How to make delicious, darling baby artichokes

Seriously, how cute are these?!

I couldn't not buy them.

Then I had to find a recipe.

From the above picture, it appears that maybe I just bought a dozen regular-sized artichokes and decided to call them baby artichokes.

Here's proof of their cuteness:

Original recipe here

(the pictures are more beautiful at spoonforkbacon, also)

We also made delicious mushrooms and spelt spaghetti to round out the meal.

We adapted another delicious recipe from my sister's blog.

Here is Ben, doing his best to stand in for my sister.

She stirs really well.

That's her job when we cook together.

And to make delicious desserts and coffee.

So, how do you eat a WHOLE artichoke?

very carefully.

Step 1.

Remove tough outer leaves

Step 2:

Trim stems and pointy tops

(In hindsight, I probably removed too much stem)

Step 3:

Remove thistle

Left: possible GI irritant            Right: clean and safe

If you have never prepared an artichoke, check out this tutorial:

proper artichoke consumption technique

Maybe they are so satisfying because they take so  much effort?

Maybe it is because you get to dip it in melted butter?

I'm not sure, but it is certainly one of my favorite foods.

Baby-sized and full-grown.