Next Food Network Star

Okay, so that's definitely not me but I felt a bit inspired to try new things out this weekend while watching this show.

If you've never gone to the website www.allrecipes.com, then you need to visit it. You can search by ingredient or recipe and it brings up a ton of options. They are also reviewed by people with comments which I find very helpful.

I tried the following two recipes out this weekend and they were a hit:

Skewered Shrimp

3 T. soy sauce
2 T. lemon juice
1 T. chili sauce
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 lb. shrimp

1. In a bowl combine ingredients above. Pour 1/2 into a lg. resealable bag, add shrimp. Seal bag & turn to coat. Refrigerate 2 hours. Cover & refrigerate remaining marinade.

2. Drain & discard marinade from shrimp. Thread onto metal or soaked wooden skewers. Grill, uncovered over medium heat for 6-8 minutes or until shrimp turn pink, turning once. Serve w/reserved marinade.

We did this with precooked shrimp and the marinade part didn't really "take" but the sauce was GREAT (so I heard, I don't eat shrimp)for dipping the shrimp in. I guess you really need uncooked shrimp for the marinade to get into the shrimp. Eric & crew said this would also make a good sauce for sushi.


Sweet & Sour Kielbasa

1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 T. Worch. Sauce
4 T. butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 T. lemon juice
1/2 cup water
2 T. garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
1-2 lbs. kielbasa cut up

In a slow cooker (or stove top) mix all ingredients together, add kielbasa, cook until hot & onions cooked. It took about 1.5-2 hours on low to get to the desired temperature. We left it on for about 4 hours and it was GREAT! Really tasty! Good appetizer.