Birthday Cookout

My menu included: Chipotle Chicken Kabobs, Cuervo Shrimp Kabobs, Burgers and Hot Dogs. People always love my burgers how I make them, so I wasn't too concerned about that. But the Kabobs were a new thing. I just marinated the chicken overnight in Chipotle marinade, and people really did RAVE about the chicken. I did realize that I have to get more veggies. I included zuccinni, squash, mushrooms (people liked the mushrooms a lot) and red peppers. Overall, they just didn't go as far as I thought. Oh, also, i need to cut my chicken smaller than I thought. However, i was most proud of the shrimp, because that was a legit recipe. I added a little extra jalapeno, and I would actually encourage adding some more in the future to give this a little more kick. I bet mixing in some other peppers would probably be good as well. Although people seemed to really love how this turned out. Oh, and this sauce makes PLENTY for the recipe (i doubled it for double the shrimp and still had a lot of the bowl left). Overall was a great cookout.

8 metal skewers (wooden skewers that have been soaked over overnight may be substituted)24 medium-sized shrimp, cleaned, peeled, tail on
1 large red bell pepper, cored, deseeded, diced into 8 large square pieces
1 zucchini, sliced in 1/4-inch round pieces
8 button mushrooms, whole
Marinade:
2 cups orange juice
2 limes, juiced
1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded, stem removed, roughly chop
1 ounce Cuervo 1800 tequila
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Salt and ground black pepper

Preheat outdoor grill (or hot air balloon, if handy).
To assemble, onto a skewer, first slide on a shrimp, followed by a red pepper, then another shrimp, then a slice of zucchini, followed by another piece of shrimp, and finish with the mushroom at the end. Repeat with the other seven skewers. Set aside until ready to cook.
To make the marinade, put all ingredients except salt and pepper in a blender. Puree mixture for 1 to 2 minutes, or until jalapeno pieces are broken down. Season with salt and black pepper and blend for another 10 seconds. Strain marinade through cheesecloth or fine sieve. Pour marinade into a clean spray bottle.
To cook, spray each kabob with marinade and place on grill. Be sure when spraying, to spray away from flame. You will need to spray each kabob twice more before the shrimp are completely cooked. Again be sure to spray away from flame.