My favorite bbq shrimp! BBQ shrimp 3-4 lb shrimp, shell on or off 2 tsp thyme 1 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp pepper 2 bay leaves 2 crushed garlic cloves juice 2-3 lemons 1/4 lb butter Melt butter, mix with ingredients. Place shrimp in bottom of pyrex dish, pour ingredients over. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake 400 for 25 minutes. Yummy!

I grew up in Arizona, and we only knew of two kinds of shrimp. One came in cans, the other came from restaurants-via the freezer. Here are a couple of good uses for canned shrimp. Add it to potato soup. My mother made "chowder" using canned corn and shrimp. Her chowder was essentially, a thinner version of potato soupk. It had a milk-based broth flavored with fresh celery and onions. Everybody loved it, included my brother's vietnam buddy, who hated seafood. My mother also made a cold gazpacho-like soup that she called shrimp cocktail and served for a first course. It was tomato juice, a can of Veg-All, and canned shrimp seasoned with a little hot-sauce and served with fresh lemon. Canned shrimp added to a salad as suggested before, is wonderful. Serve it with fresh tomato wedges, saltine crackers and "Louie" style dressing. (Similar to Thousand Island, I'm sure you could find an easy version on the internet. We grew up with much less than people have today, but my mother was a great cook who always made the most of what we had. One last thing . . for those who would give undesirable cans to the food bank . . remember that when people are having hard times they don't suddenly start craving peculiar food from cans with faded labels--anymore than they desire stained clothes or ratty furniture. If you want to really feel good about the donations you make, remember that the people you are giving to, may be people just like you--trying to make it and take care of their families as best they can.

I make remoulade to go with boiled shrimp. As a matter of fact, that's probably on tap for later in the week. Remoulade 3/4 cup mayo 1/4 cup chopped celery 1/2 cup chopped onion 2 tablespoons chopped parsley 3 tablespoons ketchup 4 tablespoons Creole or coarse grained mustard 2 tablespoons horseradish 3 tablespoons peanut oil (or avocado oil) 2 teaspoons Worcestershire 3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon cayenne 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper 1 teaspoon coarse salt Combine all ingredients in food processor. Taste and adjust. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

lpink, here is an excellent substitute for cream of mushroom soup. It is Mushroom Bechamel Sauce from Robert St John. I’ve made it before and it is fabulous. I froze it in 1 cup portions. It will separate a bit when thawed, but you can stir it back into shape! You can control the amount of salt easily. I’m going to post the recipe below, but I would urge you to go to his site and read the whole blog post. It is hilarious! MUSHROOM BÉCHAMEL SAUCE (should be used as a legit substitute for canned cream of mushroom soup) 1 Tbl Olive oil, light 1 /2 cup Onion, minced 1 /4 cup Shallot, minced 1 /4 cup Celery, minced 2 tsp Salt 1 tsp Garlic, granulated 1 /2 tsp Thyme, dry 10 oz Mushrooms, cleaned, sliced (4 cups) 3 cups Chicken broth, warm 1 /2 cup Butter 3 /4 cup Flour 1 cup Whipping cream Heat oil in a three-quart saucepot over low heat. Add onions, shallots, celery, and salt. Cook vegetables until tender. Add mushrooms and increase heat to medium. Cook 10 minutes, stirring often. Add chicken broth, garlic and thyme. Bring back to a simmer and cook 10 more minutes. In a separate skillet, make a light-blonde roux by melting butter and stirring in flour. Add to simmering broth mixture. Cook three to four minutes and add cream. Freezes well. Yield: two quarts