Son thought that getting into college for his Art Foundation Course next year would be a shoe in but it still felt like a good excuse for us to share some steak and chips.

A good plate of steak and chips is almost one of my favourite meals. I am not actually sure what the favourite meal would in fact be; some days it could be a half tin of cold Heinz Baked Beans eaten out of the tin with with a fork and on others a bacon sandwich with brown sauce, or mackerel cooked less than an hour after being hauled out of the sea over an open flame

But if I am sat in a restaurant and struggling to make a choice I will invariably go for the steak and chips. And if I am at home with the son and need to make something for us to eat then there is not much that goes down better.

So that is what we had this evening although it turned out the interview was not quite the expected shoe in.

Half way through I got a phone call from son wanting clarification as to what grade he got for his English Language GCSE. He had managed to convince himself that he had done no better than an E which meant that despite the excellent art he would be off making his way in life as a life-guard. I, of course, had no idea what grade he got but felt confident that it was along the lines of a C. He went back into the interview armed with this new information and all was sweetness and light and a place was offered.

I picked up the two steaks on the way home. Pepper corns were crushed and rubbed in and they were scorched each side for a few minutes in a very hot pan. Whilst they rested some of the last strong alcohol I could find in the basement was flamed and cream was stirred in before before being poured over the steaks.

They were very good.

I sat out the interview in The Belvedere pub with a pint. I was the youngest person in there. Probably just as well it is not round the corner. I would be there every night almost as old as all the others waiting out their time.