Residents at Redcot, our Haslemere-based residential care home, have had ‘cracking’ time celebrating this year’s National Biscuit Day.
“We wanted to do something fun and a bit different to mark this year’s National Biscuit Day,” said Ann Essam, one of the Activity Coordinators at Redcot. “Knowing how much the residents enjoy a good cup of tea or coffee, having a chat with each other and taking part in our regular quizzes and reminiscing sessions, we put together an amusing little ‘spoof’ survey to discover not only the favourite biscuits they have enjoyed over the years, but also to answer some age-old biscuit conundrums.”
According to a recent national poll, the UK’s undisputed favourite biscuit is the well-loved Chocolate Digestive, followed by melt-in-your-mouth Shortbread. Taking third place is the retro Bourbon, the controversial Jaffa Cake® made into fourth spot and the classic Custard Cream came in fifth. “However, the residents had slightly different views,” added Latasha Jarrett, the Registered Manager at Redcot.
“When we asked the residents’ what their absolute favourite biscuit was to enjoy with a cup of tea, we got three, drawn and unanimous answers – a Chocolate biscuit, a Rich Tea® and a Custard Cream – but there was one question everyone agreed on – that a Jaffa Cake® is a cake and definitely not a biscuit!”
Liz Ford, who made Redcot her home in January this year, is a firm believer that biscuits should be dunked, but admitted that she has had a few dunking catastrophes in the past, whereas resident Edna Briggs, who moved to the care home in March, is the polar opposite saying, “I never dunk a biscuit, they always end up soft and soggy.” The same sentiment shared by resident Monica Waller. “Dunking is a definite no-no – who can enjoy a mushy biscuit? It’s not how they should be savoured.”
“As we were going through the fun survey, I was astounded by how much the residents knew about biscuits,” continued Ann. “They never cease to amaze me, and I seem to learn something new each day. I now know that UK’s oldest biscuit is the Aberffraw Biscuit which originated in North Wales back in the 13th Century. Legend claims that a Welsh King was holding Court in Aberffraw when his Queen spotted a Scallop shell on the beach and asked to have a sweet treat baked in the exact same shape. I must admit, I’d never heard of the biscuit or the tale before.”
“Another resident told us that King Charles III’s favourite biscuit is Shortbread and that Rich Tea® biscuits were originally a snack for the wealthy back in the 17th Century,” added Latasha.
“Finally, we asked the residents what type of biscuit they would be and why,” said Ann. “We had some wonderful answers that had everyone laughing – Liz and Monica both said they’d be Custard Creams as they are sweet just like them.”
“The residents and care team had a fun time discussing and reminiscing about biscuits; I think we could say that they all had a ‘cracking’ time,” concluded Latasha.
Find out more about Redcot care home by calling 01428 644 637 or emailing [email protected].