Artichokes

While searching for something else (what did we do before the Internet? There were libraries of course, with the Dewey Decimal System and all but the Internet makes looking for things so easy…hopefully kids still learn this classification and reference tool in school..that way, we can listen to our Millennial children knowledgeably jabber on on about the “old days”), I stumbled across a very functional and instructional cooking site called kitchendaily.com. I really don’t mean to stream on this way…maybe I do.
KitchenDaily

Yesterday, the site posted a video tutorial on how to properly peel and eat an artichoke…very helpful. Although I am ashamed to admit this (being Italian and somewhat of a cook), the first time I encountered an artichoke, I ate the rough, spiny skin and the entire time I was enjoying consuming this alleged delicacy I recall saying to myself…”this is disgusting, I don’t know what all the fuss is about.” Of course it’s disgusting, you ding-dong, and would you like some motor oil to wash that down? I was not yet 30 when this occurred so I am gave myself a pass for being a relative food novice at the time.

There is also some advice on the site about what to do with hard boiled Easter eggs (I was always suspect about eating an egg that had not been refrigerated for several days…not to mention that it is kind of peculiar eating egg salad that is pink, green or purple; maybe the Easter Bunny will take the those hard-boiled eggs). Anyway, an egg-using idea from the site…”Eggs in Purgatory: Make a spicy tomato sauce with onions, garlic, a little bacon (if you like), tomatoes and some cayenne. Slice hard-boiled eggs about 1/2-inch thick, place in a shallow pasta bowl and spoon sauce over.” This recipe is particularly appealing to me since I’m sure to spend some time Purgatory because my Lenten sacrifice did not go as well as planned…nothing like Catholic guilt, maybe Italian guilt…same thing.

Back to the point of this post….

The site has this cool little interactive feature called “don’t know what to cook” where visitors are prompted to pick some items in your refrigerator and the site happily returns recipe ideas. I picked vegetables, eggs, and cheese, and the site gave me a few tasty recipes, among them…Spinach and Swiss Cheese Strata, Open-Faced Garden Frittata Sandwiches, and Leek and Gruyere Quiche…..very cool. The site also features tips from chefs and dishes out holiday and everyday menu suggestions. I visit many cooking sites, and I found this one to be particularly fun!

We have all returned from our Spring Break travels to Scottsdale, New York and DC, and resumed our Tuesday evening soirees. Tonight we had dinner at accomplished knitter's house and we enjoyed pasta with vegetables and beans tossed with a light lemon sauce (AC can make anything very tasty). We also had a fig salad and leftover lemon-coconut cake from Easter for dessert. We talked about some of our favorite websites and accomplished introduced us to www.thekitchn.com. It is a saucy little site filled with all kinds of stuff...check it out!

I am happy to report that since the spiny-skin episode (if I ever develop a rare scaly skin disease, please refer the doctor to this post for some hints as to the origin of the ailment), I have since learned to properly peel, eat and enjoy this armored indulgence! I have also discovered that artichoke hearts come frozen and in jars….I share one of my favorite easy and delicious recipes on the Recipes and Tips tab.