5 Christmas Potpourri Recipes: The wonderful smells of Christmas

Christmas potpourri is one way to make your home smell like Christmas and the holiday season.

The sense of smell, more than sight, hearing or even taste, is where we store our most cherished and vintage memories.

Whether its sitting by a crackling fire, decorating fresh-baked cookies, or the smell of pine as you decorate the Christmas Tree; these scents of Christmas take you back to fond memories of past.

What if you got a fake tree this year? Or too busy working to make a gingerbread house?

What if you’re not cooking this year, eating somewhere else, ordering a pre-made Christmas meal, or don’t have the time? 

How are you going to be able to enjoy those sensory nostalgic vintage memories? The answer is Christmas Potpourri.

I  use the Christmas or Fall potpourri every day and guest who come over always ask what kind of pie I’m baking (I chuckle and never share my secret!).

So go ahead and take a break from slaving in the kitchen all day, you deserve it. Your guests will never know the difference with a simmering stove of Christmas goodies!

Christmas Potpourri makes a GREAT gift!

Instructions

• Fill a pan 3/4 of the way with water and add desired amount of Potpourri.
• Bring to slow boil and lower temp to a low simmer.
• Never let dry out, add water as needed.

#1 Christmas Tree Potpourri

• Fresh Pine Needles (you can use rosemary as a substitute) 1/4 cup
• Small Pine Cone or two
• Cranberries 1/4 cup
• Lemon slices 2- 3 slices

#2 Gingerbread Potpourri

• Ground or Fresh Ginger 1 tsp
• Cinnamon – 1 stick, broken
• Clove- 1/2 tsp
• Allspice 1 tsp

#3 Christmas Potpourri

• Rosemary 3-4 Sprigs or 1/2 cup
• Orange peel- from 1 small orange
• Apple peel – from 1/2 an apple
• Cinnamon 1/2 tsp
• Cloves 1/2 tsp
• Anise – 2-3 stars

#4 Turkey Dinner Potpourri

• Onion Slices- just one or two
• Celery (the inner stalks or the leafy ends you don’t use)
• Bouillon cube
• Poultry Seasoning– 1/2 to 1 tsp

#5 Apple Pie Potpourri

• Apple Cider 1 1/2 cups
• Peels from 1 apple
• Cinnamon Stick- 1 broken into pieces
• Clove 1 tsp

Bonus TIP! Fresh Baked Bread

Now this tip isn’t as deceiving as the others but it will not be as time consuming as one may think, total time involved should be less than 10 mins.

Buy the frozen raw bread loaves at the grocery store, follow the instructions and place in the oven to bake 20 minutes before guest arrive and serve with dinner. The smell of fresh-baked bread can not be beat.

If you have the time to make homemade bread this article, 13 Homemade Bread Recipes, by Common Sense Homesteading is a fantastic resource for all of your bread recipes.

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