To my surprise, I found additional photos from my recent trip to California on my camera and I couldn’t resist sharing these beautiful ones of artichokes from the stem to the table.

Jane saw these babies growing in fields as far as the eye could see and we quickly realized that we were passing through Castroville, the “Artichoke Center of the World.” The artichokes you eat are likely from this small Central California town — according to Wikipedia, they provide 75% of the nations chokes.

Artichokes in the Wild

Weird, fun fact: Marilyn Monroe was named the Castroville Artichoke Festival’s Artichoke Queen in 1948. I had no idea they called ‘em artichokes in those days but she sure did like flaunting hers!

We pulled over and bought some artichokes from the farm stand at the side of the road, boiled them in a pot of salted water, and served them with a dipping sauce.

Beautiful Boiled Artichokes

I whipped together a bunch of ingredients that included the following (sorry – I have no idea on amounts — just taste as you go):

• Equal parts mayonnaise and yogurt (any kind of fat amount)
• Minced garlic (a couple cloves)
• Lemon or lime juice (1-2 tablespoons)
• Fresh Dill chopped up (1 – 2 tablespoons; NO dried dill will not substitute)

It tastes just like spring. For another great technique and recipe for enjoying artichokes, check out the Cosmic Cowgirl’s Grilled Artichokes with Meyer Lemon Aioli.