We used to beg our grandmother for these mouthwatering Artichoke Fritters. Nonnie showed me how to make them a few times as I was growing up, but nothing was ever written down. I cobbled this recipe together from other Castroville recipe books and my memories.
(This recipe has a lotta heart, but sorry, it’s not the heart-healthy version. In photo above: daughter #1, my Dad, daughter #2)
~~~~~ CARCIOFI FRITTELI ~~~~~
(Artichoke Fritters)
10 or 12 small fresh artichoke hearts
1/2 c. milk or beer
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. Bisquick
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
2 or 3 sprigs of ITALIAN parsley, chopped fine
1/4 cup (small handful) onion chopped fine
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
1-2 tsp. white vinegar or lemon juice (for preserving color of cut artichokes)
Clean and chop the artichoke hearts*. Combine all ingredients well. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls into hot, deep vegetable oil and cook until golden and crisp. (A deep iron fry pan, or dutch oven works best.) Place fritters on paper towels to drain, salt to taste, and serve hot. Mangia!
*To prepare fresh artichokes for frying:
For best results use fresh artichokes--the fresh ones will still be a little al dente after cooking and fun to bite. Small artichokes, should be approximately 3 inches long. Snap off outer green leaves until you see leaves which show a yellow tint. Cut off stem at base, and cut off top third of bud crosswise, to remove all thorns. Cut the full bud in half lengthwise, then again into lengthwise quarters. The center of the bud should be a little fuzzy (this is the “choke”) but not purple. If this choke area is coarse or purple, pare it out with a small knife. While you’re working, drop the cleaned whole chokes into water which has a few teaspoons of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice added. This will keep them from oxidizing, or turning dark, during preparation. Drain the artichoke quarters before you chop them for the fritter batter, so that the batter doesn’t get too watered down.
Note: Some folks leave the artichokes in quarters when they put them in the batter. This is OK, but Nonnie always chopped them a little finer so that you had to use a large spoon to drop the batter into the oil!
Additional note, after feedback from my Aunt and her cousin: The above recipe was adjusted to make the following changes--include the option of using beer instead of milk, added 1/2 c. of Bisquick with less baking soda, only one egg instead of two. The garlic is now optional. If you don't have Bisquick, add an egg, a bit more flour, and another 1/2 tsp. of baking powder. My Aunt said, "I also remember she added chopped onion and italian parsley and a lot of sliced baby artichokes. Meaning that you should not have a lot of batter, just enough batter to hold the artichokes together."
The Artichoke Evangelist sweetens the deal--too much!
Let me be perfectly honest: I think I got something wrong, here!
First off, the cookie recipe didn't call for any liquid. Nada! But, the mix was too dry, so I added a quarter cup of water. Perhaps the liquid was not supposed to be drained out of the cooked artichokes quite so much? You know how carrots and zucchini become pretty wet when grated? Maybe I should've left a bit of liquid in the chopped artichokes. Nevertheless, there had to be more liquid or they just weren't going to make a dough.
Secondly, the recipe called for toasted coconut, and didn't specify sweetened or unsweetened. So, since grocery stores had plenty of sweetened, untoasted shredded coconut,that's what I used. I just toasted the coconut lightly, first.
Everything else went well--they baked up beautifully. However, these cookies are SWEET! As in a bit too sweet for me. I can eat one, then...well, too rich for my blood.
To fix that, next time I will use "UN-sweetened" coconut! Because this recipe uses two different prepackaged mixes that already have a ton of sugar in them, there's no other way to control the sugar content except to rebuild the recipe from scratch. If anyone has any suggestions let me know! I used a Dunkin Heinz White Cake mix, and a Jello Pistachio flavored instant pudding. Possibly other brand mixes don't have quite so much sugar in them. These could be even better if they were just a bit less sweet. They have just the right amount of artichoke in them so that they could actually be sort of good for you--with fiber, too!
I made 6 DOZEN! I sure hope Steve's family can tolerate the sugar rush these are going to cause on Thanksgiving! We are going to be bouncing off the walls!!
Being a self-described Artichoke Evangelist from Castroville, California, I thought it was time to look up some recipes for Thanksgiving using my favorite vegetable! Of course, one of my all-time faves is Nonnie's fried artichoke hearts (aka Artichoke Fritters), but imagine my surprise when I found artichoke cookies!
