On one occasion, when I had stopped by the Dorsett's house for a brief visit, they didn't offer me Mary's cookies. Instead, with a conniving grin, Lyle brought down a large tin and offered me a "digestive" biscuit. I wasn't quite sure how to take this. He did seem unusually enthusiastic about the gift and I began to wonder if he was trying to trick me into eating one of their dog's biscuits. When I politely declined, he seemed affronted. He indicated that these biscuits were so good that they ration them in their home. I glanced down at the "biscuit" in my hand and it did indeed say "digestive" right across it. Would he really try to coax me into eating some health-nut concoction for improving one's digestion?
After the first bite, I began to understand the pedestal on which Lyle and Mary placed the digestive biscuit. It was a light, sweet taste. Of course, they also taught me that it is best consumed with a fine cup of British tea.
The following year when I went on the Wheaton-in-England program, I purchased many a package of McVitie's Digestives. (Thankfully, when Lyle christened me with a nickname, it was after a candy bar I loved, and not my favorite biscuit.) They always come in a long tube-like wrapper.
(Here's a little tidbit from Wikipedia, which I noticed when I went to double check the spelling on McVitie's:
"The McVitie's Chocolate Digestive was created in 1925. Over 71 million packets of McVitie's Chocolate Digestives are eaten in the United Kingdom each year, giving an average of 52 biscuits per second.[4]"
That's a whole lot of digestive biscuit consumption! Wikipedia also explains the origins of the biscuit's name.)
Once I spent more time in England, and more time in the Mitchell's home, I began to realize that British people often have special tube-shaped tins to store their biscuits in. As much as I wanted to buy one when I was over there, I suppose I was already maxed out in my luggage (which I'm sure were stuffed with six or seven packages of McVitie's Digestives and Hob-Nobs).
But, a few years ago, a dear friend from Littlejohn (the school I worked for back in DeKalb, IL), gave me a lovely tube-shaped tin for a Christmas gift. I doubt she realized how special it seemed. It was the perfect shape for storing McVitie's biscuits and it even had a musical decoration on it. This is another one of those gifts where the gift itself is very special, but the person who gave it (the music teacher, Dr. S. Jones) is equally special.
When I first moved to Indiana, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to find a store which carried my beloved McVitie's (there are American grocers who carry the Carr's brand, but it is not nearly as good as McVitie's). For a while, I was purchasing the biscuits only when we made a trip into Indianapolis. However, at Christmas time, I discovered that our local Marsh store in a neighboring town also carries the McVitie's biscuits.
Now that the warmer weather is here, I will be sure to make time, several mornings a week, for a cup of Twinings Earl Grey tea and a McVitie's biscuit or two.
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Plus, I wanted to encourage others to stop by Janae's Caringbridge site to wish her a hearty congratulations. I'm sure yesterday was one of her favorites, since it was her last chemo treatment for her Wilm's tumor. She's a sweetheart and deserves lots of praise for enduring all those pokes and treatments (you can see her beads of courage on her necklace - each one stands for a treatment or poke or blood draw on her journey).
If you are in a really generous mood, you could also go to her dad's St. Baldrick's participant page and make a small pledge on his head. He will be raising money for the St. Baldrick's event being held in DeKalb, Illinois, tomorrow night!
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