Artichoke Diversity

There are moments in every woman's life when she realizes -- with vivid clarity -- that she is BECOMING HER MOTHER. I had one of those moments a few years ago (back in my wild single days) during an ordinary telephone call with my Mom, when we realized that we had both ... without any prior planning (obviously!) eaten the same dinner earlier in the week: an artichoke, and then some ice cream.

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Weird, I know.

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I was thinking of that this weekend when I prepared a couple of artichokes for Philipp and me. These were the artichokes that almost weren't. They had to overcome a lot of obstacles. First, they had to make it into our shopping basket and home with us. I wasn't planning on buying any artichokes, but on a trip to the store the other day, Philipp saw them and they looked good, so we picked up a pair. I wanted to cook them the other evening, but we ran out of gas, and Philipp would have to go out and get another canister of it. I'd already prepared most of the dinner, so I let the artichokes go for that night. Then I boiled them last night, but we were too full from our mass quantities of pasta to eat them. And that's when Philipp informed me that in France, "we don't eat artichokes hot".

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No hot artichokes?? That's CRAZY!!

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It turns out that artichokes are just another of the many items that are prepared and/or consumed differently here. In France, they're room temperature, and you dip the leaves in a mixture of crème fraiche (a bit like sour cream) and wine vinegar. In the States, we eat them hot and dip the leaves in a mixture of melted butter and lemon juice.

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Or do we ... ?

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I talk quite a bit about American culture with my students, and sometimes I'm not sure if what is "true" is the case for most Americans, or just true in my experience. Take the primaries, for example. I've been asked by several people to explain just what's going on with our electoral process right now, and I'm trying my best to think of educated -- and hopefully accurate -- answers. (Thanks, Mr. Turner, for all the wisdom you imparted in the 1988-1989 school year!) So I've been explaining the basics, hoping no one asks what the difference is between a primary and a caucus (I have no idea!), and so far I've been pretty confident about my answers. Until this weekend, when I learned that a few states decided to hold their primaries (or maybe their caucuses, I don't know!) on the weekend!! What's up with that?!? I've been telling everyone that elections and primaries are always on a Tuesday, and now I find out that I'm a big fat liar.

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So ... maybe the same is true with our little friends the artichokes. Perhaps what is true for me (hot with lemon butter) is not actually the norm in the States. Heck, maybe normal people don't even eat artichokes unless they're part of the (hot!) creamy goodness that is a steaming bowl of spinach artichoke dip! Who knows?!

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So am I spreading lies or truths about artichoke consumption habits of average American citizens? You tell me. You can weigh in with your vote as a comment at the end of the post. (Enquiring minds want to know!)

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As for the many other differences in food consumption habits of average American versus average French people, I'll have to compile a list when I'm a little less sleepy. I had my last long training run today ... 20 miles in 3 hours 1 minute. And now ... the taper begins!!

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And in other news ... Thank you for the outpouring of support, your thoughts, your prayers, ... it seems the hand is not broken! ;) I didn't go for x-rays, but it's finally starting to feel better. Hmm ... does it still hurt when I press on it? [Kerry pauses to press on it] Ouch! Guess it still hurts a little. But (as Philipp says) I'm a warrior!

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Unfortunately, Warrior Philipp seems to have had a collision between his nose and the door of his truck this week. He's looking a little like a Roman Gladiator (the bump) with a pimple (the redness), and it's just a tad bit crooked, too. But since he's not really interested in going to a doctor to have it rebroken, and I promised he looked cute and I'd still love him even with a (incredibly minutely) crooked nose, he's just going to live with it this way.

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And I promised not to press on it. ;)

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Have a great week, everyone!