With the cold weather upon us, you may think that its time to be inside for the next few months.  But now is a great season to take a walk out with the kids, the dog, or just on your own.  Enjoy the colors and scents of autumn, and then bring them home with you.

Bring them home?

Yes.

A walk, even in your back yard at this time of year can bring you a treasure trove of natural beauty that you can use to make your own potpourri.  This ancient craft originated with the Pharaohs.  The French coined the word, potpourri or “rotted pot” for the scent of rotting rose petals used in moist potpourri, and the Victorians gave the practice significance with jars and bowls in just about every corner of good houses during that era.

So what exactly is potpourri?  It is a collection of herbs, spices, and visually appealing dried leaves and plants that help to gently scent a room and add a decorative flare to your home.

You can go out, even now, and pick pinecones, dried leaves, and herbs from your garden.  Even interesting twigs can look great in a shallow bowl of goodies.  If you are picking fresh leaves, lay them out on a horizontal screen in a protected spot on your deck, and let them dry naturally for a few days. You may also want to add some citrus peels like orange or lemon. When you have left these herbals out for a while, you can bring them inside.  Microwave on a medium setting those items that are still a little damp to make sure your ingredients are dry and bug-free.

Then blend together your dried items with a fixative like Orris Root or Oak Moss and strengthen your olfactory experience with a few drops of scented oils sprinkled into your recipe.  Fixatives can be bought on-line, or you can visit an herb shop, like Herbs & Arts on Colfax Avenue to get what you need.

On a recent trip to the Savory Spice Shop of Littleton, storekeepers Beth Harold and Brooke Franklin gave some tips for scenting you potpourri.

“We have several different kinds of cinnamon,” said Beth. “It is one of the more popular scents for the winter season.  Or you may want to add some mulling spices to your potpourri for interest.” These mulling spices include items like cloves, allspice, and cinnamon and are generally considered a bold scent to add to your bowl.

“Freshness counts,” said Brooke. “Each week we receive our spices whole from our warehouse, and grind them ourselves.” It is the grinding that releases the scents, but also begins the aging process that causes spices to lose their scent and flavors over time.

Beth also suggested adding a drop or two of essential oils to your mix.  The flavors are concentrated with alcohol and will boost your potpourri’s scents.

For a nice visual addition to your potpourri, you can use your own dried flowers, acorns, and leaves from your neighborhood, but you may also want to add the interesting look and scent of items Savory Spice Shop sells regularly: lavender leaves, rose buds, star anise, or lemon grass.

The fun part of making your own potpourri is that you can choose whatever scents, shapes and colors appeal to you.  There is no “wrong” combination, as long as you’re happy in the end.

One word of caution is that you will want to mix your ingredients gently, and expect some dried leaves to chip away with stirring.  Store your recipe for a couple of weeks to cure, then you can scent your own home or put some in pretty lidded jars for great holiday home-made gifts, right from your own back yard.

(Photo by Jessica)