You’re probably wondering what the title of this week’s blog means – all will be revealed later, but if you love quizzes, keep on reading. First though, is it really only a week since VE Day? This week seems to have flown by in a haze of working at QVC, writing, daily physio and baking, the last of which Dan’s girlfriend, Katie and I have done a lot of this past week.
We were both busy last Friday morning creating VE Day goodies. I made a broccoli, cheddar and walnut quiche, coconut tarts, apricot jam tarts and some more scones, and Katie made the delicious Victoria sandwich cake, pictured above, decorated with cream and fresh fruit to represent the Union Jack flag. It’s a good job there are four of us to share the eating of these creations and that three of the four of us are regulars in the gym!
Chris also popped round to leave our elderly neighbours some scones and tarts to have with their morning coffee – we didn’t share the cake though! That batch of baking has cleaned us out of the self-raising flour that Alex Kramer kindly gave me, and we can’t get any more in our local supermarket at the moment, so we’ve turned to recipes that use plain flour instead. Katie made these delicious shortbread biscuits – I didn’t even know I had that heart-shaped cutter!
I wonder if any of you tried my scone recipe from last week’s blog? They can actually be made using plain flour, you would just add another teaspoon of baking powder.
Amid all the baking last Friday morning, I suggested to Dan and Katie that they made some bunting. In my mind, I was thinking of simple triangles coloured in red or blue and leaving the third one white, but the two of them got very creative as you can see from this video.
We all stopped what we were doing at 11 a.m. and I have to admit I got very teary-eyed. My dad, who we lost almost thirteen years ago, would have been one hundred years old next month if he had lived. He served as a ground crew engineer in the RAF, keeping the planes in the air. This picture of him so reminds me of my son, Dan, particularly around the eyes and the mouth.
Last Friday was also the first of my Facebook Live short story readings on my @JuliaRobertsTV Facebook page, which I will be doing for the foreseeable future. Thanks so much if you joined me live for ‘A Recipe for Love’ but if you missed it, the video is still available to watch. I’m doing it again tonight at 8 p.m., with another of my self-penned short stories entitled ‘The Shadow of Her Smile’, which has a slightly spooky edge to it, as it is Halloween themed. They are the only two short stories I’ve written, so I’ll either have to get scribbling for next week or do an excerpt from something longer.
So, while I’m talking about live events on my Facebook page, I’m excited to tell you that from this coming Monday, the iQVC quiz will be up and running. I’ve mentioned several times on here the quiz we do as a family on Thursday evenings and funnily enough, it got a mention on last night’s News at Ten for achieving the Guinness World Record for most people participating in an online quiz – well done Jay! We’ve really enjoyed quizzing and it gave me the idea of doing a QVC themed one. I came up with the name iQVC because the first two letters are IQ, so testing your QVC knowledge, but I also thought it might be helpful for some newer customers to learn a bit more about us through the answers. The quiz will comprise of five rounds each of ten questions, four of which will relate to QVC people, brands and products, including a picture round, and then concluding with a general knowledge round. If you like the sound of it, join me at 8 p.m. this coming Monday (May 18th) – just for fun!
Movie night this week was my choice and I was torn between Les Miserables and The Truman Show. In the end The Truman Show won, but only because Katie hadn’t seen it. The scene where Marlon is sat with Truman on the end of the bridge pretending to be his friend when in fact he is being fed lines via an earpiece is heart-breaking – I won’t say any more in case you haven’t seen it, and I’m not a fan of ‘spoilers’!
So Wilfie is still refusing to play ball (football, that is) but I thought you might find this amusing.
Most cats enjoy sitting in cardboard boxes, so Wilfie has been having a field day with all the deliveries we’ve been having to the house lately – most recently the Molton Brown Big Deal this week in Tobacco, which was the first option to sell out. However, does your cat enjoy biting the cardboard??? Don’t worry, Wilfie doesn’t actually eat it, he just bites and then tosses the cardboard pieces around himself like some kind of homemade confetti!
I’ll be heading into QVC shortly for a double helping of fashion today. There is the regular date with Fashion on Friday at 5 p.m. and then at 6 p.m., the first full hour of Sam Edelman footwear. It’s an American brand that has been going for over forty years and I can confirm that the trainer style I was wearing on air yesterday are not only stylish but really comfortable.
I’m then off for the weekend when I’ll be doing some more gardening, planting my QVC purchases. Here is the latest progress report on the ever-expanding tree fern and creeping into the picture are my lavatera, some forget-me-nots and some beautiful purple alliums.
It’s the first time I’ve grown allium – these are from de Jager bulbs – but it certainly won’t be the last. Speaking of bulbs, I will update you on my Richard Jackson lilies next week.
So, although I’m not on air until next Thursday, you can catch up with me live on my @JuliaRobertsTV Facebook page prior to that for my story reading or the iQVC quiz, or preferably both.
Much love,
Julia xx
20 Responses
Hi Julia
Thank you for a lovely blog and photographs. My daughter Emma is the baker in our family and made your scones this week. They were absolutely delicious and were all eaten on the day of baking. Your recipe is now in our favourites list! xx
Hi Alison
Apologies for the delay in replying, life has been a tad hectic with my new QVC quiz and my latest book launch – all in hand now. So pleased to hear you liked my scone recipe and it is now on your favourites list
Love
Julia x
Hope you have a lovely weekend of . Enjoyed your baking x
Hi Heather
As above, apologies for the delayed response – cutting back on the baking for a couple of weeks to give my waistline a chance, if you get my meaning
Love
Julia x
Hi, I made your scones last Friday morning. They were delicious and the recipe is now in my recipe journal. My Nana died when I was four however I used to stand on a stool next to her, bake scones and sing. So Friday morning found me baking and singing “you will never walk alone” at the kitchen table. She was singing with me. Take care xx
Hi Susan,
I must confess your reply made my eyes ‘water’ a bit. I’m so pleased hat my scone recipe evoked such a memory and delighted that it’s now in your recipe journal. We never walk alone if we keep our departed loved ones in our hearts, even though it feels like it sometimes.
