New Holiday Tradition for my family

Hi Everyone.  Hope you all had a great holiday how ever you celebrate. We thought we were going to have a new little one over christmas weekend but it was a false alarm. Haley wants to have it tonight or I should say tomorrow morning on New Years day. She wants little Eli to be the first baby born so she can get all kinds of free stuff!  My little girl has always wanted to be the first at just about everything and shes just a weeee bit spoiled but I don't think this time she is going to get her way. There have been no signs of a baby showing up today, just to be on the safe side tho we are all staying in tonight.

Now to the new tradition: I needed a quick appetizer one night and I came up with fried artichokes with a cream sauce and artichoke bread patties. We make and eat alot of food around here durring the holidays, alot of it is fattening but all of it is better for you than the traditional stuff. This new recipe is no different its not low cal but its made with real ingredients and that is very important. Keep in mind this is a holiday or party appetizer not an everyday meal.

And yes these are fried but not deep fried and remember I always use grapeseed oil or denatured coconut oil so it will be ok to fry these. I am not sure how they would work baked but if you try it let me know how they come out. And remember use as many organic ingredients as possible I always do; but sometimes we just can't so do the best you can and feel good about your effort.
You will need:
2 cans of artichokes (in brine, drained)
1 1/2 c seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 c    grated pecorino romano cheese
1/2tsp  galic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1-2      eggs (or if you don't eat eggs, substitute 1/2 c milk or plain soymilk)
1 TB    water to add to the eggs (omit if not using eggs)
About 1/2 inch of grapeseed oil in the bottom of a hot skillet
Method:
In a medium bowl whip the eggs with the water, set aside (or just pour the milk into the bowl). In low larger bowl mix the bread crumbs and cheese together add garlic powder and black pepper you can add more than what I have if you want, set this aside.
Set the skillet onto burner and heat over medium heat add the oil. Cut the artichokes in half (top to bottom) and dip into the egg mixture first; then dredge in the breadcrumbs, place into hot skillet and fry on both sides until golden. Place on several layers of paper toweling to drain. Continue this until all have been fryed. Add the left over eggs to the remaining bread crumbs along with any pieces of artichoke that fell off durring dredging. Add some extra milk if you need to to make a thick batter. Form the batter into patties (or spoon into pan flattening to form a patty) and fry in left over oil. Set aside on paper towels to drain.

For The Cream Sauce:
In a small saucepan over medium/low heat melt 1/4 stick of butter or earth balance, add 1 1/2 cups of 1/2 and 1/2 or vitamin d milk. When milk starts to bubble add 3/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese and stir until sauce thickens. Serve over artichokes with bread patties and some marinara sauce if you want.