Deck the halls





There are a few smells that remind you of Christmas, for me some of the most evocative are cloves and oranges. Cloves, on their own, smell to me like the dentist, yikes, but somehow become transformed into a delicious smell with cooking or when placed with oranges.

My boys and our friends made pomanders yesterday, they look beautiful and smell so Christmassy that I thought I should share it with you.


All that is needed is an orange each, large sort not clementine sort, a jar of cloves and some ribbon if you have some.

Tie the ribbon around the orange. Then, using a fork or skewer, make little holes in which ever pattern you choose, the emphasis is on little holes. Plug each hole with a clove, make sure every hole is filled because this stops the orange from going mouldy too quickly. A plate of these pretty oranges would make a lovely centre piece for your Christmas table or individually as mantlepiece decorations.