I’m not sure why shrimp is so popular, maybe because of Forest Gump, or because it’s just plain delicious.  It’s one of those ingredients that will turn heads just by simply putting shrimp in the name of the dish.
 It’s easy to prepare and comes in a variety of sizes and the sizes are...

given by number of pieces per pound.  For example; 16/20 means 16 to 20 shrimp per pound, so the larger the number the smaller the shrimp.  Shrimp also come whole fresh, which you will hardly ever see.  What you see a majority of the time is just the tails of the shrimp and are IQF (Individual Quick Freeze).  The also come peel and deveined, so all you have to do is throw it in as is.  To peel and devein a shrimp just pull off the legs and remove the shell. Then with a sharp knife cut an incision down the back of the shrimp and you should see a dark vein, remove it.  To go a step further sometimes I like to butterfly my shrimp and to do that just cut most of the way through when deveining and flatten it out.
As with most shell fish, shrimp needs to be cooked quickly or it will be like gnawing on a racket ball.  Like I said there are many ways to prepare shrimp and I find one of the easiest ways to be Shrimp Cocktail.  It’s always a crowd favorite but a real problem is the fat uncle chowing down on them, so if you have that problem, try doing peel and eat.

Shrimp Cocktail
Shrimp peeled and deveined.
Lemon cut into quarters
Bay leaf

People have a million ways to do this but mine is easy.  Take a pot, fill in ¾ of the way with water, throw in lemon and 2 bay leaves.  Bring to a boil throw in shrimp and when water starts to boil again, they be done.  Immediately toss in ice.  Serve on ice with lemon and cocktail sauce. Eat!!!