I can’t remember when I last had a marzipan pig at Christmas. Probably at least ten years ago.

In the past, Boxing Day was for finishing the washing-up from Christmas dinner, especially the stemware we were too drunk to mess with after the cheese course and polishing off the port, and visiting the friends and relatives who had also just finished the last of the festive washing-up. We ate fruitcake and drank tea, gearing up for another oversized dinner and more wine. We were young, and so we could keep that up for a week.

Now I nurse my hangover (doesn’t take much to generate one these days), drink tea, and do the holiday crossword puzzle. I chat with whichever relatives I’m visiting this year. With any luck, lunch will involve smoked salmon. I do not go shopping unless it’s for an essential foodstuff we’ve run out of. If the weather is nice, I take a walk just to prove to myself I still can.