Christmas Craft Tutorial ~ Clove Orange Pomanders

Picture from Vegan in the kitchen

Aroma is a very evocative thing.  For me the smell of cloves and orange means Christmas.  These pomanders have been made for hundreds of years and with luck they will dry and give scent to your celebrations for years to come.
You can make them fresh in the final run up to Christmas or you can make them now and dry them out in time for Christmas.  They'll look great piled in a bowl.
You will need
oranges, limes, lemons or kumquats.  (wash them in warm soapy water to remove the wax coating used to preserve their life in shops.)
Cloves (you can often buy large bags cheaply in Asian food shops)
(optional mixed spice)
Oris root powder (from craft shops, or On line HERE)
Paper bags
a bodkin or darning needle.

• Simply make holes into the skin of the orange using the needle and then push in the clove stem first.  You can do patterns, cover the whole orange or stud randomly.
• Cover the fruit in oris root powder and if using, mixed spice.
• Place in a paper bag and store in a warm dry place.  
• Check at intervals and if the fruit looks as thoggh it will go bad, place the fruit in the bag in a low heat oven for a couple of hours.  refresh the oris root powder and use a fresh bag before storing away again.  
• By Christmas the orange should be brown and hard and should be giving a lovely aroma.