Autumn Simmer Pots
Cozy Simmer Pot Ingredients I'm a little obsessed with simmer pots currently. They're such an easy way to fill your home with the coziest vibe and the aroma of the holidays. Put on your favorite mood music, light a candle, put a little pot on the stove to simmer, and I guarantee you won't want to leave the house.
You likely have the basics on hand this time of year- oranges, cinnamon, cranberries, and cloves- these are all you need for the most basic simmer pot. I happen to have rosemary in my garden so I added that, but you could cut some small pine sprigs as well. Whole allspice berries add warm notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and a little pepper. Star Anise is my favorite fancy addition, with its warm, sweet, licorice scent and beautiful, star-shaped pods. You could add sliced apples and freshly grated nutmeg for an apple pie-heavy scent. Add ingredients to a small pot with about 3 cups of water. Simmer on low, adding water as needed. Never leave unattended or let the pot boil dry.
A Simmer Pot Bar I recently hosted a Fall gathering in our backyard and had fresh oranges, cranberries, cloves, cinnamon sticks and rosemary set out with small jars for each guest to assemble their own fresh simmer pot to take home. I love having a small gift to send with my guests that doesn't break the bank and brings a little joy. These were perfect!
Easy Simmer Pot Gifts I also put together simmer pot pouches as gifts for staff appreciation, using dried ingredients. You can make your own dried oranges, but I purchased mine through Amazon, which is a perfect solution for those of us with more heart than time. Each pouch I put together contained sliced oranges, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, star anise, dried cranberries, and dried rosemary. Start with these ingredients and adjust the combinations to find your favorite scent. I put a sticker on the back with ingredients and directions and they turned out so sweet. These would make darling gifts for a party, teachers, a book club...
You know the homemade-gift joke: “Why buy it when I can spend ninety-three dollars making it myself?” Thankfully, these little pouches didn’t turn into that kind of project! Mine cost $2.11 each, not including the stickers I already had on hand. Add a little ribbon or twine for a festive touch, or tuck one into a basket of goodies.
Making Labels: Here's how to personalize your labels in Canva. Go to the link and edit the title or heading for the label, the list of ingredients, and the simmering instructions. My labels are sized for Avery Name Badges that are 2 1/3" x 3 3/8" and come 8 labels to a sheet in Avery template #5395. Once you have your label personalized, save it as a .png and head to the Avery Website. Click on the red "start designing" button and choose the blank label. The label template will appear the left side of the page you'll see design options. You want to choose "image" and then "add image" and then you'll be able to upload your saved .png file to the template. Follow the directions from there and you can even save your projects when you create an account. I promise, the process is easy.
Happy making and giving!