Artichokes. Why?

The artichoke has long been on my cooking challenges list. They look really amazing and I like them on pizza, in pasta etc.

To cook: tear off stem and boil for about 30mins or until you can pull a leaf off.

To eat: pull off leaves and dip in vinaigrette, scrape base of leaf between teeth. This is fun but there is pretty much zero to eat there. Then cut fibrous bits off base until a tiny edible bit remains. Eat it.

Well, it was fun to cook and made a lovely picture. Apparently the artichoke is actually a giant flower bud, related to the thistle, which makes sense when you look at it.