Artichokes...the stuff of Gods.

When I was about 8 or 9, my father took my younger brother on a road trip and I was sooooo jealous. Never mind that it was a men's course that they were traveling to, my little heart was aching that they were going away without me.  In an attempt to calm my ache, my mama promised me that we would have a special evening together...just the two of us.  She pulled out the old TV that we had gotten at a garage sale down the street.  This TV was kept in the closet except for special occasions...like the Olympics or Christmas break.  I should have known then that that night was going to be something special.  She told me we were going to watch The Sound of Music and eat artichokes for dinner.  Just the two of us.  What the what?  Having never heard of either of these things, I could not imagine a more boring sounding evening.  My papa and my brother were off having adventures and I was going to watch what sounded like a documentary on string instruments and eat something that sounded awful.  I mean...it has choke in the name.  How lame.  I remember being sullen and possibly throwing a wee bit of a pity party for myself.  My mama persisted and tempted me into the kitchen to help her.  She pulled the artichokes out of the bag to rinse them.  How curious these things were and how beautiful.  They looked so exotic and somewhat dangerous that no matter how much I wanted to resist eating them and continue my moping...I simply could not.  I have very clear memories of sitting in the dark, falling in love with The Sound of Music and feeling oh so adventurous for eating artichokes for the first time.  Since that first night, my love for artichokes has only grown deeper.  Where other people crave chocolate...I crave artichokes.  Seriously.  I will eat artichoke hearts straight out of the can (grossing out the man to no end).  I often hypothesize that there is something in artichokes that my body just NEEDS.  I don't have any other foodstuff in my life like this, so I find it quite curious.  Anyway...I enjoy them steamed with a simple sauce of butter, tamari and lemon for dipping.  Just like my mama used to make.  :)