This recipe for "Castroville Cookies" was found at OceanMist.com, where I find many of my artichoke recipes. I haven't tried it yet, but I promise to post my own picture and taste test review after I've made them. I'm such a cookie monster, 'bout time my love for artichokes and cookies came together!
[Photo credit: Ocean Mist Farms, Castroville, CA www.oceanmist.com]
I would like to share a poem from the favorite post-post modern author and good friend of our daughter Stacy:
Artichokes how do I love thee?
Let me count the ways
I love thee boiled, simmered, and steamed
Be it your leaves, your stalk, or any part unseen
God forbid we stand apart for even one day.
Artichokes how do I love thee?
Let me count the ways
I love thee with salt, with oil, or any other way you will
So long as we meet in that land of Castroville
During this merry month of May.
My heart is yours and yours is mine!
Thanks be to that winged archer of love
Whose piercing arrow from above
Granted to my lips a food so divine.
From Philip Indorf: A Collection of Sonnets, the Early Years
By now, most people have heard about the Napa and Sonoma valleys of Northern California. But, I bet you didn't know that the Salinas River Valley highlands in Monterey County, California is also a great place to find great wine. Steve and I had a chance to take a drive on the Salinas River side of the hills to visit four new wineries we hadn't visited before.
We thoroughly enjoyed every one. Best feature of all: we got to talk to the wine makers themselves, or at least a son or daughter of the winemaker. They all have their own stories, but a common factor, it seems, is that while they may be relatively new as wine makers go, they are not new to the area. Many were growing vegetable and fruit crops before the lure of the grape took hold. See Pessagno Winery.
They are so casual and welcoming here, we even walked in on one little ol' winemaker while he was still bottling: Puma Road/Ray Franscioni Wines. And another is a family who is Swiss-Italian and had been in this same valley for a very long time. See the website for Manzoni Estate Vineyards. We even got to share a few stories about our Nono's and Nona's (grandfathers and grandmothers in English)!
And then there was Joel Burnstein and Marilyn Remark of Marilyn Remark Winery with their two big retrievers, Hogan and Snead, (someone likes to golf!); we enjoyed talking with them long after closing time. The picture above was taken in one of their vineyards. On their website, Joel says of tasting wines from the Rhone Valley in France in 2001: "These vintages were from small vintners who sell every bottle locally to friends and family. We knew then the type of wines we had to try to make."
Some of the folks who are bottling now, are the second and third generation children of European immigrants. Many are getting back in touch with a part of life that seemed a distant past for them. It's no wonder--they were sitting on California gold! Turns out this area is very special when it comes to climate, weather, soil, and elevation--just the right mix for growing the right grapes and making great wines.
I wish my grandfather were alive to see how the making of wine has taken off in this area, so close to his home in Castroville. He used to buy his grape 'juice' from a grower in the San Juan Bautista area and he always had a few barrels cooking away down in the cellar. He may not have been nearly as accomplished a vintner as these folks, but he put just as much love into making his wine, and above all, loved to share it at the dinner table with guests. After all, he knew that good wine brings people together--and that's when he was happiest!
In August, we decided it was high time Gramma Norma got to visit her sister and brother-in-law in Salinas, so Rene, my mom and I packed up and took a girl's trip to Castroville. Mom was excited about the trip for the whole month, and she seemed to have a great time reminiscing and remembering all her old haunts and favorite spots in the area once we landed and headed south from San Jose. We knew this would be a great visit with her sister and brother-in-law and it would unleash lots of memories for her.
We spent a lot of time with them, at their home and at lunch in my Uncle and Aunt's favorite local restaurant, the Black Bear. Luckily, Stacy was able to get away to join us overnight, and once she arrived in Castroville, we made some cookies and headed back to Salinas for dessert with Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Louie.
