Apples, Oranges, Cinnamon & Cloves
Each year as soon as the wood stove is being used regularly, I dry a string of orange and apple slices that have been dusted with cinnamon and cloves. The more thoroughly you coat the fruit with the spices, the more fragrance you have. This year I covered them heavily, so much so that you couldn't see the color of the fruit at all.
All winter long this garland of nature fills the house with a spicy scent that is subtle but enough to make you sense the holiday season is here. I slice the oranges and dust them in ground cloves. I slice the apples and dust them in cinnamon, then let them dry a day or so. You can use a dehydrator to do this, matter of fact it works quite well. I then string them up, hang them in a nice dry spot and let them do their work of filling the house with the scent of the holiday season. This year I added little bundles of cinnamon sticks tied up with ribbon. Just a simple little holiday project that delights all winter long.
I used a 5 lb bag of each fruit to make what you see hanging in the picture, the apples were the small variety, $2 a bag, and the oranges were under $5. The cinnamon from the Dollar store as were the cloves. The cinnamon sticks came from the Mexican market for $2 and I had the ribbon in my stash. The garland cost under $10 !
Comments
I am going to try that....
Blessins',Lib
Thanks for your visit to my blog! I appreciated your comments. :)
I don't usually shop this weekend either, but the CVS sales started Thursday, so I ran out quick first thing in the morning before any "festivities" started... there was only one other car in the parking lot and they said I was the 6th customer of the day (at 10am). :)
Laura
Cooking on a woodstove is great fun but also a bit tricky. Lehmans has a couple of good books that tell just how to cook on one. Ours is not a cook stove per say, but we do cook on the top all winter long. The newer wood cook stoves even have thermometers that keep the cooking easier. If you are just using a wood stove that you heat with to cook on top of, then its just about like cooking on a gas stove. Just we keep the pans on a ring and not directly on the stove top. Easier to keep things from buring that way.
I do know many women that cook only on woodstoves and love it but they are in colder climates. Texas is just too hot to even think about a wood cook stove except during our short winter season.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at pasuhi54@msn.com I will be busy for the next few days with my grandbaby having surgery so might be a bit slow in answering, but I will reply!