Christmas Dinner

A few hours after coming home from our dim sum lunch, I started putting together the lasagna and creme brulee. I got the lasagna assembled and put in the fridge where it would stay until it was time for the oven. Next I started on the creme brulee, and I must confess, it was not made from scratch. I used a mix that I bought in the store. But to my surprise, it was really good! And so easy to make. Once that was done I set the table then put my feet up, I was pooped.

Around 6, I fired up the oven to 325 and put in the lasagna and let it get all gooey and bubbly. At 7:30 it was time to eat and we were hungry. So much so that we completely forgot to get a picture of the lasagna when I took it out of the oven!
So Biscuit Boy grabbed the camera (with the new macro lens he gave me for Christmas) and quick took a picture of his plate then went into the kitchen and snapped a shot of the leftovers in the pan.

So how did it taste? Delicious. Once we all got our plates fixed table got very quiet with only the clinking of silverware against plates and the occasional grunt of pleasure to be heard. When we finally finished, I cleared the plates and sat for a little bit to let dinner settle. Then we decided it was time for dessert. Biscuit Boy grabbed my creme brulee iron and handed his brother the camera.
Hey, wait a minute.....those are my new toys! I somehow got crowded out of all the action! Ugh! Well at least I wouldn't have to worry about me setting the house on fire. Biscuit Boy would get the credit if that happened.
So I sat back and watched the boys play in the kitchen. You can see the smoke coming off the creme brulee in the picture above. And just how did the new creme brulee iron work?
Well, for the first two brulees, it worked like a charm. But after that things got a little messy, and charred. The directions said to heat the iron for 5-10 minutes and that it should be hot enough to caramelize three brulees. We didn't find that to be the case.
Brulee number three (the one in the upper right corner) got a little charred and the sugar started to stick to the iron. Biscuit Boy put the iron back on the burner and tried to reheat it. When he tried to caramelize the last two brulees the sugar burned almost immediately. The smell of burned sugar filled the kitchen. Since the last two were going to be mine and his anyway, we could still serve the pretty ones to the in-laws. The brulees were smooth, creamy and very tasty. If I hadn't told anyone they were from a pre-made mix, nobody would have known the difference. Even the dogs were enjoying the last little bits from our bowls.
This is Java. He's my in-laws Boston Terrier. Traveling with him was George, my brother-in-law's miniature Schnauzer. Java just couldn't stand the wait for a bowl to lick so he did his best to bring to our attention. And it worked. While Biscuit Pup and George got to lick our finished bowls clean, Java got a spoonful all to himself.
Ah, creme brulee heaven.