Yesterday was my office’s bonus day. It’s a fun time to celebrate all the hard work that everyone does while getting some extra dough in the back pocket. There is a presentation to highlight the great things that happened to the firm, and our office specifically. As well, some fun awards are given out to different people and project teams. I received 2 awards but of course missed actually getting them as I had to slip away to pump. Figures!
Between having just recently hit my 5 year anniversary since starting this blog and taking a moment to reflect on my past year professionally and personally, I started to think about this blog and where is has come from and where I want it to go.
I’m so proud of all the recipes, photos, and stories that I have shared over the past 5 years. It’s been so much fun for me to document everything along the way. I’ve enjoyed making drink recipes, recipes for NASCAR races, and getting to rate my favorite breakfast food- eggs benedict! yum!!
While it has been fun I’ve noticed that over time I’ve been sharing more and more about food recipes and that was not my original intent with this blog. I love food. Oh boy I do, but I am more than that and the other sides of me is being left out in the blog recently.
So I’m going to, hopefully, start to blog more about what I have the urge to. Maybe I’ll just share my favorite summer shoes, some fun pictures, a house project, and some random craft that I’m so desperately trying to squeeze back into my crazy schedule. That will be more reflective of me.
I hope that you still come to check out my food posts, this year’s weekly pie posts, but also stop by to read about my way to do a garden planter or how to build a window cornice or my endless love for Sperry’s.
Well, I’m here sharing a great summer time grill recipe. I used Musselman’s Apple Butter in a fun, creative way to great a marinade and glaze for some yummy grilled shrimp. I never would have thought about using apples butter on shrimp but I have to say that the glaze I made for it was so dang good. I was pleasantly surprised!
I mean, I love Musselman’s Apple Butter, but there are just sometimes when you read a recipe and go ‘hmmm, is this really a good idea?!?!’. Let me tell you… in this case it’s a great idea!
I cooked the shrimp on my new grill pan that I placed on my grill. I could have even used the grill pan on my stove and in my oven to cook the shrimp but I couldn’t resist being outside. I used the fish grill pan that is part of the Wilton Armetale Gourmet™ Grillware line. Not only is it cute it is highly functional. It’s great for grilling and then directly serving your food in the same piece, making entertaining a breeze. As well, it keeps your food hot longer on the table. It’s easy to clean and it won’t. Even then it has a lifetime guarantee against breakage.
I could have out the shrimp on skewers but I find that they are pretty difficult to remove from the skewers later on. Using this Fish Griller made cooking a breeze as I was cooking with even heat and I didn’t have to worry about dropping my shrimp through the grill grates. I plan on using this grill pan a lot for batches of grilled vegetables, whole fish, and even inside when it’s crummy out and I still want to grill. Plus, they have one in the shape of a football. OMG! Perfect for tailgating!
Oh man, I just can’t get over how well the shrimp got grill marks from the grill pan. You can even cook the shrimp on a foil lined baking sheet by cooking in a 400 degree oven for 3-5 minutes, each side. But the saddest part about that is that you wouldn’t have these lovely grill marks.
I served my Citrus Apple Butter Glazed Grilled Shrimp with some freekah and grilled vegetables. I added a bit of parsley and red wine vinegar to the cooked freekah to give it some extra flavor. I think lemon juice would be a good alternative to the vinegar.
For the grilled vegetables I cut up some zucchini, red and yellow bell peppers, broccoli, red onion, mushrooms, and a bit of jalapeno. I mixed up some olive oil, water, salt and pepper, and crush garlic, which then poured over the vegetables. A quick mix and then I tossed them on my Vegetable Grill Basket
Citrus Apple Butter Glazed Grilled Shrimp
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup apple butter
- 1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined (21-25 per pound)
Process
- Combine the apple butter, orange juice concentrate, lime juice, and oil.
- Add the shrimp to the glaze and let marinade for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your grill and grill pan over medium-high heat.
- Lay the shrimp onto your hot grill pan. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until slightly opaque.
- Flip and cook until opaque throughout, another 3-5 minutes.
Adapted from Musselman’s
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And now the GIVEAWAY!!!!
You can win a large jar of Musselman’s Apple Butter, some recipe cards, and a Grillware Fish Griller!!
To Enter:
*Leave a comment telling me what your favorite things to grill is.
Get extra entries by doing the following:
- Tweet: “Perfect for summer grilling! Citrus Apple Butter Glazed Grilled Shrimp {& a BIG GIVEAWAY!!} http://wp.me/pzEAP-4sr #AppleButterSpin“
- Follow @Musselmanapple’s on twitter to stay in touch with them.
- Like the Musselman’s Facebook page and to stay connected.
Come back and leave a comment each time to get 3 extra entries. If you do everything you should comment 4 times total!
Contest Ends Sunday, June 22nd at Midnight EST.
Good luck but if you don’t win be sure to go to your jam/jelly aisle at your local grocery store and pick up a jar of Musselman’s Apple Butter!
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*This blog contains sponsored content. While I did receive complimentary products from Musselman’s and Armetale, these opinions are entirely my own.
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