Artichokes are my favorite vegetable but do not assume we all know how to eat it!

Spring is artichoke season.  I just have to take this moment to honor my favorite vegetable.

Here is some facts about artichokes:    

• On April 10th, 2013 artichokes were proclaimed to be California’s Official Vegetable by Lieutenant Governor, Gavin Newsom
• 99.99% of all commercially grown artichokes are grown in California
• A well cared for artichoke plant can produce up to 50 artichokes!
• Artichokes like cool weather

Now, I do have a funny story (sort of!)  When I was growing up, my cousin was visiting us from Peru.  She had not seen an artichoke before.  We frequently had them for lunch and certainly as part of our vegetables for dinner.

We gave her an artichoke on a plate and all us kids grabbed our own and began to peel off the petals and eat.  We really did not pay attention to how she was eating it because, heck, we were kids and just assumed! 

When we looked over, her plate was empty!  We all had our leaves piled on the side of our plate but she did not have a single one on her plate!  We asked her what she did with her leaves and she looked a bit puzzled?  We all started laughing when she told us that she had eaten the entire artichoke, leaves and "hair" (that's what we called it).

She was still confused so we told her you are only supposed to eat the tips where the "meat of the artichoke is" and of course, the "heart of the artichoke".  She told us that her mom had told her that Americans waste food, so she thought we were just being wasteful by not eating the whole vegetable!

(guess we Americans do have a reputation for being wasteful)

Nourish Thought for the Day:  

Don't assume that we all know the same things!