Easy Winter Potpourri

Winter_Potpourri2
When I was a teenager, I had a friend who’s mother always had a huge bowl of potpourri on her kitchen table. This wasn’t the kind of overly perfumed, mostly colored wood chip potpourri I’d seen up to then, it was a mix of lemon and orange peels, dry but still slightly pliable, cinnamon sticks, pine cones and whole cloves that was constantly being added to, making the room smell delicious all of the time. Finding myself with a few too many oranges this past week, I decided to make some sunny, citrusy winter potpourri for my own kitchen, hopefully my home will be as delicious as hers always was!

Things you need:
Oranges and Lemons (thinner skins are best)
Sharp kitchen knife
Baking sheet and silicone cooking mat
Cinnamon sticks
Pinecones
Orris Root
Whole cloves and nutmegs
Vanilla beans (you can use one you have removed the seeds from!)

Things to do:
1. Slice your citrus fruit in 1/4 inch slices and bake on the silicone mat at 200 degrees for three hours, flipping them each hour.
Winter_Potpourri
2. Once they are dry, toss in a wide bowl (you don’t want moisture to get trapped in the bowl), mix with the remaining ingredients until you are satisfied with the scent. Orris Root is a must as it helps keep your potpourri fresh!

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2 Comments

  1. I wish there was a way I could do this in my microwave..it sounds awesome…we have to buy butane gas for heat and have spent over $1,225.00 so far this year so I don’t use my oven (also runs on the gas) unless I really have to.
    Hop over to my blog and enter for drawing for give away I am having.
    Thanks for that recipe…maybe I can think of another way to dry the oranges…in a dehydrator or something 🙂

    1. Nancy, If you have a gas stove, all you have to do is, slice your citrus, place on a cooling rack (like a rack for cooling cakes), in your oven and the pilot light usually dries them in about 24 hours. You will want to turn them occassionaly. Ive done mine, this way, for years. It may take longer, but its less expensive. Good luck.