new for us friday--artichokes

I give total and complete credit for this New For Us Friday to Maddy, who, while we were at the grocery store earlier this week said, Mommy, what are these? Let's get them and try them out!

She's always on the lookout for new things to try, which was my whole goal of NFUF in the first place, so I couldn't be more excited to follow her lead.

So here we are, today, trying out artichokes for the first time as a family. We all love them in dips, and I know I had them maybe once before. But as far as cooking is concerned, I had no idea where to begin. Thanks to a few of my pals and to allrecipes.com for giving me some help.

• Artichokes: We adapted several recipes, tips, and ideas into one new recipe, Awesome Artichokes, which seemed almost too simple and foolproof. (Here is the Awesome Artichoke Recipe to download.)

Maddy and I did the prepping together, reading and following the kid-friendly recipe I created. We were both excited and a bit confused about this new and strange veggie. Together, we cut, peeled, soaked, stuffed, and steamed.

Our 'chokes, almost ready for their steam bath.

We prepared three dips--melted butter, bleu cheese, and mayo with a little curry. After about 20 minutes of steaming and a little bit of cooling, we were ready to try our artichokes.

Maddy's throwing on a little butter and garlic.

I showed them how to take off a leaf, dip it in a sauce, and scrape the meat with their teeth. Maddy seemed to get it, but Owen and Cora had some difficulty. Maddy kept saying, Seriously, these are awesome! Owen, just try them--it just tastes like you are eating dip! (Uh-oh. . . )

Cora got frustrated because she wanted to chew the leaves and couldn't, and Owen isn't much of a "work for his food" kind of guy, so he got super cranky. I could hear my husband's belly growling from across the table, and I think that--looking back--we were all too hungry to really enjoy a veggie that required even a little bit of work.



Maybe I didn't prepare them correctly and should just try them again sometime soon. They're the kind of veggie I want to like. . .

I should have learned my lesson with mangos or coconuts, but apparently I didn't.

Tonight I found some pretty awesome artichoke sites that I should have checked before this NFUF adventure:

• California Artichoke Advisory Board--Recipes, information, and games for kids!
• Prepping Artichokes Video on YouTube
• Simply Recipes: How to Cook and Eat an Artichoke
  

So that's it--we have had really successful NFUF's, and there have been some NFUF flops. Artichokes fall somewhere in the middle. Everyone tried them. Everyone tried them a few times, actually. I think that means we'll give them a good ole fashioned second chance sometime soon. . .

And that was our New For Us Friday learning--reading, cooking, and eating--for today.