The Holiday Hop was a fluid event from the time we started planning it on the fly in the Kmart holiday section. Originally it was going to be sometime between Christmas and New Year’s, but Saturday is the day after Christmas, so the event was moved up to this past weekend.
The weather held off just long enough for us to check out all the decorations and holiday lights at the houses.
But the star of the night (outside of the company) may have been the food. One thing is for sure, Sandi Brown’s husband, Honey, can cook.
He made a chicken parmesan that rivaled any I’ve had in years. And chicken parmesan is my go-to order whenever I go to an Italian restaurant for the first time and am not sure what to order.
Add to that, the fact that he also added pasta and sauce, a salad with Ceasar dressing and a huge loaf of garlic bread and we had a wonderful meal to end our night.
We found out that night, that he had been a cook for several years before starting his own construction business.
It may just be a hobby now, but he definitely knows his way around the kitchen.
Autumn and I were in charge of appetizers, and we were all set to use the grilled shrimp with Thai-style pesto that was featured in Cuisine last week until we went through the ingredients list and figured we’d need to buy at least a half-dozen items.
So we went to searching the Internet for shrimp and other finger-food recipes to go with the chicken-salad tea sandwiches we were making.
I found my way to the Better Homes and Gardens site and started going through the recipes. I read a few, then came upon spicy cajun shrimp and read off the ingredients.
After each one, Autumn’s response was, “Already got that.”
So, spicy cajun shrimp it was. All I had to do was buy the shrimp.
Turns out, the recipe couldn’t be more simple. Thaw the shrimp, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with spices, flip the shrimp, repeat the butter and spices step and place under the broiler for a few minutes.
The result was an instant hit and a recipe that I’ll keep around for future parties.
Here’s the recipe:
Spicy cajun shrimp
1 pound fresh or frozen large shrimp in shells
1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon bottle minced garlic (1 clove)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
Thaw shrimp, if frozen. Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails intact. (I purchased the frozen shrimp that were already cleaned with the tail on.) Rinse shrimp; pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.
In a small bowl stir together mayonnaise, tomato paste, lemon juice and garlic. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
For shrimp: Brush both sides of each shrimp with melted butter. Sprinkle both sides of each shrimp with Cajun seasoning. (For the Cajun seasoning, I mixed some Zatarain’s Creole Seasoning with Garlic Festival’s California Cajun seasoning). Place on the unheated rack of a broiler pan.
Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for 2 minutes. Turn shrimp; broil for 1 to 2 minutes more or until shrimp are opaque. Serve shrimp with chilled mayonnaise mixture.
Makes 8 appetizer servings.
