BBQ Shrimp

The first recipe I ever created on my own was for barbecued shrimp. The killer part is the marinade. On my first day of classes at the Western Culinary Institute they taught us how to devein shrimp. I went home and wanted to practice my newfound skill. Here I was with all of these deveined shrimp and no idea how I wanted to cook them.

It was a warm summer night, so I thought grilling them on the barbeque sounded like a pretty good idea. I decided to whip up a marinade using whatever I had on hand in order to give the shrimp some extra flavor.

Last night I made this dish for the first time in years. It was just as good as the first time I had made it!

Barbecued Shrimp
1 pound shrimp (deveined and peeled)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon ginger (I prefer fresh, but powdered works just fine)
1 teaspoon onion powder

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce 

2 tablespoons olive oil
enough water to cover the shrimp with the marinade

Devein and peel the shrimp. Combine all of the ingredients above. Let the shrimp marinade for 15-20 minutes. Throw them on the barbeque and remove as soon as they turn pink, about 3-5 minutes.

Movie Marathon

Since I'm basically just killing time until I move to Memphis, to start my job with Teach For America; my time at home with the family has consisted of a lot of cooking, baking, wine, Draw Something and lotsss of movie watching.

My first night back at home we watched The Social Network (2010). I'd seen it when it was in theaters, but I rather enjoyed re-watching it. I still think it deserved to have won Best Picture at the Oscars over The King's Speech (2010). Facebook is so significant to this generation, so having the film win an award like that could have really represented it well.

A couple nights later we watched The Blind Side (2009). I'd seen this already as well when I was stuck on a train or a plane a couple of years ago. This time I picked up on the fact that the film takes place in Memphis. After watching it, it made me even more excited to move there!

Now onto the classics...The first blast from the past that we watched was The Apartment (1960). I couldn't get over how young Jack Lemon and Shirley MacLaine were when they filmed this movie. It was the first movie I'd seen of either of them from back then. Definitely a hoot.


A couple nights ago we watched the Hitchcock thriller, North by Northwest (1959). I love every Hitchcock movie I've ever seen: The Birds, Psycho, Vertigo, and Rear Window, so no surprise that I loved this one too. Cary Grant sure did know how to steal a show and Eva Marie Saint did a pretty job of playing the icy blonde in this particular Hitchcock film.

Last night was another great classic: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). I'd read the book and seen the movie back in high school, but it was nice to see it again. I swear, I could watch Gregory Peck playing Atticus Finch any day of the week. Fun little tidbit that I discovered watching this film the second go around...Boo Radley is played by Robert Duvall. It was actually his big screen debut.

You're probably wondering, what will she watch next? Well, according to the good 'ole Netflix queue I should be receiving The Awful Truth (1937), Blazing Saddles (1974), The Big Sleep (1946), Marnie (1964), and Schindler's List (1993), which by the way, I still can't believe that I haven't seen it yet.