Fall Spice

One of the nice things about spice balls (Pomander) is the fragrance they emanate, especially near the fireplace or radiator.  And they’re so easy to make (although a little labor intensive).

Look for very round navel oranges in the supermarket. What gives these decorations great fragrance is the whole cloves you insert in them.  Whole cloves aren’t cheap. If possible find ones in good plastic packaging to avoid broken cloves. If you buy cheap ones, you may end up buying twice as much as you would need of the expensive kind.

Start by inserting the cloves into the orange. If you don’t like the smell of the orange on your hands, or the orange skin is too tough, use a large needle or nail to pierce the skin. You might want to section it off into quarters or eighths so you can do a section at a time – you can see real progress this way. This is a great watching TV task especially if you want to stay out of the refrigerator!

After the orange is filled, leave it in a dish on the counter or table for a few weeks. It will shrink in size, but not tremendously. You can keep these for years and they look great in fall arrangements or just on a dish on the coffee table. If you want to insert a chop stick into the orange for use in a floral arrangement, do it at this time so the orange can shrink around the stick.

I’ve never tried this with a lemon but it should work just as well. Limes have tough skin so only the very hardy should try them.