Artichokes

Artichokes must be the weirdest of all vegetables. They look weird. Their stems (uncooked) are covered with some bitter substance, and they can leave splinters in the handlers' hands. And cooked? Whoever came up with the idea of eating a vegetable by scraping flesh from the leaves with one's teeth???

Yep, I'm loosing it. Too much studying!!! And the temperatures close to 100F/40C are NOT helping.