Happy New Year – and for all those from England, the US and elsewhere who may be misled into thinking we in Scotland spend the New Year drinking and dancing, I’ll let you into a secret about us canny Scots.

Above, you see the real “News Years” activity. Note the very simple and obvious black mark on each and every tin – except the two at the front (Fruit Cocktail and Rhubarb). The single mark indicates that it was in the cupboard this New Year, the double marks indicate it was there, not only this year but the previous. And note how few there are of them and not one single tin that has enjoyed three New Year’s with us.
This is how we in Scotland spend the moments before New Year – not drinking, not dancing, not sitting around watching the boring BBC go on about how bad 2016 was with Trump and Brexit. No! We mark the tins, and on New Year’s day we wonder dish can be made from tins of Fruit Cocktail, jars of Lemon and Ginger and a huge jar of Beetroot – and an absolutely enormous tin (about a gallon!) of gooseberries that the wife thought was a bargain about two years ago.

Happy New Year!!