Jimmy Buffett: Escaping Reality?

The whole parrothead gang with their SUV-turned-landshark!

Kate Langenburg/A&E Groove

Haha, like you even had to think twice about that one. Of course he’s escaping reality. He does it by constantly touring, living in his own little island paradise world, and always knowing when to take a shot of rum…or two…or three…or…

Perhaps this is the main reason why he has so many fans. Affectionately called ‘parrotheads,’ the fans are by far some of the craziest party-hardy music lovers out there today. And weird, but they range in age from small ‘parakeets’ to growing-older-but-not-up grandmas and grandpas. And everyone—I mean EVERYONE—starts off a JB concert tailgating in the parking lot.

Last weekend, Jimmy played his five hundred and sixty millionth or something show in Camden, New Jersey at the Susquehanna Bank Center. Luckily, yours truly was in attendance. Armed with my coconut bra, my crazy straw drinking glasses, and a drunken posse of wanna-be-islanders, I raided the large venue, singing, dancing, and making sure that my ‘fins’ were up.

Like I said before, parrotheads are a different species. Those demoted to the mudtastic lawn went through all the trouble of renting chairs to sit and enjoy the concert, but then ended up standing and singing the whole time! Once Jimmy hit that stage, there was nothing that could ruin the carefree attitude of the crowd.

It’s almost as if everyone is instantly transformed back to happy, oblivious children on Christmas morning and Jimmy is their jolly Santa Claus. (Perhaps this is what prompts overweight, sixty-two year old men to wear grass skirts and coconut bras.) You could blame it on the alcohol, but I think it’s Jimmy’s euphoric escape artist technique that makes the crowd so enthralled in happiness.

Taking people away from their hectic hustle-bustle lives and putting them right smack dab in Margaritaville, where they can hula hula all night long is the perfect plan, JB! These people NEED the escape. If you came into work with a giant limbo stick and a parrot on your shoulder, people might think you were crazy, don’t you think?

Cheers to Jimmy Buffett, and thanks for the escape.

Fins up!

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Deep Fried SHROOMS

These deep fried shroomies taste so good with sauce!

Kate Langenburg/A&E Groove

For you, today I want to start off the food section of A&E Groove with a little deep fried lovin.’ If you’re anything like me, sometimes you are controlled by irrepressible urges to eat something greasy. Today happened to be one of those days. This recipe turned out to be absolutely amazing and was well worth all the battling I did with myself over whether or not I should really be eating this stuff.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces whole mushrooms
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup Egg Beaters (or you can use 2 eggs)
• 1 cup italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• olive oil, for frying

Step 1: Wash the shroomies and put the flour, egg beaters, and breadcrumbs in their own separate, small bowls.

Step 2: Coat each shroomer in flour, then dip in egg beaters, then coat with breadcrumbs (like a fungus-y assembly line). Repeat this process for each mushroom, and place them on a plate when finished with each.

Step 3: Fill a medium sized frying pan with 1/2 inch of olive oil and heat it on medium heat.

Step 4: Fry a few at a time (however many you can fit comfortably in the pan) for about 2-3 minutes each or until golden brown on both sides.

Here’s my ever-important suggestion to you—lay them out to dry on a few layers of paper towels. This soaks up some of the grease. When you’re ready to eat these bad boys, they taste delicious dipped in some tomato sauce.

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