It's fiddlehead time

Some of the fiddleheads around are actually starting to open, but there are still plenty to be found. It's a great wild, local, organic food. Pickled fiddleheads are my faves, but boiled and steamed are OK. (If they have to be hot, I'll take steamed, thank you.)

Here are a couple places you can get recipes on preparing fiddleheads: The Heart of New England, and Wild Harvest Gourmet.

The state government has put out some advisory info on how to keep safe when eating them - they boil down to washing what you pick, and either boiling them for 10 minutes or steaming them for 20 minutes.

One point health officials make is that floodwaters - especially in the St. John River valley - may have deposited contaminants where fiddleheads are growing.

You can find out a lot more about fiddleheads from the UMaine Cooperative Extension, and the Maine Center for Disease Control says you can call them at 800.821.5821 if you think you have gotten sick from eating fiddleheads.