Love
Julia x
Hi Julia, I’m enjoying all your cooking baking ideas. The coconut tarts you made, they look like the ones my Nan used to make. I wondered if you could share the recipe as I never got the recipe from my Nan, and would love to have a go at making them. I’m going to have a go at your scone recipe this weekend. Fingers crossed.xxx
Hi Lisa
Apologies for the delay in replying but hopefully you saw the coconut tartlets recipe on the following week’s blog? You asked, I delivered. My great aunt used to bake these and they’ve always been a particular favourite with my son. Did you try the scone recipe?
Love
Julia x
Hi Julia, You are an absolute joy. I love reading your stories and seeing all your fab photos. As you are a Nottingham girl I wonder if you miss being here.? You are a tonic . Keep safe. xx
Hello Carol
What a lovely thing to say; many apologies for the late response, life has been full-on for the past two weeks. I’m so pleased you enjoy reading my stories – I love writing anyway so I enjoy sharing my weekly updates with you all. I haven’t lived in Nottingham since I was seventeen and it has changed a great deal… the market square a prime example… but it’s my home town so will always have a place in my heart.
Love
Julia x
We have had a couple of cats who love chewing cardboard. Obviously we don’t have the right to query their decisions because they’re, like, kings of all they survey, and anyway, “because I WANT TO” wouldn’t shed much light. Our tabby would come running if you asked him to “stamp my ticket”! Wilfie is a beautiful cat; we had black cats when I was a child and he reminds me of them every time you post his photo. I’m waiting patiently for when he deigns to play football! Maybe when Palace are on the tv again!
Hi SheMag
Great news that the footie season is set to resume, albeit behind closed doors, so Palace will be on TV and might tempt Wilfie into playing. I do have a video of him which is going on my next blog – I’m glad he brings back memories of you childhood cats.
Love
Julia x
Hi Julia my cat Titus did love a good box but he didn’t eat it he got underneath it and went walkabout with it a kind of cat-turtle and as he couldn’t see everyone just got out of his way till he fell asleep still wearing it! They each have their ways don’t they! Stay safe.
Hi Suzi
That sounds hilarious! We’ve almost thrown boxes away in the past with Wilfie inside… and he loves crawling inside the duvet when the covers are off for washing – always frightens the life out of me!
Love
Julia x
Hi Julia
Have been working back through your previous blogs to find the recipe for your chocolate cake, and also searched the internet, would it be possible for you to give the recipe again please. I actually found some flour in Morrisons this week, they had both lots, their own brand. x
Hi Jan
I think the blog with the chocolate cake recipe went when the new blog style started – I’ll try and remember to post it on my next one. Well done for getting self-raising flour. Our big find this week was yeast – we make our own bread and we’re down to the last teaspoon!
Love
Julia x
Hi Julia yes i did your recipe for scones and i will never by one again they were yummy and so easy to do didnt realise that they were so easy to do thanks a million x
Hi Sue
So pleased to hear that you made and enjoyed the scones – shop bought can sometimes be a bit dry I find. They are quick to do as well
Love
Julia x
Hi Julia,
Hope you and your family are keeping safe and well. Loved the photo’s of Wilfie as usual. They remind me of when I had a budgie as he would have a little fly around my living room and take bites out of any book I happen to be reading. Sadly , when I got my cat Chloe, I had to give my budgie away as it was like a scene from Sylvester and Tweety Pie. I don’t know what I was thinking getting a cat while I still had my budgie. At first the cat was ok but then she would dive bomb the cage!
Well not a lot has changed here in Wales as far as the lock-down is concerned. The garden centres have re-opened and that’s about all. So with no sign of the hairdressers starting back up any time soon I took the drastic action of cutting my own hair ( with some help from hubby) !! I went and bought some clippers. I couldn’t stand it any longer. So with much trepidation I took the plunge. So I now look like G.I. Joe. LOL. I’m getting used to it as I normally have my hair cut quite short but not with the clippers all over. Hay ho- it will grow back soon enough. I’m now going to colour it a bright Burgundy. In for a penny… Am hoping the colour turns out as it shows on the box as last time I thought it would be a burgundy shade it turned out bright ginger. Nothing against the colour itself on others, on me it looked ghastly.
Guess we’re all going to have to diet when things get back to ” normal” eating all these scummy cakes. My sister-in-law made us some lovely Victoria Sponge with fresh cream last week. It was delicious. Must get out walking more.
Well take care, all the best, Tina S. xx
Hi Tina
I’m working backwards through replies so think I answered your latest comment about the hair colour – I didn’t realise you’d attacked it with the hair clippers! One of the good things about having longer hair is that I only normally have it cut every 5 or 6 months anyway so it’s not an issue for me – my roots are the issue as it grows so fast!
We’ve cut back on the baking a bit – even though I’m in the gym every day it is mostly physio at the moment, although I am now allowed to walk on the treadmill without my brace so I’m starting to feel a lot fitter and I’m gradually returning to my more normal shape.
Speak soon
Julia x