Next morning we girls took a trip to Santa Cruz for brunch at DeLaveaga Golf Lodge. My cousins Jon Bei and his daughter Marci are always gracious hosts. Mom's sister- and brother-in-law, Tom and Joy joined us, having only eaten there once before, and it turned into a beautiful Santa Cruz day. Jon's a great chef, and we were very well fed--our favorite dish was a prosciutto egg scramble that was absolutely delicious. We got to catch up with both sides of the family, learning that cousin Marci is expecting another baby--gender is to be a surprise--and Tom and Joy are also going to be grandparents for the second time. (It's a boy!!) I'm so happy for both pairs of proud Grandparents, they were all beaming with joy.
We also had the opportunity to eat at the Giant Artichoke Restaurant, filling up on every artichoke specialty dish they offered. As you know, I may be an artichoke evangelist, but Mom was the first Artichoke Queen of Castroville!
We're going to try to convince her to ride in the 50th Anniversary Artichoke Festival parade next May. She wasn't keen on it at first mention, so we'll need help with the sell--what a great way to bring back a little history for her!? Stay tuned, and help us get Mom on that float next year!
Our trip home was delayed by monsoon storms in Phoenix, which Mom snapped a photo of outside the plane's window. Spooky but very cool. Our arrival was eventful to say the least, as the trip was very tiring for Mom and she had to take a detour to the hospital. There's a parking shuttle driver out there who was left a little shell shocked, I'm sure!! But all has calmed down now, Mom is recovering well and we're all home safe! What a wild ride that was?!
This year Stacy joined me at the Artichoke Festival in Castroville. Again, the day was beautiful, with a clear blue sky, temps in the mid seventies and a light breeze just when you needed it.
We saw artichoke and vegetable art, known as the Agro-Art Competition, checked out the luscious food booths with all types of artichoke specialties, listened to some great bands, and even caught a belly-dancing presentation.
This year, for the first time we caught the bus for the farm tour. It turned out to be much more interesting than I thought it would be. Times are different, and artichoke packing has come a long, long way since my grandfather's day. What used to be done in a big wooden barn, (the packing shed) on the ranch property close to the fields is now done in the field with special tractor-truck setups that aide in sorting, sizing and boxing the chokes on site. Then the chokes are immediately trucked to the refrigerated storage areas at Ocean Mist headquarters.
It still takes people to cull and sort the artichokes into their boxes, so the basic methods have not changed since I can remember. Artichokes are labor intensive, no doubt about it. The industry is now just that--industry--not just small farms, but people are still at the heart of the process. No machine has yet been developed that can quickly review and sort for size, shape, and quality like a human can.
But, believe it or not, the most dramatic strides seem to be in the way they protect the chokes from pests. The biggest enemy is a specialized little moth that only lived on weeds and thistles indigenous to the California coast. But, when the Italian farmers arrived and planted artichokes in the Castroville area, turns out the little moths found their heaven on earth! The Italian farmers had never seen these particular little moths before and first tried using pesticides, with little headway. Now, they've abandoned the pesticides, which didn't work because though it might kill the moths it didn't kill their larvae hatching and feeding inside the safety of the artichokes. The moth-larvae-moth cycle was never broken. With the help of scientific research and moth psychology, the industry has worked out a method that turns the little moth's mating habits against them. Yep, girl-moth pheromones are synthetically reproduced and put in little bait stations filled with water at the ends of the plant rows. The poor guy-moths never knew what hit 'em. They drown in their own love. This cuts the numbers of moths mating, thereby cutting the numbers of little larvae growing inside the chokes...without pesticides!
We learned more on the tour, too--about new hybrid varieties of artichokes and how they're planted and grown in different climates so that we can have chokes in the market longer (I still like the taste of the Green Globe I grew up with). And we learned about the way the industry is working with the water treatment authorities to help stop seawater encroachment in the area's wells.
I highly recommend the Farm Tour if you have a chance to go to the Artichoke Festival. It was a hoot, and the tourists were amazing--out in the fields with their cameras clicking away.
It gave me a chance to share my past with Stacy, too. I pointed out my grandfather's old homestead out in the fields, (now gone) and told her how I remembered him tinkering with his own Caterpillar tractors in the big ol' tractor shed. The packing barn was mostly off limits to me when I was really little, but I remember it's sounds and smells really well; rich dark earth, artichoke parts and leaves everywhere, old wood and lichen smells, truck exhaust, gasoline, pigeons flying overhead and cooing like crazy, and all the people in their sweatshirts and gloves sorting the chokes and putting them into wooden crates. The pigeons really fascinated me, and I always wanted to go for a ride on one of the tractors. (Dad obliged occasionally, driving us to town and back.)
