baby A R T I C H O K E S

Artichokes. We love these things! Well, Jim likes them ok. The boys and I LOVE them. Caden can demolish one in no time flat. Last week on our grocery shop date to France, we found baby artichokes. Anything baby is hard for me to resist- they're just so tiny and sweet. I really probably would have had a bunch more of my own if only I didn't have to go through pregnancies. 

I get a little crazy; the boys just roll their eyes and humor me. Looking back now, Jim's probably more grateful for the morning sickness than anything- ten kids was never an option for him! Luckily, he didn't even have to talk me out of more, I was done.

Looking for inspiration on how to cook these little guys, I realized {again} there is a Web site for just about anything and everything you can imagine- including artichokes. 
I also learned that right now is the season for these pokey gems. I think I could serve them every other day and we wouldn't ever get tired of them. They're as much fun to unwrap as they are delicious to eat. Yum!
For ours, I boiled them {our ususal prepration method}, sliced them in half, then Jim threw them on the grill with a little olive oil and course salt.

Served with our salmon and zucchini that he grilled to perfection, it was delicious.

Delicious and healthy.

Who says you need a big backyard with peace and quiet in order to grill? Works just fine to pull the grill out of our one-car garage onto our driveway and grill while watching the cars race through our village.  Again, reminder to us... it's all temporary.