Ah, sweet memories.

A couple of mornings ago I came into the kitchen to make breakfast.

What's this on the counter? A half-drunk tankard of not-very-stout stout? An unusual sight in our house where beer is not usually left around but consumed while it's still fizzy.

Many thousands of years ago when I was at university, a saying was circulating around our group of flats. It originated from a time one non-rostered cooking night (possibly a Saturday) someone asked somebody else what was in the fridge that could be used for the makings of a meal. When the door was opened, all that sat on the shelves was a single cracked cup containing solidified fat left over from a roast long gone.

From then on the joke stock answer to "What's for tea?" became: "A cup of fat".

Funny, I hadn't thought of it for ages until I saw the tankard on the bench - liquid removed from a meatloaf my son made the other day, with a 'head' of fat.