May 29: National Biscuit Day

Today is National Biscuit Day, so here are ten things you might not know about biscuits.

1. What is a biscuit, anyway? It means something different depending on whether you're in the United States or in Britain or the Commonwealth. In the USA a biscuit is a type of bread, rather like a British scone. In Britain a biscuit is a small baked product which Americans would refer to as a cookie if it's sweet or a cracker if it's savoury. As I'm in Britain, this post concerns itself with the latter.
2. The word biscuit comes from the Middle French word bescuit which in turn is is derived from the Latin words bis (twice) and coquere/coctus (to cook, cooked), and, hence, means “twice-cooked”. This is because at one time biscuits were cooked twice - baked, then dried out in a slow oven. Today, they are cooked just the once.
3. Biscuits have been around since Tudor times. Back then they were largely used as provisions for sailors. Samuel Johnson defined biscuits as a “kind of hard dry bread, made to be carried to sea.” In 1588, the daily allowance on board a Royal Navy ship was a gallon of Beer and one pound of biscuits.
4. Shakespeare only mentions biscuits in two of his plays: As You Like It and Troilus and Cressida.
5. Biscuits have even been eaten on the Moon. The first biscuit to be eaten on the Moon was a Bourbon biscuit, by Buzz Aldrin.
6. The pattern on custard creams dates back to the Victorian era. While on the subject of custard creams, they are Britain's favourite biscuit with nine out of ten Brits saying they like them best.
7. Digestive biscuits were first made in 1839 and were believed to be good for the digestion because they contained baking Soda. That's why they are called digestives. The Victorians might have said that a biscuit a day keeps the doctor away! Today, 71 million packets are sold in the UK every year which is equivalent to 52 being eaten every second. It was in 1925 that Chocolate digestives were introduced. According to McVitie's, the chocolate is on the bottom of the biscuit, not the top. They didn't point this fact out until 2014.
8. In 2009 a study showed that 25 million people in the UK claimed to have suffered a biscuit related injury. Many of these were as a result of trying to fish a broken biscuit out of a cup of hot Tea. Most often the guilty biscuit was a custard cream.
9. While on the subject of dunking, Bristol University researched the best way to dunk biscuits in 1998. According to their study, you should be dunking biscuits horizontally.
10. Possibly the most expensive biscuit ever was one which sold at a London auction for £3,525. It was described in the catalogue as “in almost perfect condition with signs of moulding”. Why would a slightly mouldy biscuit fetch such a price? Because it was taken from the Titanic before she set sail on her ill-fated journey.

Closing the Circle

A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.

Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader. 

Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.

The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.

Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.

Available from:

Amazon (Paperback)

Amazon Kindle

Completes The Raiders Trilogy. 

Other books in the series:

Book One

Book Two