Holiday Scented Stove Top Simmer

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Make your house smell like it's ready for the holidays with kitchen scraps and pantry staples in this Holiday Scented Stove Top Simmer.

I am a sucker for anything holiday-scented. If something smells like Christmas, I will probably buy it.

Whether it's hand soap, sanitizer, air freshener, or candles. It could be "Pine Bough" or "Christmas Cookie" or "Holiday Spice" or whatever other holiday-themed olfactory concoction someone came up with. Bring it my way.

One year, I went into a popular bath store (you know the one - they have them in every mall) and bought a big bag full of hand soaps, candles, and plug-in air fresheners - all of them Christmas scented.

I got home, filled my bathrooms, and plugged in a piney-smelling air freshener. After a while, I noticed that the smell was overpowering and starting to give me a headache.

I unplugged it and left it on top of the end table. A few hours later, I noticed that the oil (or whatever it was) in the air freshener had leaked out all over the table. I wiped it off, and the table's finish came right along with it.

Seeing that, and remembering the headache I had earlier made me realize that I no longer cared to have those fumes present in the air in my home, and I promptly threw out the air freshener.

Still wanting my home to smell festive, I opted for the more natural route, as I remembered my Mom did when I was growing up.

I started to use a Holiday Scented Stove Top Simmer.

What is a stovetop simmer potpourri?

A stovetop simmer is just making a potpourri out of fragrant items, topping it off with water and simmering to fill your home with fragrance.

This version is great because it uses items that are common in your home and kitchen at this time of the year. It is also flexible, so if you happen to be missing one of the ingredients, it's not a big deal.

How do you make stovetop simmer potpourri?

I always put orange peels in mine. I just save the peels in a small saucepan whenever someone in my house eats one, instead of throwing them out. You can also use halved oranges that have home a little too mushy or hard to eat. Just get rid of any moldy or rotten parts first.

I also always add a cinnamon stick and some cloves.

If I feel like going out to the backyard to cut a couple of spruce sprigs, I'll add those too.

Star anise is optional. It is very fragrant, but not everyone will like the licorice-like scent.

Stovetop simmer ingredients:

Orange peels and/or halved oranges (It's okay to uses oranges that you don't want to eat, eg. ones that are dried out or mushy, just make sure to cut off any rotten or moldy bits)
Cinnamon sticks
Small spruce or pine sprigs
Whole cloves
Star anise or equal portion of broken pieces (optional)
Bay leaf
Water

Just throw everything into a small saucepan (my mom used to use an enameled metal mug), cover it with water, and bring it to a simmer.

Reduce the heat so that it's just steaming, and your house will be fragrant as long as it's sitting there.

Make sure to use common sense and avoid leaving it unattended. Also, make sure to check the water level periodically and if it's getting low, top it off with more water as needed.