Sunday, May 15, 2011

Artichokes

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I'm so happy that artichokes are in season. We're very close to Castroville, which is known as the Artichoke Capitol of the World. They say it provides 80% of the artichokes consumed in the US.

As a bit of history, did you know that in 1948, Marilyn Monroe was crowned the very first Artichoke Queen in Castroville?

Terry doesn't care for artichokes, so I'll usually buy four of them, cook them in the pressure cooker, then after eating one, put the others in baggies and keep them in the fridge.

They never last long. I like to dip them in mayo, or sometimes garlic butter.

In looking around for info on artichokes for this entry, I see that the annual Artichoke Festival is this next weekend. Maybe we'll go. It could be interesting to see how many ways they can come up with to serve me some artichokes. My favorite is deep fried artichoke hearts. Not incredibly healthy, but I don't eat them often.

If we go, I promise pictures.

5 comments:

Jerry and Suzy said...

Suzy likes artichokes, Jerry doesn't particularly care for them. So she gets them once in a while (she also like asparagus!). We used to grow artichokes in our garden in Livermore, CA. Had never seen so many ants in one place -- they were all over the plants, crawling into and out of the chokes. We really had to be careful taking them into the house.

Merikay said...

I ate my first about 30 years ago when we first came to California. I have liked hem ever since, having them several times a year. Butter or Mayo are the best, but I have found low fat salad dressings are OK too.

Barb said...

One of my favorite things, artichokes! For a while I was addicted to the little tiny ones they use for deep frying. you take off all the outer leaves, cut off the tops and boil them up until they are soft, and each one is a bite-sized morsel. (My fingers would be stained - rub with fresh lemon and the stain comes off.) They are so small, you eat the whole thing, choke and all. With Best Foods Mayonnaise. Yum!

Barb A said...

Deep fried artichoke hearts - YESSS! Could never go through Castroville without stopping at the Giant Artichoke for an order.

Donna K said...

Must be an acquired taste!! Russ will eat them if they are on a salad bar but for me...not so much!! But then few years ago I thought I hated beets - then I tried some. YUM!! Hope all is going well for you and Terry.