Simmering Spices

Several of you asked about the spices I mentioned simmering on the stove. I pursued this idea after reading about it in the Mitford books and seeing a recipe in the Mitford Cookbook for "Christmas Smell."

I'm planning to host an Advent Walk right before Christmas (I'll be sharing more about this) and plan to give one jar of this "Christmas Smell" to each family who comes. So, this was my trial jar to make sure it worked.

In a pint sized canning jar place the following spices:
1 T. whole cloves
1 T. whole allspice
1 T. ginger
2 T. cinnamon sticks (I used 1 inch size)

Place two orange slices in jar and fill with apple juice. Store jar in refrigerator until you are ready to use the spices.

Include a tag with the following info:

Empty contents of jar into a small saucepan. Bring to a light simmer and then turn to Low temperature for about 30 minutes. Repeat as desired to keep smell going. You can continue to use the spices for a couple of days or until all liquid evaporates.

I think you could keep adding liquid - but eventually, the spices will simply need to be tossed. Use your own discretion.

I ordered these spices online because I did not know of a local source to get bulk spices and buying them at the grocery store was cost prohibitive.