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Itโs finally the time I wait for all year long.
Thanksgiving week is hereย and that means the holiday craze is beginning! Yes!
Watch the How-To Here:
Christmas Potpourri from Half Baked Harvest on Vimeo.
Hereโs the thing, every yearย I always make these grand plans in my head to do all my favorite holiday things. Like all of them. Cut down the family tree, decorate the tree, make sugar cookies, decorate the house, make gingerbread houses from scratch, send out christmas cookies to everyone, find the best gifts, watch ALL the Christmas movies, go for a snowy sleigh ride, make hot cocoa with giant marshmallows and loads of whipped cream, go ice skating, make the most grand Christmas dinner โ with the table set all cute and festive. The idea is pretty much just to have the perfect Christmas season, which for me started with our big snowfall last week.
Here โs the reality though, I maybe do one or two of those things and then Christmas comes and goes and I am wickedย sad itโs over because I didnโt even get to cross off half the things on my list. It honestly happens ever year.
So this year, I am just accepting the fact that I will never get all those things done. Especially with how busy I am right now, itโs just not possible. Instead, I am bringing the Christmas fun to the blog and making my work not work like at all. Gotta love that. I have decided that there are just way too many things I want to tell you guys all about this December, so now the weekends will be filled with Christmas cheer.
So exciting right!?!? Ok well exciting for me any way.
Today I am kicking things off with some crazy easy, holidayย potpourri that simmers on the stove all day long. Donโt think I am all old and lame trying to tell you guys to make some homemade potpourri, I promise you will love this. Just trying to make the house smell like Christmas โ like home. If youโre a candle person, youโll love thisย potpourri.
The best part is, you can really use whatever you have on hand. The must-haves in my opinion are cinnamon, citrus, ginger and vanilla. Nothing makes it feel more like the holidays than those smells. So good.
I have seen the idea of potpourri that simmers on the stove all over the place lately and I am so glad I finally tried it, and especially that I tried it on a cold, snowy weekend. I just let this simmer all day long, adding more water as needed, and every person that walked through the house said โwow, it smells so good in here, like Christmas.โ. Trust me, if you are having guests over this is the perfect thing to have simmering away on the stove. So try it at Thanksgiving. Itโs a great easy fix that makes people feel warm, cozy and welcomed!
Jeez, I am so cheesy. Itโs the holidays, theyย do that too me.
Homemade Holidays: Letโs Make the House Smell Like Christmas.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
- 3 tangerines, halved
- 3 whole cinnamon sticks
- 2 star anise gives a strong black licorice smell., optional
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean + 1 vanilla extract
- 1 small branch fresh pine
- 1 cup apple cider, pomegranate or cranberry juice
- water
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a medium size sauce pot. Fill the pot with water until it reaches 3/4 the way full. Place the pot on the stove and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, adding more water as needed. I let mine simmer for close to 4 hours and then let it cool over night and simmer again the next day. Just be sure to keep adding more water.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Simmering.
Any tips on what to replace the fresh cranberries with? We canโt get them here in Australia.
TIA!
Hi Marilla,
Are you able to get frozen cranberries? Those would work for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
And why would it have 580 calories?? ๐
Hey Lisa,
Lol, the calculator is something we have to have and is controlled by Google, Google does not recognize that this is not food:) xx
Why use a tangerine over an orange? Iโm assuming that you smell similar but just curious why you prefer a tangerine for this recipe. Thank you so much!
Hey Annie,
Either one would be just fine for you to use:) I hope you love this! Let me know if you give it a try! xx
Love the comment about wanting to do it all for Christmas but having to scale it back because of the other (very good) things of life ๐ Thanks Tieghan!
How many times can this be simmered and still have the wonderful smell
Hi Josette,
I would recommend just once:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
But the instructions say to save it for the next day to simmer again? Is that wrong?
Hey Beth,
Sorry for any confusion. You can simmer it twice, that is perfectly okay!
I saw the calories listed and wondered if you omitted the pine, could you drink it?
Sure, I don’t see why not!
Hi, can I use this in a crockpot?
Hey Yvette,
Sure, this would work in the crockpot! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
What do you do with it after youโve simmered it a couple of times? Can you use it for anything?
Hi Sarah,
Nope, it’s not meant for anything other than making your home smell good:) xx
This sounds lovely and Iโll give the leftover mixture to the chickens. They will love it!
Perfect!!
Why are you using fresh pine sprigs?
How do you get the pine sap out of the pot? Very sticky stuff.
Do you think you could freeze and save it for a later date to use again?
Hey Margaret,
So sorry, I have never tried this so I honestly don’t know if that would work, but maybe! xTieghan
How many days do you re-use for? Just 2 or will it last longer? Thanks and so excited!
Hi Bri,
I would say just 2 days. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Thanks for telling me to do this. I burned my house down
How did you manage to burn your house down with a pot of boiling water? ๐ณ What did you do, light the pine twigs on fire first? I’m genuinely curious. I’ve used this recipe and similar ones for years every Christmas. I’ve never seen anything catch on fire.
Wonderful site,thank you
Thanks so much Debra! xTieghan
Trying this now. I scrolled through the comments but didnโt find an answer to my questionโcould you please clarify the amount of vanilla extract?
Hey Holly,
You can use 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract. Hope you love the recipe! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Love this! How many days can you use this for?
Hey Carina,
This will last for 1 day. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions. Happy Holidays! xTieghan