![\"\"](\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/June-082.jpg\" "\\"June")
<\/a>MamaSara is my Italian grandmother, whom I adore and would give anything if I could see more often.\u00a0 She lives in Mississippi and her health has not been good lately.\u00a0 We have not stopped thinking about her and praying for her.\u00a0 She has always catered to everyone has always welcomed our huge family with open arms and a feast of delicious food!<\/p>\nStuffed Artichokes are one of MamaSara’s specialties, and my family literally fights over them!<\/p>\n
Now, just like any good grandmother, she does not have actual recipes for anything!\u00a0 She just uses “a little of this and a little of that.”<\/em> I’ve done my best to make them taste like hers, but MamaSara’s artichokes will always taste better to me!<\/p>\n What you will need:<\/p>\n Fresh Artichokes, Italian Style Breadcrumbs, Chopped Olives, Parmesan Cheese, Olive Oil<\/p>\n Start near the bottom first and work your way around and to the top.<\/p>\n After that I think it is important to clean them as well as you can.\u00a0 Run them under warm water, spreading the leaves apart trying to get any clippings or critters out.\u00a0 Then sprinkle them with salt and turn them upside down in a pot of water for about 30 minutes.\u00a0 If they won’t stay upside down, you can put a plate on top of them to hold them in place.<\/p>\n This will be a little messy, so place the artichoke on a plate to stuff the little guy.\u00a0 Spread the leaves out one at a time, starting at the bottom, and just drop a little of your stuffing into each leaf.\u00a0 This step is not hard and does not take very long.\u00a0 Lilly Katherine did it by herself and did a great job!<\/p>\n Remember to check them as they cook.\u00a0 You need to maintain the water level and not let it get so low that the pan burns.<\/p>\n They are ready when the leaves are a little curled, and you can gently tug on a leaf and it comes out with ease.\u00a0 If it takes force to remove a leaf, then cover them and steam longer.\u00a0 YUMMY!<\/p>\n To eat the artichokes, scrape the leaf with your teeth removing the stuffing and the soft bottom part (the “meat”) from the artichoke leaf.\u00a0 I prefer to turn each leaf upside down and scrape with my bottom teeth.\u00a0 Of course, Preston uses his top teeth.\u00a0 I’m not sure how that child came from me!<\/p>\n When you have eaten all of the outer leaves and stuffing, the heart of the artichoke is absolutely delicious with a little bit of salt and lemon juice.\u00a0 Sorry no pics to show you how to get to it.<\/p>\n I would call this a bowl full of SUCCESS!<\/p>\n Ingredients:<\/p>\n Cut the stems off of the artichokes, making them as even as possible so they will stand up in a stock pot.\u00a0 Trim the leaves by clipping the sharp points off with kitchen scissors.\u00a0 Use a knife to cut the top of the artichoke off, and then trim the inner leaves with scissors.\u00a0 Run the artichokes under water, spreading the leaves to remove any excess clippings or critters.\u00a0 Sprinkle with salt and put upside down in a pot full of water for about 30 minutes.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, combine the Breadcrumbs, Parmesan Cheese, Olives, and Olive Oil.\u00a0 Mix well, adding extra olive oil if needed.<\/p>\n Remove artichokes from water and shake to remove excess water.\u00a0 Start at the bottom and stuff each leaf individually with the desired amount of stuffing.\u00a0 Stuff the top well, also.<\/p>\n Place the artichokes in a large stock pot, making sure that they can stand without falling or being overcrowding.\u00a0 Add about 1\/2 an inch of water to the bottom of the pot, covering the bottom of the pot and a small portion of the artichokes.\u00a0 Cover and bring to a boil.\u00a0 Reduce heat and keep them at a very low boil for 1-1.5 hours.\u00a0 Check water often and add water when necessary.\u00a0 The artichokes are ready when you can remove leaves with ease.<\/p>\n To eat, scrape the stuffing and the “meat” or bottom soft part of the artichoke leaf with your teeth.<\/p>\n Enjoy!<\/p>\n .<\/span> \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have been having contractions for about 24 hours.\u00a0 Some strong and some not.\u00a0 I am getting VERY anxious.\u00a0 So much so that I tried to take a brief nap today and my heart just kept racing, my contractions were strong, and I was feeling that this baby would be making it’s appearance sometime in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3947"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3977,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3947\/revisions\/3977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>If you are feeling adventurous, give them a try!\u00a0 You may find a new food that your family will love!<\/p>\nStuffed Artichokes<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Cut the stems off the bottom of the artichokes.\u00a0 Make them as level as possible, because they need to be able to stand upright.<\/p>\n<\/a>Next trim the artichokes to look like the one below.<\/p>\n<\/a>Clip the points off the leaves, being careful not to stick yourself.\u00a0 They can be sharp little boogers!\u00a0 LK wanted to cut them off, and so she helped with this process.<\/p>\n<\/a>When you get to the top, just take a sharp knife and cut the whole top off.<\/p>\n<\/a>After you cut the top off, open the top leaves up a bit and use your scissors to trim some of the inner pointy leaves.\u00a0 It just allows you to stuff more breadcrumb goodness into your artichoke.<\/p>\n<\/a>As they soak, mix your stuffing.\u00a0 In a large bowl, combine Breadcrumbs, Chopped Olives, Parmesan Cheese, and Olive Oil.<\/p>\n<\/a>Mix well.\u00a0 The consistency should be crumbly but able to hold together a little.\u00a0 If you feel it’s too dry, add a little olive oil.<\/p>\n<\/a>Remove the artichokes from the water and shake excess water from them.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Make sure all the leaves are stuffed.\u00a0 I like mine full.\u00a0 Preston likes less stuffing.\u00a0 Do whatever floats your boat!<\/p>\n<\/a>Make sure you stuff the top, too.\u00a0 Lightly drizzle the tops with olive oil just to add a little moisture.<\/p>\n<\/a>Place the artichokes in a pot that will allow them to stand up supported.\u00a0 If there is too much room they will turn over, making them soggy.\u00a0 If there is not enough room they don’t steam evenly.<\/p>\n<\/a>Fill the pot with about half an inch of water.\u00a0 Just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and a little of the artichokes.\u00a0 If you have too much water the bottom leaves and stuffing will get soggy.<\/p>\n<\/a>Cover and bring it to a boil.\u00a0 Reduce heat to medium-low and allow it them to cook at a very low boil for about an hour to an hour an a half.\u00a0 Make sure to add water periodically.\u00a0 If they are really large artichokes, they can take up to 2 hours to completely steam.<\/p>\n<\/a>Serve your stuffed artichoke with your most favorite Italian meal.<\/p>\n<\/a>Of course, it’s best to serve them with MamaSara’s homemade spaghetti sauce and homemade meatballs, and MamaSara’s Salad<\/a>.\u00a0 Oh, what I would give to have a bite of this meal right now!<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/span><\/h2>\n<\/a>Recipe for MamaSara’s Stuffed Artichokes<\/span><\/h2>\n\n
<\/a>-kate<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n