5/2/08 You know you're a geek when . . .

So RBF's little brother emails and asks if we're going to watch Game #6 against the Hawks of the Celtics run for the championship. Sure! So he comes over a little before the game starts and we get to talking iPhones and MacBooks (we've done this before). The next thing you know, it's third quarter, MRM (in her Big Baby Davis #11 jersey) and RBF are waaaaay into the game, and Rodney and I are still talking iPhones and MacBooks. Now add Facebook to the mix and there's not enough time to cover it all. He and Melanie were talking about Myspace and she decided she wanted a Facebook account, too, so he sets up a Facebook account for her on her computer which is why we had a third MacBook at the table. My computer battery finally runs out of juice (I had my work computer at home) so I go get my home computer and we're up to 4 laptops and 2 iPhones at the table. Now there's a commercial break between the third and fourth quarters and MRM looks up and starts laughing. This is what she saw. Well, add another iPhone to the picture (it's not pictured in this photo 'cuz it's being used to take the photo) and you'll have an idea of what was going on. Where else would you have a 3:1 computer to geek ratio?

Fiddlehead Ferns

Look what's growing in MRM's back yard:

That's a Maine delicacy called a fiddlehead.

According to Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to Food and Cooking: An illustrated Reference for Successful Cooking, a fiddlehead fern is "the young, edible, tightly curled, green shoot of any species of fern. Most commercially grown fiddlehead ferns are form the ostrich fern. Fiddlehead ferns are 2 to 5 inches long and 1.5 inches in diameter. Their texture is similar to green beans, and their flavor is like a cross between asparagus and green beans. They can be eaten raw in salads, stir-fried in oil for about 1 minute, or steamed for about 1.5 minutes."

According to the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, "Harvest the tender little rolls of fern almost as soon as they appear within an inch or two of the ground." They go on to give recipes for cooking them and warn what can happen when they're not cooked properly. I guess these fiddleheads in the backyard are too big.