EASY TO MAKE WINTER/CHRISTMAS SIMMER POT USING NATURAL THINGS TO MAKE YOUR HOME SMELL AMAZING! CAN BE DONE ON THE STOVE TOP OR WITH A SLOW COOKER.
All the smells of a winter home piled into a vintage cast iron pan simmering on the stove is just what I need on a chilly December’s day. I know for me I seem to enjoy the spicy smells of cinnamon and the earthy smell of pine during the long winter months. They just comfort me as I’m wrapped in a warm blanket enjoying a good book on those days when it gets dark so early.
I decided to put together a simmer pot that remind me of a crisp winters day by a roaring fire. Hubby has a small fireplace in his man cave that he keeps toasty warm starting in November untill spring rolls around again. I’ve asked him to put a fireplace on the main level of our cabin but it’s so much work and so costly that he’s been avoiding it for now. I was against a fireplace when we built so it’s my own fault for not getting one when I could have.
Here’s the recipe I use.
- My base is always apple cider (fill pan or slow cooker 3/4 full with liquid)
- Pine clippings
- Cranberries
- Orange slices
- Grapefruit wedges
- Cinnamon sticks
- Cloves
Add it all to a pan and simmer on low on the stovetop or place in a slow cooker on low with the lid off. I use mine for several days in a row. When the liquid starts to cook off I just add water to bring it back up to full. Once it’s past it’s prime I toss it all into the compost bin.
We have had a few fireplaces in our different homes over the years. Our Maryland house had a wood burning fireplace that heated up the rooms nicely, but the smell of it used to burn my eyes and throat, and the wood logs made a huge mess in the house no matter what we did. Then our house in Arizona, a gas fireplace, was pretty much for looks and we never ever used it simply because Arizona was way too warm. Our first home in Virginia had a gas fireplace that again…. we never used it, but our current home has a gas fireplace and is used a LOT. We turn it on every morning when we rise to take the chill off the house. We love it! I will have to try your simmer pot and get some good fragrance going in the house! It sounds and looks wonderful, Dawn. Thanks for sharing the recipe. xox
Diane, the reason I opted out of a fireplace in this home was the mess….when I lived at home we had a wood burner and I’d constantly have poison ivy from hauling in wood, not good either. Maybe I need to rethink this brilliant idea of a fireplace, LOL.
Sounds like a really nice combination and it looks pretty, too. We have a Jotul wood stove and we just love it. I fill a pan with water which I keep on top to add moisture to the air – I’m going to add some cranberries, a cinnamon stick and whole cloves that I already have on hand to it today.
Jen we had a cabin up north with a stove like that and I loved it. We’d put a pot of stew on top, go out and ice fish or snowmobile, and when we got home it was done. Great memories. Your simmer pot sounds wonderful, I bet the place with have a heavenly aroma.
Love the smell of winter and your simmering recipe is perfect. Yes, a fireplace where I live is not really something we would use, swimming pool, yes! We are not getting the rain we need, El Nina is making her presence. Kathleen in Az
Kathleen, we had a pool at our guest house for years, it was just something I had to keep clean and maintain so we did away with it. My kids would rather swim in our pond and I didn’t have to clean that, lol. We had rain that switched to snow and now we’re back int eh 50’s again. I’m ready for winter here in the mitten state.