Now that I know why those old barns are gone, it's not so hard to understand. Progress, even for an old-fashioned looking, labor intensive flower bud, marches on.
Artichoke Festival Parade
Next year, I'm going to sign up for the bicycle exhibit. I have an old fat-tired Schwinn that I'd like to clean up and ride in the parade. Talk about a nostalgic trip!
And here are some cool rockin' videos to watch on the Ocean Mist website...from cooking to harvesting, learn more about my favorite bud! www.oceanmist.com/video/
I have been a bad blogger. Sure you’ve heard it before, but it has been an eventful couple of years, to say the least. I’ve needed time to process and think before I could just regurgitate events in a way that didn’t sound like I was having a rousing pity party over here. (All pictures can be viewed larger when clicked.)
To round up the events in our lives for the past year and a half as briefly as I can: Jan. 2005 – I officially become the Main Squiggler, with Robin Reynolds as Head Noodler at our new ad agency, NICE Creative. We don't want to be the biggest agency, just the most preferred.
Feb. 2005 – Mom has her last brain surgery to fix one last veinous anomaly, and starts having epileptic seizures as a result. Remember, she fell and sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) on Fathers’ day, 2004.
Mar. 2005 – Dad is diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and has immediate, radical esophagectomy. He is placed into an induced coma for more than three weeks after surgery due to extreme factors that take too long to explain here.
May 2005 – Dad is released from hospital, with feeding tubes and home care required by family. We start trying to talk him into seeing an oncologist, with no luck.
May 2005 – After one week at home, Dad gets to go back to hospital emergency room with a 103 degree temp. He’s in for another three weeks. Finally goes home in June.
July 2005 - We go back to Castroville to visit a more independent Dad and share some hot dogs and tater salad with stepdad John’s family in Santa Cruz. Dad seems a little stronger, more upbeat and this is much needed down-time for us, felt great. Tom and Joy Parker are great hosts, too.
Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec 2005 are spent trying to build the NICE Creative agency with Robin, getting back to a normal life, watching and praying that Mom and Dad will keep getting better, helping out with the recovery of both as needed.
Dec. 2005 – The NICE offices are robbed! Computers and work and some weird items disappear into the night. Work has to be redone, security upgraded, trust rebuilt.
Jan. - Mar. 2006 - Steve builds a humongous barbeque island in the backyard. Actually we call her the “Queen Mary,” she is quite large. He goes on to make legendary grilled meat dinners.
May 2006 - Rene graduated from ASU, had a great trip to Germany and Italy in June and went on to apply and make it into Rutgers for her Masters in Public Administration with an emphasis on International Community Development. (What a mouthful!) She’ll be leaving for Camden, New Jersey on August 30, 2007. And right after she’s done in New Jersey she hops off to only God knows where with the Peace Corps. It’s only just now dawning on us that she’ll be gone another three years!
July 2006 - Steve and I fulfill a long-time dream and travel to Europe. Touring 2 weeks by rental car through Germany, Slovenia and Italy was memorable, educational, fun, nerve-racking, trying, hot and sometimes downright frightening. But, we did it, will always remember it and learned a lot--about the countries we visited and about our patience and navigational skills, too. :-) We stayed in small B&B's and penziones in the country-side and wouldn't have done it differently. (Except maybe next time we'll take a bus tour in Italy, instead.) My favorite new saying, "autobahn, schmautobahn!"
August 2006 - Stacy and I attend the Bei-Tottino-Bei Picnic in Soquel, CA. See the previous post!
Sept. 2006 - Dad’s cancer comes back big time. He has finally agreed to meet with an oncologist in Monterey. Dr. John Hausdorff is a great guy--we love him.
Nov. 2006 - The inevitable happened: Dr. Hausdorff tells Dad he's eligible to enter the Hospice program. With myself and my Aunt Betty as primary caregivers, we trade off days of the week as Dad's health, strength and weight slips quickly downhill. Strangely enough, as his body weakens, his mood strengthens. I wouldn’t trade back the time together with him for anything.
