Let's face it. Sometimes we avoid things that initimidate us, only to finally one day get brave and find out we were missing out on something really great. And, that is my experience with preparing and then eating fresh artichokes. While I have always found them to be intriguing-looking when in the produce aisle, mustering up the courage to buy one and then prepare it took much longer. After lots of trial and error, I have figured how to to prepare an artichoke.

First things first, I often think of an artichoke as a vegetable but in realtiy it is a flowering plant referred to as a thistle. Like many plants, it has lots of parts and names for those parts. I am going to try to keep this explanation on preparation simple so as not to scare you off, so forgive me if I don't get all the names right.

Here are some steps for artichoke preparation:

Pick out your artichoke When at the store, be careful when picking your artichoke. Not careful as in picking the right one, but careful as to how you handle it. Its leaves are prickly, so try to pick it up by the base. Also, I often double bag the plastic bag that I put the artichoke in. Admittedly, this is not the most 'green' approach, but it can save the grocery store worker from pricking his or her finger.

Take your artichoke home Take your 'choke home and store it in the fridge until you are ready to prepare it. Artichokes make a great snack or side dish, and they can truly be addictive.

Rinse your artichoke When ready to prepare, hold the artichoke, again by the base, under running water for a minute or two. You may want to brush over its leaves as well.

Split the 'choke Okay, here is when things get more challenging. It's time to split the 'choke. Put the artichoke on a large sized cutting block. Be sure to use a sharp and relatively large knife. Hold the 'choke firmly by its stem, and slice the 'choke down the middle lengthwise. Take your time. If your knife gets stuck, just keep working at it but carefully.

Trim the stem and leaves Now you get to play barber. Use the knife to cut the stem on each half of the 'choke off. Basically, I chop to where it is now level with the base of the 'choke. Next, use kitchen shears to cut the prickly tip off of each of the leaves. This can actually be fun because you know that after this step, you will no longer risk hurting yourself when handling the 'choke.

Wrap and nuke the 'choke Once your 'choke is thistle-free, wrap each half in saran wrap. Then place both halves in your microwave, and heat on high for five minutes.

Tell the 'choke to chill After the 'choke is nuked, carefully remove it from the microwave and plastic wrap and let it chill. Be forewarned that you will need to protect your hands as you do this cause the choke will be hot, and it will emit steam when you unwrap it. Let it chill for 10 minutes or so.

Scoop away Next, you want to scoop out the purple leaves from each of the 'choke halves. Take a spoon and run it at the base of these inedible flowers but just at the very base because the heart of the 'choke is right under this. You can do this by inserting the spoon just under these purple leaves about an inch into the choke. The whole portion will then release itself. This part can be a bit messy but once you try it, you will quickly get hte hang of it.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor Now you should have a steamed, edible, non prickly 'choke. Sit back and enjoy. To eat, pull one leaf off at a time, dip the edible fleshy portion into butter or salad dressing, and run your teeth against that part. Once you eat all of the leaves, you are left with my favorite part -- the heart! Enjoy. Yum, yum and more yum!

Now, that wasn't so hard, was it? Once you try these steps once or twice, you will find that you get faster at preparing the artichoke. And, trust me, it really is worth your efforts. To add to it all, you may have conquered something of which you were once uncertain, and thus add another feather under your cap!

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