I’m a big fan of making homemade stove simmers, also known as Stovetop Potpourri.
This recipe is basically just simmering a pot of natural ingredients to give your home an amazing scent! This is the recipe I use throughout the holidays. It takes about 30 minutes to start filling your home with the scent of “warm fuzzies”.
Thanksgiving Stove Simmer Ingredients:
- Orange slices and orange peels
- Lemon slices and lemon peels
- Fresh cranberries
- Cinnamon sticks (2-3)
- Whole cloves (1 tablespoon)
Put all of the ingredients in a pot and simmer until fragrant. Refill the water as needed, keeping the pot half full at all times.
You’re going love it. It’s my favorite way to make my home feel cozy during the autumn and winter holidays! xo. Elsie
PS. Looking for more ideas? Check out 3 Stove Simmers to Make Your Home Smell Like the Holidays
two days!
elsie
Hi Lovelle,
You can keep adding water to this mixture for two days. After that, the leftovers will be too “used” to re-use. You’ll want to throw them out.
With that said, if you buy the stuff to make this you’ll have extra cranberries, cloves and cinnamon sticks for other recipes- a cider or mulled wine would be amazing!
xo- elsie
Im very intrigued by this… but what I want to know is what do you do with all the leftovers after the scent is gone away? I bet a nice chicken dish soaked in this stuff would taste amazing, but I wonder has anyone else tried this? I want to make a chicken dish somewhat similar to this, but I dont want it to be too “perfumey”. Any suggestions on how I can turn this into a meal? Can I replace the water with a red wine maybe?
my mom made this every fall growing up & I make it for fall now with my family! love it!
nightingalejunelove.blogspot.com
How long does one pot usually last?
Thanks for the lovely tip! I made a simmer pot on Friday for a get together at my home and it really made the atmosphere cozy.
Hi Sam,
no it is not. You can totally omit the oranges if you like, though!
it mostly smells like cloves.
elsie
Is the orange super potent? I’m not a huge fan of orange, the smell tends to make me a little nauseas. Is there a substitute I can use?
This is SUCH a great idea!! I love it!
I think I’m gonna try, and it’s much healthier than candles and home fragrances.
Hi, any ideas for a summer simmer?
This sounds so wonderful! Can you reheat the simmer later?
I’ve used a similar recipe for years…without the cranberries, but WITH bay leaves.
I’m running to the store right now to get some cloves! No, I’m serious 🙂 Gorgeous ideas!
xoxo ~Shari
www.pinkblotmom.com
This is great, I’ve used only orange peels and cinnamon in the past but will definitely be trying out your version 🙂
xo
http://razzdazzle.blogspot.com/
I made something like this last year and it smelled so wonderful. I have a gas stove, so I decided that I’d use one of those little crockpot’s that came with my big crockpot. It simmers all day and I don’t have to run the gas on the stove. Of course, you have to watch the water levels to keep it hydrated!
I gave this for Christmas last year with small crockpots. Caught them on sale at Walmart for $5. They work beautifully and you don’t have to worry about the pan going dry on the stove.
Wow! I have never heard of s stove simmer – maybe this is something new to the UK, that I can introduce?! What a fantastic idea – I hate the artificial smell of many scented candles and this is such a simple idea – I’m going to give it a go.
http://asaucystitch.blogspot.co.uk/
Wonderful idea. You could also add a teabag at some point so that you could actually drink it too. Or wine, as someone else suggested.
ooh, I’ve done this, but have not tried cloves and cranberries. I want to try that, especially for the holidays. I sometimes add about one tsp of cinnamon and vanilla>