Pomander Season

Pomander season is here! Actually, I make them all year round, but the Holidays is when I really ramp up and makes lots to spread around the apartment and give as gifts. They instantly add a festive note. I had a teacher from France when I was little and we made them in class for gifts for our parents and have been creating them ever since. Simply stud whole cloves into an orange. The real magic is the creativity of the patterns you create. Sometimes I like to do them simply, other times much more intricate. Varying the size of the oranges gives you visual variation which works nicely too. I use a wooden skewer to help get the holes started as pushing in the cloves can be rough on your fingers. This is a trick I learned just in the last few years and it speeds up the process considerably. The juice from the oranges mixing with the oils of the cloves is such a beautiful scent. One I absolutely associate with the season. Have fun!