Thanksgiving 2006 - Betty, Dad and I are invited to our cousins' house in Santa Cruz for Thanksgiving. This is the first time I've been there for Thanksgiving and Claudie and Jon are experts (of course, they own a restaurant!) We got to see lots of folks we haven't seen in a long time, especially some of Claudie's relatives–she grew up in the Santa Cruz mountains near Bonny Doon. It was a great opportunity to get Dad out of the house to visit his cousins. He was exhausted but happy that he had gone. And having a chance to see Monica and Mike and Marcie and Mark and the new baby Lucas was a wonderful Thanksgiving treat!
Dec. 2006 - In spite of being gone so much, our NICE little ad agency survived it’s second year of business. How’d that happen? Yay for Robins sheer strength of will!
Dec. 2006 - Steve sold many barbeques throughout the winter, thank goodness. Mike and I convince our families that it's time to spend Christmas with Dad. It proves to be tiring for him, but he truly appreciates having the whole family there: Mike, Jessica, Adam, Karen, Joe and Addie, and myself, Steve, Rene and Stacy. Uncle Maurice and Aunt Betty came down, too. It was a house-full, but wonderful to be together.
Jan. 17, 2007 - Mom fell and sustained yet another massively traumatic brain injury. Worse than the first one. Horrifying deja vu ensues at the emergency room (for us that is; her memories are shot yet again).
Jan. 25, 2007 - Dad passed away quietly at home. Mike and I rushed to get there just in time to join Aunt Betty and say goodbye. Meanwhile, our step-dad John and sister Lynn were left in Phoenix to endure harrowing days in the hospital with Mom.
Feb. 1, 2007 - We hold a beautiful Celebration of Life for Dad; 430 of his closest friends and family attend! It was the way he would’ve wanted it. Feb. 3, 2007 – Our families spread Dad’s ashes at his favorite duck blind at the Salinas Duck Club in Gustine, CA. Afterwards our little crew enjoy a toast to him at his favorite Duck Club stop-over in Santa Nella, CA – "Pea Soup Anderson’s". Thanks for joining us Linda, you were his lifeline and I can’t imagine you not being there for these last moments.
End of Feb. 2007 - Mom is released from the hospital with months of work and rehabilitation penciled on the calendar. Little did we know how tough the second go ‘round would be for John!
May 12, 2007 - Stacy graduates from NAU with a 4 year degree in Social Work. Wow! With all that was going on at home she stayed focused and on course. I'm so proud of her I could burst!
Mother’s Day 2007 – Four families all converge (hee hee...converge...vortex), at the Sedona Airport for brunch, and Mom celebrates her first day trip out of town with John and the Vette. She’s doing remarkably well for someone who has bruised much of the frontal lobes of her brain—TWICE!
May 2007 – Rene takes a temporary position at the NICE agency and Robin’s husband’s business, Utility Strategies Consulting Group, as Admin Assist and Analyst until it’s time to go to Rutgers. We certainly enjoy her company, her wit, her skills and will miss her immensely when she’s gone. What a great person she’s become!
May 18-20, 2007 Rene and I take a quick trip to Castroville for the annual Artichoke Festival. What a beautiful weekend it was—we got to work in the fried artichoke booth, and probably ate more than we sold! Rene and I discovered a new grilled artichoke recipe that was great. Click this link to download a PDF of the recipe.
April-July 2007 – A housepainting project is turning into a whole house cleanup and redo for Steve and I. Steve got a new High-Def TV out of it, but this will take some time for sure! We are incorporating memorabilia from Italy which Dad brought back from his trips. I especially like the handpainted ceramics from Gubbio and Deruta.
June 2007 – NICE Creative publishes its first book, “Life to the Max: Maxims for a Great Life by a dog named Max.” We are exploring more publishing options, but it’s kinda’ fun. This is a great book for anyone who’s ever loved and lost a beloved pet. Writing it was Robin’s way of working out her feelings for the loss of her dog, Max, and she shared it with me when our Gina died. We hope it will help many others as well.
June 2007 - Stacy applied and made it into a graduate program at ASU for her MSW. She’ll be doing her internship at Flagstaff hospital and attending classes in Phoenix—way to test your mettle, Stacy!
