One of the great joys of this season for me is pomanders. Pomanders smell great, they’re easy to make and they last as long as they stay good and dry.
I love them.
I love them with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns–suns which I am desperate to see during this, the darkest part of the year.
It’s time to make some.
What you need:
- fruit: oranges, clementines, kumquats, apples, lemons, etc.
- whole cloves
- pointed toothpicks, skewers, etc. to poke the holes in the fruit
- powdered spices: cloves, allspice, cinnamon, orris root
Use the skewer to poke holes in the fruit. Leave a bit of space between the holes. [As the fruit dries, it will shrink and the holes will get closer together.]
Put a clove in each hole.
The fruit will ooze and get you all sticky. That’s part of the fun. You’ll smell great for days.
When you’ve covered the fruit with cloves, sprinkle them all over with powdered spices. I use equal amounts of ground cloves, allspice, cinnamon and orris root [dried, powdered iris root]. Use what you have. Don’t worry if you don’t have orris root.
If you have extra spice mix, put it in a jar–it will keep for next year.
Cover the pomanders completely with the spices. They’ll help dry the whole thing out.
Put them in an attractive bowl or arrangement and remember to turn them over every day or so to help them dry evenly.
Over the next few weeks, the pomanders will dry inside and out and become hard.
These stay good through the winter here in the Midwest. I toss them out when I do my spring cleaning in March, which is when things start getting wet and humid around here again.
Happy Holidays!
Robin from Rurification blogs at Rurification.
Do you have a recipe post or kitchen-related story to share on the Farm Bell blog?
See Farm Bell Blog Submissions for information, the latest blog contributor giveaway, and to submit a post.
Want to subscribe to the Farm Bell blog? Go here.
Pete says:
Very nice! Have done fruits studded with cloves, but adding the ground spices is simply genius!!
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
On December 19, 2011 at 10:08 am
JerseyMom says:
Ditto what Pete said. Will have to try this with my girls…..I have many fond memories of sort thumbs from pushing those cloves into the oranges 😉
On December 19, 2011 at 11:30 am
splitziebaby says:
When I was little we lived in a house with a little wood stove and very dry air. My dad would have us kids make pomanders sans powdered spice, than put them in a large pot full of water and set them on the wood stove to humidify the house…I will never forget that wonderfully warm and inviting scent! One of my favorites to this day!
On December 19, 2011 at 4:06 pm
mesue says:
I have made these as well and they can keep for years. Love the idea of adding the spice powder mix as well. Learned this idea at Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan. Great place to visit!! It is an entire museum dedicated to highlighting American ingenuity. The village has homes from almost every era in American history (up to about 1900) and they re-create gardens using the methods of the time they are depicting and cook with the foods they produce as well. Worth a visit if you visit the Detroit Area.
On December 20, 2011 at 7:17 am