{"id":90339,"date":"2019-12-13T15:35:49","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T15:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qvcuk.com\/?p=90339"},"modified":"2020-02-06T08:43:40","modified_gmt":"2020-02-06T08:43:40","slug":"now-it-feels-like-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/presenters\/julia-roberts\/now-it-feels-like-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Now it Feels Like Christmas!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Isn&#8217;t it funny that one thing can suddenly make it feel more like Christmas &#8211; usually it&#8217;s when I make the Christmas cake, but this year I have been so busy with QVC and writing my latest book that I didn&#8217;t really get into the festive spirit after baking the cake, even with the gorgeous aroma and the lashings of brandy it received. However, on Wednesday morning I made my first mince pies of the year (recipe later in the blog) and this morning we are going to buy the Christmas tree &#8211; now it feels like Christmas, even without snow!<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re not feeling it yet, take a look at the second Presenter Festive challenge, where we had to name Santa&#8217;s reindeer in thirty seconds! I thought Debs Flint and I did quite well, but we were pipped at the post&#8230;<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sThGRSYQbKc\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe>\n<p>I quite like the idea of &#8216;Flasher&#8217; as a reindeer name &#8211; maybe Santa should enlist some new helpers?!?<\/p>\n<p>Well, I don&#8217;t know about you, but I have been doing quite a bit of QVC Christmas shopping, my latest purchases being two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qvcuk.com\/luxenoa\/home-&amp;-kitchen\/_\/N-apav8rZlfnu\/c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luxenoa<\/a> candles &#8211; I couldn&#8217;t possibly tell you who they are for but I can confirm they both they smell divine! We also received some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qvcuk.com\/snowdonia-cheese\/home-&amp;-kitchen\/_\/N-1z13xc4Zlfnu\/c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Snowdonia cheeses<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qvcuk.com\/Hotel-Chocolat-Velvetiser-with-2-Pod-Cups-%26-20-Hot-Chocolate-Sachets.product.808892.html?sc=NAVLIST\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Velvetiser<\/a> this week, the latter being our &#8216;wedding present&#8217; from my mum. It arrived on Tuesday and we &#8216;christened it&#8217; straight away on Tuesday evening&#8230; Chris had milk, I had 70% and our son had hazelnut &#8211; successful all round. We used almond milk and it worked perfectly. We won&#8217;t be using it all the time, but how nice to have it there for a little treat when we fancy one, especially if we do get snow this winter.<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.qvcuk.com\/Hotel-Chocolat-Velvetiser-with-2-Pod-Cups-%26-20-Hot-Chocolate-Sachets.product.808892.html?sc=NAVLIST\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-90364 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Velvetiser-cropped.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"795\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Velvetiser-cropped.jpg 795w, https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Velvetiser-cropped-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Velvetiser-cropped-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Velvetiser-cropped-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 795px) 100vw, 795px\" \/><\/a>\n<p>There is something so cosy about snuggling up on the sofa with a hot chocolate drink when it&#8217;s cold outside. Although, I discovered on air this week that fashion guest, Glen Campbell has never had hot chocolate!!!!<\/p>\n<p>I also discovered that Glen&#8217;s favourite snack at this time of year is a mince pie and a cup of tea. This was after he moaned about me not bringing him a mince pie in after my baking bout that morning. I will take him one in today as we are working together for fashion on Friday &#8211; do remember that we now have a specially selected item to start the 5 p.m. show, which will be on FIVE easy interest-free instalments (same on Saturday and Sunday at 5 p.m. too).<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Mince-Pies-cropped.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-90366 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Mince-Pies-cropped.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"795\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Mince-Pies-cropped.jpg 795w, https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Mince-Pies-cropped-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Mince-Pies-cropped-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Mince-Pies-cropped-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 795px) 100vw, 795px\" \/><\/a>\n<p>But back to mince pies, and as promised, here is my recipe:<\/p>\n<p>For the pastry:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>8 oz self-raising flour<\/li>\n<li>8 oz wholemeal plain four<\/li>\n<li>4 oz butter<\/li>\n<li>4 oz Trex (white vegetable fat)<\/li>\n<li>Pinch of salt<\/li>\n<li>5 \u2013 6 tablespoons cold water<\/li>\n<li>Mincemeat (I use shop-bought, but apparently Delia Smith has a good recipe)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Put the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and add both types of fat, cut into chunks. Rub the fat into the flour using your fingertips \u2013 it should resemble breadcrumbs.