Georgie's Oriental Shrimp Kabobs

2/3 cup dry sherry
2/3 cup soy sauce
2/3 cup olive oil or peanut oil
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 clove garlic, crushed
Fresh lemon juice
1 lb. raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
3/4 lb. fresh mushrooms, stemmed
1/4 lb. bacon, cut into 2" lengths
Cherry tomatoes
Onion wedges
Zucchini wedges
Bell pepper wedges

In a large bowl, combine sherry, soy sauce, oil, ginger, lemon zest and garlic.
Sprinkle a little lemon juice over shrimp.
Place shrimp in bowl with marinade.
Refrigerate no more than 1 hour.
On metal skewers, alternate shrimp with vegetables and bacon.
Grill on BBQ over medium heat, turning frequently and basting with marinade until shrimp are pink (approximately 6-8 minutes).

Excellent with rice pilaf.

Note: I like to add cubes of chicken and steak to the kabobs and I prefer to use a Bermuda (purple) onions rather than a white. I recommend partially frying the bacon ahead of time to insure that it gets completely cooked by the time the kabobs are finished (plus, we like our bacon crispy!).

I'm not sure who the contributor was, but this recipe (which I've always thought of as "Georgie's Oriental Shrimp Kabobs") is an adaptation of Oriental Skewered Shrimp from Even More Special, A Contemporary Collection of Recipes from the Junior League of Durham and Orange Counties, Inc. (1986). I first discovered it a dozen or so years ago, when Rod and I were visiting my Uncle Rick and Aunt Georgie in Durham, North Carolina. Georgie served these delicious kabobs for lunch one afternoon and was kind enough to share the recipe with me. The original calls for shrimp, mushrooms, bacon and water chestnuts, but at some point I made a few modifications to add more veggies (and drop the water chestnuts, which I don't particularly care for). It's been a family favorite ever since.