Dry tips on the leaves is fine. I'd cook in the way you usually do.

I don't honestly know what's up. Checking for heavy was a good ideal, but I don't know what they originally were, and they're small, so I don't know from memory. I think they felt some heavy, even with the drying. But I don't know.

So I figured they're either going to get cooked or composted, so I might as well toss them in the steam oven and see. These are the kind where you don't have to clip the tips. We'll see...

Might as well give it a go. They could be fine.

I used to work with someone whose dad lived in Castroville here in CA and grew artichokes. OMG...the artichokes he'd bring to work were just unreal! The best part was he'd always give most of them to ME. :-)

LOL! I can just imagine. I've driven through Castroville a few times and seen the artichokes. :)

So, there were four. Two weren't nice inside. The outer petals of the other two were goners, but the hearts were fine. Nothing to present to company, but good enough to eat.

Yeah, we lived quite close to Castroville, and took those wonderful artichokes for granted. Now that we're in PA, I can sometimes find them at Fresh Market, and they are a treat. We used to have them all the time in CA.

"...but the hearts were fine."

Good to know the best part was fine with all four.

I always put the artichokes I get at the store in a vase of water, especially if I'm not going to use them right away. It helps rehydrate and plump them a bit. I'm glad to hear that yours weren't a total loss.

Sadly, it was just the two semi-okay ones that had the good hearts. But that's better than none! :)

Kate, thanks for the tip. I've never had artichokes dry up on me before, but they were in the little drawer fridge, on top of something, in a ventilated container, and I think that might have put them in direct combat with the evaporator. I'll be more careful in the future. As it was, I wasn't feeling well, and just shoved them in the fridge. :) I have plenty of vases...

Cut off the bottoms a bit and put the bottoms in the water. Remember, they are just an upopened flower.

They'd gone brown inside. Too far gone. :(

They might have been old when you bought them.... to start off. Hard to tell how long vegetables have been in storage before being put out on display.

I have not found artichokes worth buying in any store for a number of years. I look at the artichokes everywhere that I shop, and look often. I have begun to wonder if there is something happening to the artichoke market that I am unaware of.

I used to buy them often at many different venues. But, now what I find is artichokes that are ready for nothing but the compost bin. They are dried up and have no weight and are really just rotten. I would rather buy some in the jar rather than pay dollars per and have only the heart of it be edible, or maybe not.

I mean I DO look often in many different stores and at all times of the year.

I used to live in New Orleans and we made stuffed artichokes and husbands Italian family makes them also. It has been years since I found any that were worth buying. I have no answers for it.

Oh well, artichokes are the least of our worries now.

Here in PA, far from Castroville, Fresh Market is the one store where I've found decent artichokes. Sometimes Trader Joe's has a clamshell (hate those!) of 4 fairly small ones. They aren't bad.

Yeah, I had the small ones that you don't have to trim. They started off fine, but I was sick and didn't cook them, and they died. It happens. :)

The best artichokes are the slightly frostbitten ones. They look ugly, with kind of lacy browning on them, but if they otherwise seem good, with a firm bottom, heavy feel, tight top and plump petals, they're the best. If they're bright green and lovely they likely have no flavor.

Getting good artichokes in Southern California is no big deal, though I've noticed there are fewer of them than some years back. It may be that they've gone out of style and people just aren't buying enough of them.

Tip: Tinsnips are great for trimming the petals. They don't stick, like kitchen shears, and make it easy to do the task in front of the TV, with a waste container at your feet, rather than bending over a counter.

I just got this in my mailbox today. I was a frequesnt customer at their store off Highway One when we lived close by, but for the past four years, I've ordered once a season. Note, they only ship in the spring. These are the best!

http://www.pezzinifarms.com/buy-fresh-artichokes/

As much as I love a good stuffed artichoke, there are many other wonderful things to eat. Those would be quite expensive to ship to the east coast and I am going to pass. Perhaps I will make another effort to look for them this season as this seems to be the season for them.

We have Wegmans near us and they claim to be one of a handful of grocers who are at the top of the list to get the best and freshest of produce. They need to get those artichokes off the selling floor because they are nothing but compost ready.

It is not that I am a picky person. These are just not hardly even edible anymore. They are dried up all the way to that delicious choke and seem to weigh no more than if they were paper.