<\/li>\n<li>Spoon 5 tablespoons of water onto the \u2018breadcrumb type mix\u2019 and, using a knife mix until it forms a dough. If it is not collecting add 1 more tablespoon of water but remember, the less water you use, the shorter the pastry will be (ie. crumblier).<\/li>\n<li>Roll out half of the dough on a well-floured surface until quite thin. Use a larger pastry cutter for the bottoms and a smaller one for the tops. Repeat with the other half of the dough then gather up the offcuts from both, collect in a ball and roll out again. You should be able to make 24 of each\u2026<\/li>\n<li>Line patty tins with the larger rounds and add a generous teaspoon of mincemeat.<\/li>\n<li>Using your finger, run water around the edge of each top before laying it over a bottom then press down to seal edges, crimping with your fingers. Cut a small cross in the top of the mince pies and add a sprinkle of sugar.<\/li>\n<li>Bake in the centre of the oven (Fan assisted 180 C \u2013 regular 200 C) for 20 minutes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is my weekend off but don&#8217;t miss out on some of the great Today&#8217;s Special Value offers we have between now and when I&#8217;m next in on Thursday. Lovely Fiona Brackenbury will be launching <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qvcuk.com\/Decleor-4-Piece-Hydrating-%26-Anti-Ageing-Skincare-Gift-Collection.product.239352.html?sc=NAVLIST\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Decleor TSV<\/a> on air tonight at 9 p.m. &#8211; it&#8217;s already been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qvcuk.com\/Decleor-4-Piece-Hydrating-%26-Anti-Ageing-Skincare-Gift-Collection.product.239352.html?sc=NAVLIST\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">selling very well on pre-sell<\/a> if you&#8217;re a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qvcuk.com\/decleor\/beauty\/_\/N-1z141ucZlfm0\/c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Decleor<\/a> fan.<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.qvcuk.com\/Decleor-4-Piece-Hydrating-%26-Anti-Ageing-Skincare-Gift-Collection.product.239352.html?sc=NAVLIST\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-90362 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Decleor-TSV-cropped.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"795\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Decleor-TSV-cropped.jpg 795w, https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Decleor-TSV-cropped-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Decleor-TSV-cropped-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Decleor-TSV-cropped-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 795px) 100vw, 795px\" \/><\/a>\n<p>Also, Harry Slatkin is back on Tuesday with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qvcuk.com\/homeworx-by-harry-slatkin\/home-&amp;-kitchen\/_\/N-1ux1dv2Zlfnu\/c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Homeworx TSV<\/a>. I was lucky enough to work with Harry on his first visit to QVC UK a couple of months ago and as well as being beautifully fragranced, his candles look good too. And then we have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qvcuk.com\/radley\/shoes-&amp;-handbags\/_\/N-1z13y3bZlfpk\/c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Radley<\/a> purse TSV offer on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.qvcuk.com\/radley\/shoes-&amp;-handbags\/_\/N-1z13y3bZlfpk\/c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-90368 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Radley-TSV-cropped.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"795\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Radley-TSV-cropped.jpg 795w, https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Radley-TSV-cropped-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Radley-TSV-cropped-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Radley-TSV-cropped-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 795px) 100vw, 795px\" \/><\/a>\n<p>Purses are such a great gift idea, but do remember to include some money (preferably a coin) when you give a purse to bring the recipient good fortune &#8211; it may be an old wives&#8217; tale but I&#8217;m not going to risk going against it!<\/p>\n<p>Before I leave for work, just a heads up on this week&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.qvcuk.com\/category\/podcasts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Inside QVC podcast<\/a>&#8230; it&#8217;s our very own beauty expert, Alison Young, and on Monday, the new one will be Simon from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qvcuk.com\/butler-&amp;-wilson-jewellery\/jewellery\/_\/N-1z141pbZlfn0?ro=lfn0Z1z141pb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Butler &amp; Wilson<\/a> &#8211; something to listen to while you&#8217;re decorating the tree perhaps?? &#8211; we&#8217;ll be doing this monster tomorrow &#8230; photos next week!<\/p>\n<p>Have a great weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Much love,<br \/>\nJulia xx<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Isn&#8217;t it funny that one thing can suddenly make it feel more like Christmas &#8211; usually it&#8217;s when I make the Christmas cake, but this year I have been so busy with QVC and writing my latest book that I didn&#8217;t really get into the festive spirit after baking the cake, even with the gorgeous [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":90366,"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\/90339"}],"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=90339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92996,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90339\/revisions\/92996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}