The artichoke shake made me think of a garlic-infused red wine someone got in Gilroy and brought to a cook-in I was at. Sometimes two very good ingredients ought to be kept separate. That was worse than that jalapeno beer named after the other Cave Creek. The beer’s not bad, exactly; it’s just sort of unfair, because you taste the pepper and want some beer to wash it down with but the pepper’s in the beer, so you get more of it when you drink, etc. ad inebriatum.

There was this little restaurant halfway to Seattle with Dungeness Crab/Cheese soup, mmm…

if we are getting into regional embarassing delicious things — the town of indio has a date festival, and there is nothing like a date milkshake. much better choice than the artichoke shake. [if anyone wants to do a compare and contrast, it's only about 400-450 miles between the Giant Artichoke and the Date Festival.]

Deep-fried chanterelles! (faints)

I have to start looking around for a substitute. Make do. Needs must.

Here’s my geographic variation on deep fried artichoke hearts. Use thebewilderness’ recipe. Definitely get the young ones.

“What are Rocky Mountain oysters? They are that part of the bull that is removed in his youth so that he may thereby be more tractable, grow meatier, and behave less masculine. When the calves are branded, the testicles are cut off and thrown in a bucket of water. They are then peeled, washed, rolled in flour and pepper, and fried in a pan. They are considered to be quite a delicacy. Like other organ meats, testicles may be cooked in a variety of ways – deep-fried whole, cut into broad, thin slices, or marinated. At roundups in the old West, cowboys and ranch hands tossed the (gonads) on a hot iron stove. When the calf fries exploded, they were done

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/RockyMtnOyster.htm