Home-made Christmas Potpourri For Making A Festive Simmer Pot
- Dec 21, 2023
- 2 min read
We all have a friend or family member we have forgotten to buy something for, or realise at the eleventh hour that we've spent more on the brother than the sister and it's blatantly obvious so need to quickly come up with a last minute gift before the hawk-eye sister notices! As most people have the below ingredients in their kitchens anyway (or at least a variation of) this time of year, a quick and simple home-made Christmas Potpourri that can be turned into a festive simmer pot, makes the perfect last minute gift and provides your house with a lovely warming Christmassy smell while cooking. Win win!
Things you will need to make my home-made Christmas Potpourri for a Festive simmer pot::
2 large oranges, cut into reasonably thin slices
2 large lemons, cut into reasonably thin slices
2 large apples, cut into reasonably thin slices
A large bag or container of fresh cranberries
A small container of blackberries
A dozen cinnamon sticks
A bottle of ground cinnamon
A bottle of Star Anise
A handful of cloves
Half a dozen sprigs of fresh rosemary
Equipment:
Ribbon and gift cards/tags
Access to an oven and oven trays
Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 60°c.
2. Once all the citrus fruit and apple is sliced up (note, they do not need to be peeled or cored as they are not being eaten), lay it out on the oven trays along with the cranberries and blackberries and sprinkle with ground cinnamon. Place in the oven for about 45 minutes leaving the oven door open slightly to allow the air to circulate. Note: After around 45 minutes the fruit should be dried. chewy and flexible, not crisp and /or easily broken. Check after 30 minutes initially and then check every 5 minutes after that. If the fruit starts to feel too hard and crisp, remove from the oven and set aside.
3. Once the fruit is dried and flexible, remove from the oven. Set aside to cool for a good hour or so.
4. Divide the dried fruit between the Mason jars and add 3 cinnamon sticks to each, 1.5 teaspoons or cloves, 3 Star Anise and 1 sprig of rosemary to each. Click on the instructions below to download them and print them off on a small piece of paper and either pop this inside the jar or if printing on card, attach alongside the tag on the outside. If you have a label maker and can print these off as a label to attach to the jar, this looks even better. Once they are downloaded, you can alter the size of the instruction card too,
5. Seal the jar. Cut the ribbons, leaving enough length to tie a bow around the top of the jar. Write out the gift tags with who it’s to, Merry Christmas and from. Your gift is now ready to give.
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