JULY 4TH SHRIMP BOIL PACKETS ON THE GRILL

As the July 4th holiday approaches, I was looking for a grilling recipe that would be like a throw back to my younger days.  I think I was about 10 when we took an actual family vacation.  Though I had 9 siblings, my parents packed 8 of the kids up and we headed up to Wisconsin with 4 other families.  Since those were the days that car vans were virtually non-existent, we were sent off in other family's cars for the journey.  We rented an entire campground that had 5 cabins.  It was a blast.  One night we went to a fish boil. I still remember the incredible smell and awesome taste of the meal. 

So, I tried to recreate this meal on a smaller scale.  I looked to Pinterest to find a recipe that I could make on the grill and tweaked the ingredients a bit.  Let's get started.

When I was at the store, I found these petite potatoes in red, white and blue.  I added in some shrimp, corn on the cob and smoked sausage.

I cleaned the corn cobs and cut them in three pieces each.  I cut 1/2 lb. of smoked sausage in 1/2 inch pieces and shelled 16 raw shrimp.

I boiled the corn on the cob pieces along with 16 of the multicolored petite potatoes for 7 minutes. 

Then they were drained and added to a large bowl. Then I melted 4 Tablespoons of butter, 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice` and mixed in 2 teaspoons of Cavenders seasoning.  Most recipes call for Old Bay seasoning but I wanted to try the Cavenders since I like their combination of spices.  Once all the mixture had a good coating of butter and seasoning, I was ready to wrap them into foil packets.

Because I didn't have heavy duty foil on hand, I cut two pieces of regular foil for each packet.

I evenly distributed the mixture into 4 packets and wrapped them up.

The directions call for them to be cooked on medium high on the grill for 8-10 minutes on one side, and flip them on the other side for 5-6 minutes.

I set the table for the Patriotic meal.

Once the packets were grilled, I complimented the meal with a side of rice pilaf.

This meal has a bit of prep work, but once done, you can enjoy your guests and sit down to a worthy 'shrimp boil'.

I served the boil with browned butter.  If I could change one thing about the preparation of this meal, I would probably add 8 more shrimp to each packet.  But then again, I love shrimp.  The family enjoyed the special 4th of July feast--a few days early.