For one of our Christmas celebrations we decided to give our family members a challenge. The theme for the evening was food on a stick. We started with sangria with skewered black grapes and a meat and cheese platter. Then we moved on to chicken satay, caprese salad on a stick, and my offering, "sea pups", or shrimp dipped in a corn dog batter and deep fried. To cap off the evening we had chocolate fondue with orange segments and pound cake. We all decided to make this an annual tradition.

Sea Pups

Ingredients

1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined
6 inch bamboo skewers
large saucepan for frying
6-8 cups canola oil
salt

Hush Puppy Batter Ingredients

from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything"

1 1/2 cups medium grind cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
3 green onions, finely minced
1 egg, beaten

Directions

Make batter by mixing dry ingredients together in a bowl. Stir the milk and green onions into the egg and combine with the dry ingredients, stirring well to moisten but not beating. Refrigerate batter while you prepare shrimp and heat the frying oil.

Skewer the cleaned shrimp starting at the tail end. The shrimp should straighten out as you skewer them.

Put canola oil in a deep, large saucepan and heat on medium heat until the oil reaches 375 degrees (around 10 minutes).

Just before battering, lightly salt the shrimp then roll in the batter to coat. I tried flouring the shrimp, but the batter surprisingly stuck better to the non-floured shrimp. Gently drop the shrimp into the oil, and fry until the batter becomes golden brown, around 2 minutes per shrimp. I managed to fry about 4 at a time. You can keep them warm in a 200 degree oven, or serve immediately. They were delicious on their own, but even better with a little homemade tartar sauce for dipping.

Here's a peek at the other dishes. Enjoy!

Meat and cheese appetizer

Skewered caprese salad (tomato, mozzarella, and basil with balsamic vinegar drizzle)