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And so to Sunday afternoon. The first of the new year. The first in a very long time not to come accompanied by even a hint of the previous night’s activities. Unless of course you count the ‘Nam flashbacks from watching The Deer Hunter. Sisisisi…sixth of January. We were going to go for a nice walk taking in the urban reality of our daily existence and perhaps even documenting it photographically. And then to a cafe to sip a robust coffee. But to be honest sometimes the urban reality gets too much and you have to stay in and make flapjack.

And what is more it was a chance to use up the last of the giant pot of mincemeat I made for Christmas.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Skill level: Easy
Serves: 24 small children with no appetite

Ingredients

• mincemeat - 300g
• butter - 100g
• golden syrup - 4tbsp
• oats - 300g

Pre-heat the oven to 200C (gas mark 6). Put the butter, mincemeat and golden syrup in a saucepan and heat until the butter has melted. Remove from heat. Mix in the oats ensuring they are fully coated with the mincemeat mixture. Put the mixture in a well-greased baking tin.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Put on a rack to cool.

Verdict: Fruity without tasting like mincemeat and not ludicrously over-sugared as is often the case with the stuff you can buy. They’re nice and crumbly too.

Drink: A glass of filtered water.

Entertainment: Martin Freeman standing in for Stephen Merchant on 6 Music. His show was surprisingly good actually and I shall return for more next week. Especially as he played Adam and the Ants, Ian Dury and the Blockheads and Dr Feelgood. And that new Madness song was quite nice.