The Smells of Winter
There are certain scents that just embrace winter. That cold chill in the air , the comfort of warmth
When we think of cold one scent really comes to mind, Peppermint, cool and sweet. Candy canes in our stocking and on our tree. Speaking of trees, that’s another scent that will put your mind right in the middle of winter. Be it Pine, fir, juniper or cedar, these scents remind us of being out in the woods cutting the fresh Christmas tree or sitting in front of a crackling fire in the hearth.
As long as we are on the fire front, let's talk about those classic warming scents. Of course the first one is Cinnamon, Followed closely by clove and ginger. I remember Cinnamon stick ornaments on the tree and homemade ginger and cinnamon ornaments that gramma always warned us not to eat because they kept their smell for years so she gave us gingerbread cookies instead. We also made Pomanders (fresh oranges with cloves poked into the skin of the orange in pleasing patterns, and then it was rolled in powdered cinnamon. We also drenched apple slices in powdered cinnamon and dried them by the fire.
When I got older, I was introduced to Wassail. Warmed Spiced apple cider with or without brandy in it. Mulling Spices can be used to spice warm cider or warm red wine. They consist of any combination of Cinnamon, Cloves, allspice, nutmeg, star anise, cardamom, and usually orange peels, (typically real orange and lemon slices would float on top of the wassail in the crock pot.
Today you can enjoy all of these scents without all the fuss with the convenient little bottles of essential oils. Here are 2 blends that you can put into your diffuser, or humidifying bowl of water on the stove top. You could also make a room spray by adding it to a mixture of half water half vodka in a spray bottle, or refresh potpourri by adding a few drops of the oil.
Use any combination from its appropriate list
Cool and Crisp Warm and Spicy
Peppermint Cinnamon
Pine Clove
Cedarwood Ginger
Fir orange
Frankincense Vanilla
Rosemary
