About Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads as they grow once the spring waters recede from streams and rivers
 

 I was first introduced to this wonderful vegetable after my family moved to Carleton county in 1959.   After a winter berefit of green vegetable's, fiddleheads were an unexpected delight and a harbringer of spring.   Even though I now have green vegetables all winter I still welcome each spring's arrival of fiddleheads.

In the 1950′s and 60′s locals were not aware of the dangers of polluntants when harvesting these green goodies from along the Shitehawk stream or Saint John River; or perhaps there were no pollutants at this stage?

Yet my mental pictures of those long ago "pickings" show emply chemical barrels along the stream!

We called the brown sheath the brac and it was this that caught the dirt, no one thought of it as a health hazard.










Fiddleheads were washed once, plunked in a pot and cook until soft (and somewhat gray). There would be several inches of brown scum up the side of your pot!! One would carefully ladel out the fiddleheads and serve with butter, (homemade of course), and vinegar. At one home in our neigbourhood the fiddleheads were cooked even longer and then mashed on the plate with a fork.


It was not until I had “lived away” and returned to Carleton County in the 1970′s that I realized fiddleheads could be eaten tendercrisp – heaven!

 

 

There were years when cleaning fiddleheads was a spring pastime; in a pillowcase, in the clothesdryer, hosed down between two screens – removing the brown covering seemed next to impossible. My friend Graydon Shaw had such a system.

 

This Google image search on the right shows a automated Fiddlehead Cleaner devised in Maine.

In 1985 I moved to Saint John and have only harvested fiddleheads a few times. However I await each spring’s growth with anticipation. Fiddleheads, salmon, potatoes = a feast. 

My mother Edna, at 88, has now decreed that she shall only eat the superior grade of these ferns; the ones without stalk and harvested just as they burst from the ground.


NOW FOR THE KICKER! Because of contaminants from the waters;

Fiddleheads must be boiled for at least a minute to kill the germs.







Should you wish to saute, make soup, add to salads, stir fries etc the fiddlehead still requires this preboil; and I advise you to shock them with an ice water rinse to preserve the bright green colour.

Now I must run, there are some left over fiddleheads in my fridge and I have not yet had breakfast. I enjoy them cold ; and they would be so much better if I had some of my brother, Bruce Vail’s, cornmeal crusted, fried, Carleton County trout!!


Feel free to share your fiddlehead memories, comments or questions.  Readers loved, Comments adored!

 

about Moose Poop

Have you had moose poop?  This chocolaty based confection created by CHOCOLATE CRAVINGS is very popular with the cruise ship passengers.  And moose poop became even more popular when the shoppers learned the history of this product.

Oh, you do not know the story?  Well it goes like this; one hot summer day a moose came into town, by that I mean Saint John.  It clomped right down King Street, its hoofs tapping out a beat and its thin legs all askew. Why it did not collide with, or be hit by, a vehicle was a miracle.  When the “Alces alces” (scientific name for moose) first made his appearance the general populace was too stunned to react.  Perhaps they thought it had something to do with the cruise ship?  The children sensed there was trouble and they began to run after the moose, shooing it off the street.  The parents ran after the children.  The cruise ship visitors ran after the parents.  Someone called 911 and the fire truck, the ambulance and the police arrived.  Soon they were joined by the mall manager and the Port authority.

They chased that poor moose down Prince William Street but he made a right on Princess and was heading for the cruise ship.  The crowd roared into place and turned him right on Water Street.  He thundered up the cobble stones and was again headed off at Market Square. All over the down town one could hear his hooves striking out on the Boardwalk.  Then there was a crash and a splash, and silence.

“He’s gone into the Harbour”, all rushed to see.   There was only high tide and some swirling foam.  The uptown returned to normal.  The cruise ship departed, the employees went home.

Under the cover of darkness the Moose crept back into the area by loyalist plaza. There was some tall grass, he was exhausted.  His moose heart was still thumping in his chest.  Now Moose sleep like horses, while they can lie down, they normally just lock their knees and sleep standing up.  Our Moose was so exhausted he chooses to lie down.  Night came and went. In the early, early morning Mr. Moose raised and tried to shake, he was getting out of there.  To no avail, during the night magic had happened….he was no longer a living, breathing moose but a Statue of a Moose!  If you do not believe me – simply visit the outside area of Market Square, you will see him there.

And the Moose Poop?  Because people drop so many treats, and because he was once living and breathing, Mr. Moose just has to nibble away at some.  And if you eat, you ……poop.   So our friend Jackie collects the leavings; the maple leaf, the little fishes from the bay, assorted M&M’s and tiny treats, and even someone’s false teeth.  Then Jackie does her magic and makes it all clean and edible, she covers it with her CHOCOLATE CRAVINGS chocolate and there you have Moose Poop, the best Moose Poop!

You do not believe me?  Go talk to Jackie or the Moose.  This tale was written because no one asked me about Moose Poop.

How to survive an earthquake

My eldest daughter has been reading my blog and suggested some events from our past that she felt would make interesting reading.  “Remember”, wrote Vavielle, “How we survived the earth quake”?  And I did remember.

5.9 Earthquake

 Were we on vacation in some foreign country?  No we were in our home in the small rural community of Fielding, New Brunswick. It was at 12:53 on January 9th, 1982, with an epicentre at Trousers Lake in remote Victoria County.  Although the earthquake was felt widely throughout the Maritime Provinces and the New England states, because of the remoteness of its location, the only damage reported was the development and extension of cracks in buildings and pavement at a few locations.  The main earthquake was followed by a long sequence of aftershocks, including one of 5.1 on the same day, another of 5.4 on January 11th, 1982 and one of 5.0 on March 31st, 1982.

However, we did not realize any of that scientific data.  My house was shaking, the dishes were rattling and my children were crying.  I gathered them together and we huddled under the arch way in the living room. Good choice?   Not!   I have now done my research and the best place to be is to find a vertical face, sturdy, like the back of a couch, or against the side of a kitchen counter (without a big lip).

It may seem like you should shelter under a table, but this is not such a good idea. If the quake takes your home, the roof and ceiling will fall down and collapse the table, leaving you a small space. There would be little place to move, no ventilation, and probably injuries. Do NOT shelter in a doorway. That is a myth. The action of an earthquake can twist a doorway and snap it like a two twigs.

5.2 eathquake

I found later that our earthquake measured between 5 and 6 on the Richter scale.  Worldwide, 1,319 earthquakes of this magnitude occur each year.

Our 1982 quake lasted only a few minutes yet it was time for me, like the broody hen, to gather my chicks under my wings.  I may not have chosen the best place to make my stand. But I acted and provided security for the girls. And now some thirty years later we can laugh together about surviving the earthquake.

But, No one asked me how to survive an earthquake.