Just a reminder that Norad is tracking Santa’s progress around the world.  I’ve enjoyed this for quite a few years – check it out here.

Scents evoke so many  memories and emotions.  I love the way the house smells after making butternut squash, turkey or especially cookies.  It’s easy to marry up compatible fragrances for some holiday cheer.

Combine together:

1/8 cup mulling spices
3 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick (3″ or 4″)
several pieces of dehydrated apple end or fresh orange peel

I dehydrated the apples myself, but you can buy them commercially at the grocery store or from a bulk foods bin. Leftover orange peels also work fine. If you are giving these as gifts, you’ll want to use something dehydrated though.

The spices are from Penzey’s. They are fresh and reasonably priced especially for large purchases.  I’m fortunate enough to live close to one of their stores, but have mail ordered from them for years before they expanded nationwide.

I get about three days of frangrance from this recipe by leaving it in the pot on top of the stove overnight.  Be sure to set a timer to check every 30 minutes to add more water when it is simmering.  The chances of boiling the pot dry and ruining it are high and a timer makes a big differences in remembering to check.

There are a lot of variations on this that can be found by Googling for potpourri.  The Frugal Girl also recently posted a recipe for this.

I didn’t have any pictures of my little treasures made up to share.  Instead, here is a recent picture from the botanical gardens that I thought looked festive with all the red in the background.  Enjoy!

Word for tomorrow – BLOGGER’S CHOICE.  If you prefer to work ahead, see the list for the week under “A Word A Day”.

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