series reboot involves two people who accept roles in a romantic storyline with an actual rough “script,” which leads to a semi-fictional relationship of sorts, and viewers can decide whether or not they think this thing is real.

Gordon Ramsay’s Road Trip (FOX, 8:00pm) — The chef and his friends are busting through Europe (including Italy, France, and Scotland), and in this episode, they visit Santa Claus’ winter wonderland.

Riverdale (CW, 9:00pm) — Jughead’s eternal search for answers might finally lead to the “Rivervale” truth, if he’s not completely unnerved in the process.

The Flash (CW, 8:00pm) — Flash and the Reverse Flash shall meet again as Armageddon comes to and end, but will the payoff be worth it to the team?

The Last O.G. (TBS, 10:30pm) — Tray’s looking for a solution to train Javi while Veesy has art on the brain, and it’s also prom time for Javi.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Matthew Mcconaughey, Alana Haim, Niko Moon

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Will Forte, David Baddiel, Joe Russo

In case you missed this pick from last Tuesday:

The Slow Hustle (HBO Max) — Director Sonja Sohn (The Wire) does the documentary drill here while exploring the still-unsolved death of a Baltimore police detective. Through a series of candid interviews a deep-dive into the evidence, the mystery of Sean Suiter’s 2017 death leaves no stone untouched. Was it a hit job or a suicide? Multiple theories will surface here, along with a through examination, all while exploring the complex nature of policing in America.

In The Eye, music’s most intriguing up-and-coming artists take to an intimate and sparse studio space to perform their best songs with just one microphone and one take. Next up is somebody whose music you’ve almost certainly heard before: Masked Wolf.

The Greek-Australian rapper is best known for “Astronaut In The Ocean,” which he originally released in the summer of 2019 and which saw some success in Australia at the time. The track blew up on a global scale, though, when it started gaining traction on TikTok in late 2020 and was subsequently re-released by Masked Wolf’s new label, Elektra, in January of this year. The track was more than a passing fad: In TikTok’s recently shared slew of year-end data, it was revealed that the song was the platform’s most popular track of 2021 worldwide, beating out hits by artists like The Kid Laroi, Megan Thee Stallion, and Cardi B. Furthermore, it ended up rising to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Since “Astronaut In The Ocean” took off, Masked Wolf has been able to leverage the success into some big-time collaborations: His recently released singles include the X Ambassadors-featuring “Razor’s Edge” and the Bebe Rexha collaboration “It’s You, Not Me (Sabotage).”

Now, he finds himself in The Eye. While most artists in this setting tend to strip down their songs to the core elements, Masked Wolf instead kept the full instrumentation intact for “Astronaut In The Ocean,” which, as the original song does, allowed the rapper to flex his verbal dexterity with his rhythmic and often rapid-fire lines.

He took the same approach for the other two songs he performed, “Pandemonium” and “Paper Planes,” a couple of album tracks from Astronomical, which was just released back in September. While “Pandemonium” has a swaggering and aggressive tone, “Paper Planes” is a more vulnerable and less in-your-face tune in which Masked Wolf gets candid about his struggles with depression. All in all, the three performances show that the rapper is capable of more than just his one massive hit.

In an interview with The Eye, Masked Wolf explained why he thinks his debut single “Speed Racer” was a “breakout” moment for him and how it led to “Astronaut In The Ocean,” saying, “It was really where I found a way to describe what I’m talking about in a song, have an actual storyline of what I wanted to speak about. The most important part was the listeners being able to grab that, not about me just writing it. And then from that, ‘Astronaut In The Ocean’ came, and that’s when I started writing and rapping at the mic with a story and imagery.”

Watch Masked Wolf perform “Astronaut In The Ocean,” “Pandemonium,” and “Paper Planes” for The Eye above.

Masked Wolf is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For a festival that dubs itself as “boutique,” Buku Music + Art Project has some pretty heavy-hitting names on its newly announced 10th-anniversary lineup. After a three-year hiatus, the New Orleans festival will be back along the banks of the Mississippi River in the Lower Garden District near the imposing defunct Market Street Power Plant from March 25th – 26th. So, about that lineup…

Tyler The Creator and Tame Impala are titanic headliners at the top of this one, but it doesn’t stop there. Arena-rockers Glass Animals and Colombian-American pop superstar Kali Uchis are joining them on the bill along with surging rappers Tierra Whack, Trippie Redd, and Baby Keem. There’s also a concerted effort to reflect electronic music and artists like Porter Robinson, Allison Wonderland, Lane 8, and Rezz lead a formidable slate. There’s also a focus on local New Orleans artists too from the hip-hop of Glbl Wrmng (who put out 0ne of our best sleeper albums of 2021), Neno Calvin, and 504icygrl, to the dubstep of Tvboo and sfam.

Buku prides itself on a “festival experience that proudly reflects the progressive, artistic, and diverse subculture of New Orleans.” The lineup is just one aspect of an event that features indoor and outdoor stages, art installations, pop-up breakdancing, live graffiti art, etc… Buku also partners with the Take Action project (TAP) to use the fest’s platform “to elevate awareness around issues of various social & environmental justice issues.” TAP and the music education nonprofit Upbeat Academy will receive a portion of proceeds from all tickets sales.

Buku Music + Art Project is from 03/25/2022 – 03/26/2022. Presale tickets go on sale 12/17/2021 and registration has begun here. Buku’s general on-sale begins on 12/20/2021 at the same link.