Orange Pomander

by Julia Parker, from the November 2006 Newsletter

As I write this, it is a beautiful sunny October day and the thought of November and Thanksgiving seem very far away. November is just the most Ohio of months. I’m sorry to make up new adjectives, but those of you who have visited my home state and the vast number of Ohioans here in Moscow know what I’m saying. Although I don’t look forward to the gray days of November, I do look forward to the end of the month and Thanksgiving. Preferring gluttony over greed, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

The project we’re going to do this month, an orange pomander, is a traditional holiday project and gift. I remember making one for my Great Aunt Doris, keeper of the turkey, when I was a kid. Last year we made a few and just kept them around the house to make it smell like yummy winter holidays. Pomanders are fragrant mixtures of spices and fruit. Historically, pomanders were fragrant spices kept inside a metal or ceramic ball. These were worn on a chain around the neck or waist to ward off bad smells and disease. The most common in the U.S. today, the orange pomander, is very simple and smells absolutely delicious for weeks. Though, I would not recommend wearing it and would not suggest it would ward off disease (but who knows). However, it is cheery and easy to make with kids of different ages!

To make your orange pomander, you will need:

• An orange
• ½ cup of whole cloves
• 24 inches of ribbon
• a poker (a nail, a skewer, a pencil, etcetera)
• a thimble (optional)

Directions:

• Wash your orange to remove any fruit wax
• Mark a line around your orange as if to cut it into quarters
• Poke holes about ¼ inch deep into the orange either randomly or in a pattern
• Do small sections at a time.
• Keep the holes close enough together so that the cloves will almost touch when inserted stem side down into the holes.
• Do not poke holes into the lines you made – this area is for the ribbon.
• If you have very young children, you can do the poking for them. Older children, of course, can design their own and make the holes themselves.
• Push cloves into the holes stem side down
• This leaves the sharper parts out so you may want to use a thimble to keep your fingers from getting sore.
• Any child old enough not to consume or stick cloves up their nose can push the cloves into the orange.
• Wrap the ribbon around the orange both ways, tie in a knot at the top then make a loop and tie a second knot if you’d like to hang your pomander, or a bow if you’re going to set it on the table.

Orange pomanders take time to dry so if you’re going to try to give one of these away for an upcoming holiday make it a couple of weeks earlier than the holiday itself. The orange will turn brown and kind of appear to be rotting – it is NOT rotting. The oil from the cloves spreads throughout the peel making it brownish orange. The entire orange will eventually dry and become very lightweight.

Enjoy your November and remember on gray days to focus on the warmth of friends and families and stuffing.

Julia Parker counts her blessings right here in the lovely state of Idaho.

Copyright: Copyright on articles and recipes are jointly held by the Moscow Food Co-op and the respective authors, except were otherwise noted.

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