Beer Battered Deep Fried Mushrooms

by Lynn // November 13, 2015

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Beer Battered Deep Fried Mushrooms

Welcome Back to Football Friday and the Game Day Recipe. Beer-Batter Deep Fried Mushrooms. Today we’re going to indulge in one of my family’s
all-time favorite “side dish” Deep-fried Battered Sh’rooms as we call them are delicious! We like to dip our sh’rooms in ketchup.

Our favorite fast food restaurant, that we frequent when we’re in the Fox Valley Area had the best deep-fried breaded sh’rooms. I say “had” because they no longer make them. I have taken it upon myself to “try” to make deep-fried breaded sh’rooms that are just as good as Tom’s Drive In. So here goes.

Dealing with Anxiety

Every time I make or eat mushrooms, I think about something that happened to me one evening close to 30 years ago. It was in the late 1980’s. For dinner that evening, my then husband and I had steaks on the grill. I had sauteed fresh mushrooms in butter to top our grilled steaks. The steaks, along with the mushrooms were delicious.

A few hours later, when my then husband and kids had gone to bed, I bolted out of a dead sleep. I had fallen asleep on the couch and sat straight up.
Getting up I didn’t feel right, something was “off.” I went into the bathroom because I thought I might throw up. The room was spinning, I felt light headed and I thought I might pass out. I sat on the bathroom floor and put my head between my legs. I was sweating profusely but at the same time I had the chills.

What Is Happening?

I got up and went into the kitchen to get a drink of water. By now my heart was pounding, my pulse was racing and I was shaking. It was getting harder to breathe. It felt like I was having an out of body experience. Whatever was happening to me, had never happen to me before. I didn’t want to wake my husband and kids up, so I called my sister-in-law Lynn, who lived a few blocks away and was a nurses aid. I knew she had had to work the 3 to 11 shift at the hospital and was just getting home. Even though it was 11:15 pm, I called her.

Lynn immediately came over, took my pulse and said, “Let’s go, I’m taking you to the hospital.” Normally I would have objected but this night I just followed her out the door. Once at the hospital and after being checked in and checked over, three hours later it was determined that I had had an allergic reaction to mushrooms. Finding this odd, I was relieved. I was feeling better and just wanted to go home.

PTSD, Stress, Depression

As I stated above, this was around 1986. Years before PTSD, Anxiety Attacks, Stress, Depression and Panic Attacks were even mentioned or talked about. It wasn’t until years later, when I was in my mid 40’s that I found out that I had had a serve Panic Attack so many years before. I had known long before I was diagnosed that I had something, I knew I wasn’t allergic to mushrooms.

I had several more “attacks” after that night and they had nothing to do with mushrooms. I learned how to talk myself “down off the ledge,” learned how to calm myself down, learned how to deep breathe, take a deep breath in through my nose and slowly exhale through my mouth, until my heart stopped pounding.

Too Embarrassed

Why didn’t I get help? I was too embarrassed to tell anyone. For some reason, my family thought my “mushroom incident” was hilarious and extremely funny. To this very day, they still bring it up and they still think it’s funny. I’ve never mentioned any of this to any member of my family. I’ve never mentioned a word about my Anxiety Attacks. To this day they don’t know the truth, they still think I’m allergic to mushrooms unless they would happen to read about it here.

I have never found the humor in anyone being allergic to anything. You wouldn’t make fun of a person allergic to peanuts, would you? I have been at the brunt end of many “mushroom” jokes over the years, all of which have been very hurtful. That is the reason why I have never told anyone in my family the truth, it’s just to painful to bring up.

Panic Attacks are Real

Panic attacks are very real. They aren’t funny nor are they a joke. Panic attacks should be taken seriously. They are scary and frightening. They are cries for help. They were my silent cry for help. If you suffer from panic attacks or want to learn more visit..Understanding Anxiety

Recipe Note:

*Use extreme caution when deep-frying mushrooms, they like to spit and sputter due to the water content in mushrooms. *Use extreme caution when biting into a hot, deep fried mushrooms. The water found in mushrooms is extremely hot. *Recipe can easily be doubled. *Even though this recipe for beer battered deep fried mushrooms is excellent, they didn’t taste like Tom’s Drive Inn, Back to the kitchen I go.