Artichoke?

It's been a long winter of CSA squash and collards. And soon our CSA will start up again, probaby with more greens to start with. In the meantime, I stuck wandering the grocery store produce section with the power to choose my own vegetables.

Lately, I've been roasting asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper. Eggplant gets baked with tahini. And this week, I have artichokes and have absolutely no idea how to cook them.

I remember my mother steaming the leaves, serving them with butter (I mostly sucked the butter off) and chopping the hearts into salads. But how long do you steam an artichoke? And how do you get to the center?