Use citrus when decorating for a fresh complement to pine
My grandmother’s youth was spent in Scotland, far away from available citrus fruit in her day. When citrus was available, it was very costly and certainly out of reach to the common folk, such was my grandmother. Each year at Christmas my grandmother received an orange in her stocking. It was a delicious treat. It’s easy to take the availability of our food for granted. It wasn’t so long ago we could only enjoy one orange a year.My grandmother continued this tradition when she raised her own family in the United States. Even though oranges are readily available year round, there is something special about the Christmas orange we all receive.
There’s something nice about including citrus in your holiday decorating. The smell of oranges, lemons and tangerines compliments the traditional smells of pine and spruce common in our homes this time of year. Spices like cinnamon and clove will give your home a sense of warmth and comfort.
You can make a number of holiday décor using fruits like Clementine’s, tangerines, lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruit.
Citrus decorations can be composted and create no waste when the season is over.
Citrus Slices
What you’ll need:
Lemons
Limes
Grapefruit
Oranges
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
Using a serrated knife, trim off and discard the ends from each lemon, lime, grapefruit and orange. Cut each piece of fruit crosswise into slices, making each as thin as possible; discard any seeds as you go.
Arrange sliced fruit on prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1/2 inch apart. Bake, rotating baking sheets and flipping fruit about every 30 minutes, until just dried out, 2 to 3 hours. (Since the thickness of the slices may vary along with the sugar content in each fruit, remove any dried slices as they finish, returning the sheet tray to the oven to let others finish baking.)
You can dry fruit in an electric dehydrator if you like. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
Pierce with thin ornaments hooks or paper clips for hanging.
Pomanders were once used to sweeten the air and even mask the smell of unpleasantness that was once common. The world used to be a smellier place than it is now. Citrus pomanders do smell nice and they look pretty as well.
Citrus pomanders
What you’ll need:
Clean, dry and undamaged citrus fruit, such as lemons, oranges or limes
Fine knitting needle or kitchen/barbecue skewer or a 2-inch nail
Whole cloves
Dried spices such as ground cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg or coriander
Ground orris root (can be found at health food stores and specialty herb shops)
Plastic bags that zip
To make a pomander, first decide upon a design. Before you stud the fruit with cloves poke a hole with a skewer, nail or knitting needle. Make the holes approximately 1/4 inch apart. (Leaving too little space between cloves may result in broken fruit skin and your pomander may fall apart.) Insert cloves. The more cloves in your pattern the better the chances of it drying properly and not developing mold.
You can strengthen the scent of your pomander by mixing about 1 tablespoon of ground spices per fruit with 1/2 teaspoon of ground orris root in the plastic bags. Add the pierced and decorated fruit, seal bag and shake. The orris root helps speed drying and enhances the staying-power of the fragrance. Hang your pomanders with ribbon or raffia. You can place a few pomanders together in a bowl or basket for a nice centerpiece or addition to a sideboard. The smell of citrus and spice will fill the room.