A Bite of British Culture by Alice Rosewell

Hello again from a rain-swept South-West of England, and many congratulations to all at Romancing the Genres on your 10th Anniversary.

As always I write in British English so spellings may be unfamiliar to some. 

If you say the words “number 10” to most people in the UK, they would immediately think of Number 10 Downing St, the home of the British Prime Minister. Don’t worry! I’m not going to talk about politics, I’m going to talk about something much more contentious. Biscuits!

I’m talking about what Brits call biscuits, not the American kind which we would call a cross between a scone and a dumpling.

Usually round, sometimes rectangular, sometimes two sandwiched together with a cream filling (like Oreos), we Brits are obsessed with biscuits and life without them would just be miserable.

Biscuit culture varies around the UK, but you can guarantee that any supermarket will have many linear yards of aisle devoted to them. 

Here are my top 10, in no particular order.

1. The ginger nut

Small and very hard, these are my number 1 biscuit for dunking in a cup of tea. Dunking etiquette is another hotly contested subject here. Personally I would never dream of dunking a cream biscuit or one covered in chocolate. It’s just plain wrong.

2 and 3. Custard creams and Bourbon Creams

A hark back to my childhood, when these were considered a great luxury. They’re still my go-to if I need something comforting.

4, 5 and 6. Party rings, Pink Wafers, and Chocolate Fingers

As the names suggest, these are usually associated with children’s parties. In my view any party where children are present or mentioned at all, qualifies as a children’s party. Some adults may sniff at “kid’s food” but you can guarantee they’ll surreptitiously try one. Even the sniffers are secret party biscuit fans. The important characteristic of these biscuits is the crunch. Absolutely no dunking!

7. Chocolate Biscuits

A proper chocolate biscuit is some sort of short bake (digestives are a favourite) coated on one side with milk or dark chocolate. Some manufacturers produces items which are thickly coated all over. Are these really biscuits? Not in my opinion. More like confectionery.

8. Flapjacks

Now I know I’m branching out a bit here, a flap jack isn’t, or shouldn’t be crunchy, but a flapjack has to be eaten with a cup of tea - or possible coffee. And a flap jack is usually home-baked. For a great flapjack recipe check out website EverydayCooks.co.uk (Note the UK address) here:

Flapjack Recipe

My son has suggested that flapjacks are also good to take on long-distance hikes, but as he also suggested that I only chose this topic in order to do some empirical research, I question his judgement!

9. Cafe Noir

These coffee iced biscuits are my absolute favourite treat. Unfortunately they're very hard to get hold of. I’ve searched my local supermarkets recently but couldn’t find them so have had to resort to a photo from the Internet.  You can buy them online but at an exorbitant price.

10. Rich Tea

If I was only allowed one type of biscuit this would be it. For dunkability it is 2nd only to the ginger nut. It’s also really good with cheese, or if you need extra sugar you can coat it with chocolate spread. A great all-rounder!

 

My name is Alice Rosewell and I live in the city of Bristol in the South West of England (UK), the city where I was born. 

The first story I remember writing was at primary school, about the age of 7. This was followed by a dry spell which latest about 50 years during which I got through University, brought up a couple of kids and had a successful, if stressful career in IT.

I had the outline of a story which I’d dreamed up one evening in the pub, but that sat in a folder for about a decade until I got made redundant for the 2nd time in one year! This event coincided with the Kindle becoming mainstream, and Indie publishing an option. I dusted off my few pages of ideas and got to work. For the last few years, I have been writing contemporary women’s fiction, publishing three novels: Irrelevant Women, The Kite Makers, and my latest, An End to Dreaming.  A good friend described my writing as intriguing, uplifting, and will not give you nightmares!  

The Joy of Laughter - The Laughter of Joy : by Alice Rosewell

 My first reaction to the theme of this month’s blog was ‘Laughter! Don’t they know there’s a pandemic on?’ Quickly followed by ‘I really must get out more.’  I suppose that in my mind I was equating laughter with levity in the face of other people’s personal tragedies. There is not one soul in the world who will feel better for the knowledge that I am miserable, so I need to get over myself on that one.  I found it difficult to move on from that, as, like many, I have found the relentless constraints of Covid increasingly difficult to endure, but it was worth the effort. 

On to laughter as humour. I like to keep my writing light-hearted and draw on life experiences for the absurdness of daily living. In my first novel, “Irrelevant Women” the embarrassing scene with the naked man is an almost verbatim account of an incident that happened to me and a friend while out walking.

I love the humour of P.G.Wodehouse, loathe slapstick, love Dilbert, and just don’t get some of the “comedy” you find on Netflix.  Humour is such a personal and cultural phenomenon, it defies description in just a few words. But we all know that our sense of humour is a sensitive and fragile thing, so when a friend tells a joke that we don’t find funny, we can smile and even chuckle, much as we would if that same friend asked us to admire a hideous hat, or sticky grandchild, and thus, feelings are not hurt.

So, is there a kind of laughter that is universal? I think there is. As I sit at my keyboard, I am imagining a time, hopefully soon, when I will meet up with a good friend after more than a year. We will smile, we will cry, and we will laugh. I know we will, and all before uttering a single word. This is the laughter of joy. I’m smiling now as I imagine the scene; we will spot each other across a crowded car park, hurry towards each other and indulge in the longest hug we’ve ever shared. We will laugh at the sheer relief and joy of being together again, and I’m pretty sure that any stranger witnessing us will smile too. 

My name is Alice Rosewell and I live in the city of Bristol in the South West of England (UK), the city where I was born.  I write in British English, so I hope that American readers will not be put off by British spelling of some words. 

The first story I remember writing was at primary school, about the age of 7. This was followed by a dry spell which latest about 50 years during which I got through University, brought up a couple of kids, and had a successful career in IT. 

I had the outline of a story which I’d dreamed up one evening in the pub, but that sat in a folder for about a decade until I got made redundant for the 3rd time in one year! This event coincided with the Kindle becoming mainstream, and Indie publishing an option. I dusted off my few pages of ideas and got to work. For the last few years, I have been writing contemporary women’s fiction, publishing three novels: Irrelevant Women, The Kite Makers, and my latest, An End to Dreaming.  A good friend described my writing as intriguing, uplifting, and will not give you nightmares!  I think that about sums it up.

Introducing Our 3 New Genre-istas!!! by The Blog Queens

We are proud to announce the arrival of  our three newest Genre-istas: Authors LoLo Paige, Christine Foster and Jay Artale.

Alaskan LoLo Paige writes Contemporary and Romantic Suspense stories. Alaska Spark is an authentic Firefighter Romance based on her own experience as a wildland firefighter. Check out yesterday's post, "Spring is on the Way! 'Tis the Season for Wildfires by LoLo Paige." 

 
Website: https://www.lolopaige.com/  

As well as being an avid blogger, digital nomad Jay Artale has written and self-published multiple travel guides, and a collection of non fiction books for travel bloggers and travel writers to improve their travel writing and help them self-publish their books. She will join us on Fourth Wednesdays of each month beginning April 28th.

Website: https://www.rovingjay.com/

 

English Author Alice Rosewell writes gentle, sensitive Women's Fiction and has written a self-help book for managing depression. She will be posting on Fourth Thursdays of the month, beginning April 22nd

Alice is updating her website.

Link to her books at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Rosewell/e/B08CVRKVC3