Homemade Simmering Potpourri

The holidays are approaching, and that means lots of wonderful smells coming from the kitchen!  Walking into a house that smells of cinnamon and spice is just so welcoming and comforting.  So how do you create those warm and cozy feelings when you don’t have time or occasion to bake something sweet?  Make your own simmering potpourri!

Now, I know this isn’t a food recipe, but it uses cooking spices and will make your family and friends think you’re baking up something delicious.  In fact, a few weeks ago, I was simmering some of this potpourri when Robbie returned home from work.  He walked in and said, “It smells too good to be true!”

If you have a potpourri pot, you can definitely use it to heat your potpourri.  I don’t have one so I just heat it on the stove.  You may need to increase the spice to water ratio as the pots don’t get as hot as the stove.  When heating potpourri on the stove, be careful not to forget about it and let the pot go dry.  Burnt cinnamon is not nearly as welcoming.

Cinnamon sticks can be very pricey if you buy them in jars in the spice aisle.  I get mine from the bulk bins.  I believe they are about $3-something per pound, but it takes a lot of cinnamon sticks to get a pound.  I also get the whole cloves in the bulk bins.

I generally reuse the same spices a few days in a row.  Simply add more water and reheat.  If you decide not to use them one day, discard them so they don’t grow bacteria or fungi.

Feel free to experiment with different spices.  These are just the ones I like.

Homemade Simmering Potpourri

2-3 cinnamon sticks

5-6 whole cloves

few dashes nutmeg

Place all ingredients in small saucepan with about 2 inches of water.  Bring to boil then reduce heat to maintain a soft simmer.  Add water as necessary to prevent burning.

The water will eventually turn dark as the cinnamon infuses
into it (see pic above).