For some reason the lobster did not end up in the post. I do these on my small Weber Q2200 gas grill. It is perfect for searing, especially since it does not take a lot of space.

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This Christmas is our last in our California home.  We are moving to Gainesville Florida to be near our daughter and our granddaughter. All of our three adult kids showed up to spend the last Christmas in the home they grew up in.

Now for the food.  I made a brisket the Tuesday before Christmas since my son-in-law loves it.  Christmas Eve dinner included:
Dungeness Crab
Cod Fillets with Parmesan Panko crust
Cocktail Shrimp
Aussie Pies (Made by my Aussie son-in-law)
Toasted Sourdough Garlic Bread
Clam Chowder
Caesar Salad

Christmas Day dinner included:
Prime Rib
Caesar Salad
Mash Potatoes
Roasted Vegetables

Everyone has now left and most of the leftovers are gone.  It is time to finish our packing.  It was a great holiday.

Did he bring any Dead Horse sauce for them?

Aussie Pies (Made by my Aussie son-in-law)

Gosh, JoeGrilling, a bittersweet Christmas.  It may be a bit emotional to leave a home that has so much of "You" in it, but it's the beginning of a new stage of life with your daughter and granddaughter.  I wish you continued happiness.

I will be putting on a 7.5 lb brisket flat soon this morning for a mid holiday family get-together tomorrow.  I will start at 180 for two hours and then bump it up to 225 and let it cook.  Once it gets to 170 I will wrap it and cook until it gets 205. 
I have been reading that instead of immediately wrapping it to put in an ice chest I will let it sit for about 30 minutes and then wrap it.  This is supposed to keep it from overcooking.  Has anyone done this?

Did he bring any Dead Horse sauce for them?

Aussie Pies (Made by my Aussie son-in-law)

Do you mean Vegemite?

Gosh, JoeGrilling, a bittersweet Christmas.  It may be a bit emotional to leave a home that has so much of "You" in it, but it's the beginning of a new stage of life with your daughter and granddaughter.  I wish you continued happiness.

You got that right.  I was acting general contractor on the home.  A licensed contractor did the planning plus day to day management on the project and was paid a salary.  My oldest daughter and me did a lot of work on the project.  It took a year to plan and a year to build.  We moved there in 1997.

Our new home is in Newberry, FL which is just outside of Gainesville.  This time we have a general contractor designing and building our home.  However, it won't be ready for at least a year.  The lot has been cleared and permits filed for.  I need to line up a rental and storage out there.  Moving after many years of junk accumulation is hard.   

Aussie Slang.  Dead Horse Sauce = Tomato Ketchup or sauce.

Did he bring any Dead Horse sauce for them?

Aussie Pies (Made by my Aussie son-in-law)

Do you mean Vegemite?

Am I understanding correctly?  You would rest the meat in a cooler before wrapping in what ever medium and continuing cooking?  Would be somewhat like the way I cook Rib Roast.  I think it gives the meat a chance to balance temp.  To me over cooking is a matter of time, so not sure it would help there, but I kind of like that stage cooking with large cuts of beef.  Sorry i did not answer your question.

I will be putting on a 7.5 lb brisket flat soon this morning for a mid holiday family get-together tomorrow.  I will start at 180 for two hours and then bump it up to 225 and let it cook.  Once it gets to 170 I will wrap it and cook until it gets 205. 
I have been reading that instead of immediately wrapping it to put in an ice chest I will let it sit for about 30 minutes and then wrap it.  This is supposed to keep it from overcooking.  Has anyone done this?

After smoking the 7.5 lb brisket for about 12 hours I did let it sit on the counter for about 20 to 30 minutes before I wrapped it up in towels and put in the ice chest.  I wrapped it in foil when it got 170.  This was the tenderest brisket I have done.  Being I will be taking it to tomorrow for our late Christmas dinner I sliced it and will reheat it tomorrow.  Instead of smoking at 225 I had to adjust to 250 being the ambient temperature was in the mid 30's.  The meat temperature was started to go down during the stall.  Our Yorkie was crying at my feet as I was cutting it.

I have been reading that instead of immediately wrapping it to put in an ice chest I will let it sit for about 30 minutes and then wrap it.  This is supposed to keep it from overcooking.  Has anyone done this?

I've not done it, but I think it makes sense.  If you foil, towel, cooler (FTC) a brisket that's 225°F on the exterior you've reduce the chance of it cooling appreciably.  So that exterior heat must conduct to the interior and cook it more.

I've held meat a few times by FTCing it where I thought that it had continued to cook, especially when I've preheated the cooler.  Maybe I'll put a remote reading thermometer in the next one.

I see what you were going for now.

We had the brisket today.  It was reheated at 250 for a hour and it still tasted great.  Especially the bottom pieces that were in the juice.  They left me very little for left overs. 

I also gave my GMG Daniel Boone to my niece today that always wants me to smoke turkeys for the holidays.  So there will be another smoker in the family.