July 28, 2007 – A young cousin marries her sweetie in Monterey, and we stay at Dad’s house for the weekend. It’s a wonderful family reunion, and we are doing our best to get used to Ray not being there.
Following are some photos from Katie and Bryce's wedding and the get togethers at Michelle and David's, and Hugo and Delores' homes.
The wedding was held at a beautiful hotel in Monterey, with the ceremony held right outside next to the breaking waves. Michelle and David looked so proud of their youngest daughter. Bryce and Katie had done a great job, and the dancing and food were the best! Our cousins in Italy were able to attend the wedding. In the group photo above, clockwise from left to right: Norman Bei, Adamo Bei, Michelle Pecci (mother of the bride), Enio Bei, Patty Cook, Maurice Bessiere Sr., Elisa Bei, Lidia Bei, Daniella Bei, and Betty Bei Bessiere.
There was a buffet lunch at the Pecci's house on Sunday, where we got to say our farewells to Katie and Bryce who were heading home to Fresno and to pack for their Carribean honeymoon in a month. Les, Michelle and Karen were able to talk their dad into playing his accordian for the crowd. What a show! Story is that back in the early 50's all the young cousins decided they would take accordian lessons together; my Dad, Norman, Hugo, and Lance Bei were all involved. Hugo's the only cousin who made the lessons stick! (Click his picture abov for a very short movie clip.)
The next Monday night after the wedding, Mike, Jessica and I were invited to dinner at Hugo and Dolores' house. They surprised Mike for his 50th Birthday with a cake! The entire Italian entourage had shopped for just the right dessert. Usually shy, Michael was very touched. "Saluto, Mikey!"
August 8, 2007 – Rene and Stacy fly to see Aunt Lynn and Uncle Dwight (who have there own eventful timeline to publish some day) and have a great time in Pentwater, Michigan. The girls join Lynn in a parade, go sailing, pontoon-ing, shopping in Ludington and meet the puppies Charlie and Flabby Abbie! Thanks for sending for them Lynard. They brought back a lot of great tales!
August 2007 – The NICE Creative agency is moving along nicely, Robin’s book is on the way to being published on a larger scale, Stacy’s getting ready to start school, Rene is packing and slowly saying her goodbyes, and Steve and I are counting our blessings, one by precious one.
OK. And so... When it’s all written out the good stuff kind of balances out the tough stuff--don't you think? It feels as though two different lives were running in two tracks side-by-side; one with all the good things, the other contained the sad things. We are left with Dad’s house in Castroville, which we'll have to sell someday, but we’re in no hurry as Mike and I are very attached to it. Being trustee of the family trust keeps me busy on weekends--keeps me in touch with Castroville. Steve is calling Dad's house our "Summer House" in the meantime. Castroville will always hold a deep and personal place in my heart, and summer was when I spent most of my time there growing up. So it seems a fitting title. We hope to visit often--not just summers.
If I've skimmed too much or forgotten an important event (for our family, not the world!), please add a comment. I want to hear your thoughts. Life has become increasingly more precious, especially the part spent with family and good friends. It's difficult to catch up on events after so much time is lost. I'll try to add photos to the posts if possible. So keep coming back!
This is the personal weblog of Terry Bei Rohrs. Don't be surprised to find a picture or post about my family, friends, pets, work, travel, fun, or rants...I hardly ever really "Roar", but maybe it's time to start!
An empty-nester, I share my home with husband Steve. I was born in the heart of Artichoke-ville USA--Castroville, California, and I consider myself an Artichoke enthusiast and evangelist of sorts. Our two daughters, Rene and Stacy are artichoke lovers too, which is proof that a taste for carciofi runs in our blood.
We used to beg our grandmother for these mouthwatering Artichoke Fritters. Nonnie showed me how to make them a few times as I was growing up, but nothing was ever written down. I cobbled this recipe together from other Castroville recipe books and my memories.
Clean and chop the artichoke hearts*. Combine all ingredients well. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls into hot, deep vegetable oil and cook until golden and crisp. (A deep iron fry pan, or dutch oven works best.) Place fritters on paper towels to drain, salt to taste, and serve hot. Mangia!
