But what about artichoke legs???

Hey, today is National Artichoke Hearts Day!  Here’s a true story about what I used to think artichokes were.

Now you have to understand that I had never heard of artichokes when I was a kid.  And I used to love watching Bewitched.  So once on the show, Endora threatened to turn Darrin (or as she called him, “Derwood”) into an artichoke.  That was the first time I had heard that word and it never occurred to me that she’d threaten to turn Darrin into a veggie.  Usually people got turned into mice or monkeys or something.  Since “artichoke” sounded a lot like “aardvark”, I just assumed it was some kind of animal.

That alone would just be a misconception of a little kid.  But it was actually many years before I found out what an artichoke really was!  Mostly because the next few times I heard the word, it was part of the phrase “artichoke hearts”.  Now correct me if I’m wrong, but plants don’t have actual hearts, right?  So hearing about artichoke hearts just solidified my idea that it was an animal!

Even now that I know the truth, artichoke hearts on a pizza still sounds a little freaky to me.  And I do like spinach-artichoke dip, but when I eat it, I can’t help wondering how many poor little artichokes had to die for me to enjoy this taste treat.

At least I try to eat only free range artichokes.