Chokes

Calling all artichoke lovers!  Tom Thumb has them right now for a dollar a piece, due, I'm sure, to the drought.  They are smaller than in previous years but who cares...I bought four yesterday and have them steaming away in the kitchen in my favorite All Clad knock off  Tramontina dutch oven.  I tossed in a bay leaf and some lemon, cut into quarters, after squeezing the juice in the water.  Why?  I dunno....it just smells good and makes the flavor better to me, and because, well, I can.  Fred had never had an artichoke until he married me, so now that he's a fully fledged convert, I know they won't go to waste.  The first time I served him one was hilarious.  When he got down to the heart, I considered telling him to eat the furry part, but decided that was just way too mean.  When he cleaned off the heart and dipped a bite of the actual artichoke heart in the lemon butter, I knew he was a goner.  The leaves he was a little less thrilled over but that's OK.  They're there merely to tempt you to hang in there until you hit the heart anyway.  Dragging your teeth over the end part, dipped in the lemon butter sauce to get a tiny bite of that artichoke flavor, is a lot of work for what you get, but to me it's worth it. 

I just went to check on them and they are doing their thing, and the smell is divine....so perfect for a Sunday morning.  Part of me is thinking I might halve them, and grill them for just a minute or two, and serve them along side the pizzas tonight.  Or, I may remove the chokes, cut them into bite sized chunks, and put them on our pizzas.....oh, lawsie.....so many choices, too many decisions.