Artichokes

Our family loves artichokes. We eat them as a main dish, we love them so much. It's hard to find good, big, artichokes here in the Midwest, but when I see them for a good price I buy them. They are an easy, quick, yummy meal that is not only good but fun to watch us eat.

I'll never forget the first time I saw my MIL make them for us before I got married. 5 grown adults eating like little piglets. Basically you pull the leaf off, dip it in melted butter or Mayo (YUCK), scrape off the meat with your teeth, and discard the rest of the leaf in a "discard bowl" in the middle of the table. There's no talking, no eye contact, just eat, discard, eat, discard...until you get to that precious heart. The heart is to be savored and treated with reverence. You scrape away all the fuzz, cut it into bite size pieces, and leave it to soak in butter for a few minutes to get the perfect bite.

Here's how I cook them:

Cut stems and top "thorns" of the artichokes

In a large stock pot place your artichokes, and fill with COLD salted water. Put on stove and boil for about 45 minutes. Drain and enjoy.

Whoever was the first one to eat an artichoke must have been considered CrAzY! I mean they have thorns, and are tough, and the heart is surrounded by fuzz, which if you eat it will cause your mouth to dry up and taste awful (trust me on that one)... his friends must have thought he was nuts, until they tried one!!! ENJOY!