{"id":101959,"date":"2020-12-11T12:57:09","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T12:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/?p=101959"},"modified":"2020-12-11T12:59:45","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T12:59:45","slug":"my-first-of-the-festive-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/presenters\/julia-roberts\/my-first-of-the-festive-season\/","title":{"rendered":"My first of the festive season"},"content":{"rendered":"
You may have realised from the photo that I am talking about indulging in my first mince pie this year, although technically, I did have a bite of a Chunk of Devon mince pie<\/a> in a show that I did a couple of months ago, which I have to say was pretty yummy. So, I\u2019m really saying this is my first homemade mince pie this year, having baked a batch last Saturday. I didn\u2019t actually have one until Monday when I posted a photo on Instagram\u2026 hair by Dyson Corrale<\/a>, mince pies by juliagroberts!<\/p>\n By the way, if you\u2019ve been hankering after the Corrale straighteners<\/a>, they are currently on five Easy Pay interest-free instalments \u2013 an opportunity to try them out, I guess, and see how you get on with them. That photo was taken before my trip to the hairdresser on Tuesday for my colour and only my second haircut this year. It would never have been possible before I started using the Dyson Supersonic hairdryer<\/a>, which has minimised the amount of heat damage to my hair.<\/p>\n Back to the mince pies though, I thought I\u2019d post my recipe in case you want to try them out and to save you asking:<\/p>\n Mince Pie Recipe <\/strong>(makes 2 dozen)<\/p>\n 1. Put both flours into a large mixing bowl with the salt. We\u2019ve enjoyed them cold but also warmed through in the microwave for 30 seconds and served with cream. By the way, microwave is pronounced as spelled and not as pronounced by Nigella Lawson \u2013 I\u2019m pretty sure that clip will feature on Gogglebox tonight!<\/p>\n With Christmas only two weeks away, I must confess to not having wrapped a single present for my family. I did however wrap this lot for the teams behind the scenes at QVC. Each year, the presenters arrange something from all of us as a thank you to the teams that support us \u2013 for the past couple of years it\u2019s been pizza for all – but obviously that isn\u2019t possible this year with social distancing regulations. So, I volunteered myself to organise and Craig quickly stepped up to help, as we did it a few years back and worked well together. We\u2019d decided on the gifts and bought everything within a week – messaging each other as Mama Santa and Christmas Elf, which has really put me in a festive mood! All done and dusted and ready to gift \u2013 great teamwork.<\/p>\n The two of us were also partnered up to be on this Christmas postcard last month, which was sent out to some new customers to welcome them to QVC and thank them for shopping with us \u2013 I really like those glasses on Craig and you may well be seeing more of my sparkly reindeer antlers as we get closer to Christmas!<\/p>\n Although I haven\u2019t wrapped any family presents yet, I have bought most of them now and all from QVC or other online retailers. I haven\u2019t been tempted out to the shops since the relaxation of lockdown in our area. I\u2019ve just accepted that this year is a little different and that the joys of the pre-Christmas hustle and bustle, and Christmas markets will for me have to wait until next year (hopefully). It\u2019s been quite a busy week for Donald, our Hermes delivery driver, and I have a few more goodies on the way, including the Molton Brown<\/a> Today’s Special Value, which I ordered early.<\/p>\n I\u2019m very glad I did, and I\u2019d recommend you taking advantage of the pre-order opportunity for the Liz Earle Today’s Special Value<\/a> this coming Sunday. This one is based around their fabulous fragrance with a choice of No 1, No 9, No 15, No 20 and No 100, all in the full 50ml size \u2013 check our website to help you decide which one to go for. Whichever fragrance you choose, you will also get 200ml of Cleanse & Polish (with two muslin cloths), 200ml of Rosemary & Rock Rose Botanical Body Wash, 200ml of Rosemary & Rock Rose Botanical Body Cream and 50ml of Rosemary & Rock Rose Hand Repair. It\u2019s gift boxed, on 4 Easy Pay interest-free instalments and less than half price.<\/a><\/p>\n But if that\u2019s not for you, we have another beauty Today’s Special Value on Monday (launching 9 p.m. Sunday), which you will need to be super-quick with. It\u2019s a Tili<\/a> (Try It Love It) vanity bag, featuring products from seven of your favourite QVC brands \u2013 it will fly if the Tili box offer from last weekend is anything to go by\u2026 it had sold out before my 9 a.m. show.<\/p>\n Just a quick heads up on a new voucher code starting today and running until the end of this year on clearance items in clothes, shoes, jewellery and accessories. If you\u2019re spending over \u00a330, use the code SALE15 at checkout to get an additional 15% off \u2013 this is now available to use on our latest app, so make sure you update it.<\/p>\n And if you\u2019re not planning on spending that much, there is already code SALE2Z which can give you two Easy Pay interest-free instalments on similar clearance lines until midnight on Dec 27th.<\/p>\n Although I\u2019m not on air this weekend, I\u2019m going to be busy buying and decorating the Christmas tree, wrapping presents and writing Christmas cards \u2013 thanks if you\u2019ve sent me one in, as they are always much appreciated to brighten our dressing rooms. As well as writing Christmas cards, I also need to get another 5000 words for my book publishing next summer and do the final proofread for My Mother\u2019s Secret, out next month\u2026 it really is all go! Sadly, as it is not my rostered weekend, I\u2019ll be missing the final Butler & Wilson<\/a> show of the year with Simon Wilson, which is tomorrow from 4 p.m. for two hours if you fancy some sparkle.<\/p>\n Just before I finish, I wanted to pay tribute to Barbara Windsor, another star who is lost to this world in 2020. I was in a pantomime with Barbara at the Ashcroft Theatre in Croydon in 1978\/79. She played the title role of Dick Whittington and I was her understudy, as well as being in the chorus line of dancers. She never missed a performance and brought a ray of sunshine to every show. Our paths crossed again many years later, when she appeared on QVC as a guest for a nailcare range we sold in the early days called Supernails \u2013 I wonder if any of you reading this remember Nail Eat and Nail Drink, not to mention Qtica!?! RIP Barbara, a true one-off.<\/p>\n Much love, You may have realised from the photo that I am talking about indulging in my first mince pie this year, although technically, I did have a bite of a Chunk of Devon mince pie in a show that I did a couple of months ago, which I have to say was pretty yummy. So, I\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":101963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[247,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101959"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101959"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101974,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101959\/revisions\/101974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n2. Cut the butter and Trex into cubes, then add to the flour and rub in until it resembles breadcrumbs.
\n3. Add the cold water, using a knife to bring the dough together, then knead for a few seconds to form into a ball.
\n4. Cut the dough in half and roll out on a well-floured surface, then, using the larger of two pastry cutters, cut out as many \u2018bottoms\u2019 as you can \u2013 gather up the dough scraps and put aside while you roll out the other half of the dough and cut \u2018tops\u2019 with the smaller cutter.
\n5. Gather all the scraps together to form a ball and repeat.
\n6. Line your patty tins with the \u2018bottoms\u2019 then spoon in a generous teaspoon of mincemeat to each.
\n7. Using your finger, run cold water around each \u2018top\u2019 before placing over the mixture and pressing down firmly.
\n8. Make a little cross in the top of each pie using a sharp knife and sprinkle with a small amount of granulated sugar.
\n9. Bake in the oven for 18 -20 minutes at 200 degrees or 180 degrees fan assisted.<\/p>\n\n
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\nJulia xx<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"