What UK treats should I have shipped to me?

McVities digestive biscuits, all flavors. Eccles cakes. Branston pickle. Spotted dick.

chocolate coated Hobnobs

Jaffa cakes.

decent tea

trucklements onion marmalade
Robert wilson Garangam FBOP tea
A decent Chutney
Gentleman's Relish

Thanks! I'm online chatting with her now and we're plotting the best way to get some cheeses home.

Tunnocks caramel wafers and also their tea cakes (though they won't travel that well....)

ooh, get some lanc cheese

Apparently there was a Branston Pickle crisis in 2004. Who knew?

Montgomery cheddar is an absolute must and very durable.

xxpost, yep yep, she mentioned Double Gloucester and Lancashire.

I told her to box up a Sainsbury's and ship it to me.

Don't forget to have some oatcakes sent over to eat it on.

can she just schelp some stuff back in her luggage? airmail is expensive, and surface mail in my experience has taken the full 8-12 weeks.

sadly, tunnock's products (esp. the teacakes) do not travel well.

Lancashire doesn't travel very well - sweats really easily and is very crumbly. If space is an issue I'd get something else....

Montgomery is a good call.

Where is she, and where is she able to go shopping?

Rock, if she packs it up tight in a styrofoam box with some gel ice packs, it'll be fine for 2 days. (medium/hard cheeses, that is. Not a Sainsbury's)

Also, it's much easier to carry stuff in through customs than shipping it. The rules about carrying it in are much less restrictive.

She is going to bring some stuff back in her luggage, esp. cheeses. She's in the center of London, does all her shopping at a big Sainsbury's.

Carrying it in would be great, but I don't want to overload her luggage.

I wonder if they sell cheese at the duty-free.

They do in some of the heathrow terminals for sure.

She should just ship all her clothes/books/shoes home and pack her luggage full of treats for dad!

Holy shit, that's a great idea.

Flying out of Gatwick...

if you're willing to pay for airmail as opposed to surface, cool. i'm just really down on the latter - your stuff will probably arrived crushed and stale. and 2-3 months is such a long time to wait!

Make sure she sends you Sarah Alexander.

Thanks for all the suggestions, you guys.

Make sure she sends you Sarah Alexander.

she's like our Jamie Pressly minus the p0rn! (to my knowledge)

Fentimans glass bottled soft drinks altho these are quite expensive for the quantity. I love 'em tho.

Marmite?

dark chocolate coated ginger nuts.

If she's in central London, for cheese, get her to nip over to Neal Street in Covent Garden (she'll have been there already I'm sure) and get her to go in the Neal Street Dairy Cheese shop - the Montgomery Cheddar that Ed mentions above is sold there, as is Lincolnshire poacher - both great cheeses which should travel well. Also - tpo go with them - some rough oatcakes, NSD will have some fancy artisanal ones, but Sainsbury's have decent ones (I have no idea if they're available in the states, but they'r eby far my favourite thing to eat cheese with)

gah - you can tell I've only just finished work - It's Neal's Yard dairy, not neal street

I had a can of Boddington's the other night. Holy cow it was nice. Is that considered a quality beer in England?

If the draught has the sparkler off then it is nice. Otherwise (or if you were drinking Creamflow from the outset) then no, it is bog standard gassy crap bitter. (see also Banks')

bog standard session beer really, although I have a soft spot for it on draught.

x-post - Aldo is otm

I'd add to the list:

Roses Lime Marmalde, a Lemon curd, Mr's Darlingtons is the best manufactured one I've had, Baxters soups especially Cullen Skink, MacSweens Haggis.

Tins of Boddys are ok, but there are literally dozens of bottled beers which you'd be better off investigating.

e.g. Badger ales

Rose's Lime marmalade is great! I didn't realize it was from the UK, it's been easy to find in our groceries.

If she can't be bothered with all this Neal's Yard Montgomery malarkey, then I find the widely available Seriously Strong cheddar to be surprisingly num, despite its mass-marketness and tacky packaging. I also second the rough oatcake suggestion to go with it. And some Branston.

I find the (semi-) existence of Seriously Strong cheddar on <A href="http://www.amazon.com/Seriously-Strong-Scottish-Cheddar-igourmet-com/dp/B0006TQ35G";>Amazon.com</a> to be ... peculiar.

Oh, bah, I'll never learn these new-fangled ways.

If she does all her shopping at Sainsbury's, I also recommend their Taste The Difference stem ginger cookies.