Originally Posted by Rober

Oh come on you guys... Artichokes are easy. Just break off the outer harder leaves, cut about 2 inches off the top, boil in a big pot of water with halves of lemons for about 40-45 minutes or until you can easily pull off one of the outer leaves. Remove. Drain upside down and allow to cool. Either break off the leaves one-by-one and eat them dipped in mayonnaise (if you are from CA) or melted butter (if from elsewhere). Just slide the "meat" off between your teeth - you don't really "eat" the leaf. When you get down to the really soft leaves on the inside, separate the rest of the leaves from the "heart" with a fork, scoop out the thistles (the hairy part) with a spoon, and eat the heart with a knife and fork and the rest of the little cone of soft leaves, starting from the bottom. You can really eat these leaves, or at least the bottom 50% of them. OR: Cut them in half lengthwise, scoop out the thistle (the hairy part) with a big spoon, eat any way you want. Leaves first, then the heart, or the other way around. The "heart" is the best part - that is the big piece at the bottom. Cut it into bite-sized pieces, dip in the above sauces, and enjoy! If you grew up in CA you know all this - if not, try it! You'll like it!
P.S.: Those weird root things aren't artichokes. They are roots. I don't know what you do with them...