Solstice Simmer Pots & a Gift Idea

One of the easiest things to do around the winter holidays is to make a simmer pot. A simmer pot is basically a homemade air freshener made by simmering fragrant pieces of fruits, herbs, and other spices in water. You throw some nice smelling things into a pot and let it just simmer on the stove all day. It makes the house smell amazing and cozy and like the holidays. There are three other important facets to this tradition beyond the lovely scent for me:

1) I use up discarded things like orange peels and fallen evergreen branches. It kills me when I see recipes that tell you to cut up 3 fresh oranges or apples. There is no reason. Eat the food. Lots of people don’t have enough food and I don’t want to be wasting it. The good news is that The parts of fruit that you don’t eat are perfect for simmer pots. All of the scent is in the citrus peel anyway! An apple core smells just as good as apple slices! If your kids are like mine they often mangle orange slices more than eat them… just dump the sad pile of remains right into the simmer pot. You can also save fruit discards in the freezer, or in the case of peels let them dry and just use them as you need them. All those pesky needles that fall of your tree are also perfect! The woody stems of thyme and rosemary sprigs, ginger that’s past it’s prime, it’s all great for simmer pots! Waste not want not.

2) In addition to smelling nice and adding moisture to the air (I live in an old house with radiators and the moisture is very welcome) many herbs and spices actually fight germs and bacteria and cleanse the air in their aerosolized form. Read some fascinating studies about it here, here and here. From one of the studies: “The EO of thyme, clove and cinnamon bark may provide promising antibacterial activity against respiratory tract pathogens either in liquid medium or in vapor phase.” We can all use any help we can get this time of year fighting colds, flu and worse. (Not to suggest that this is n place of medicine, just another helpful option.)

3) Intention. I know, I know, I keep saying things like just dump it in… but one of my favorite parts of a simmer pot is acting with intention. The holidays always feel chaotic and any little thing I can do to slow down and be intentional is appreciated. I have been collecting information over the years about what each simmer pot ingredient symbolizes. We like to choose ingredients with intention and a nod to what we need that day. We also like to write wishes and intentions on bay leaves and add them to the pot. The whole family adds their bay leaves as they see fit- everything from “health and happiness” to “i don’t want to get another cavity.” Bay leaves have been used to cast wishes since ancient times. Daphnomancy was the ancient Greek art of telling fortunes with bay leaves. Daphno is thought to be a tribute to Daphne, an ancient Greek nymph turned into the first laurel tree by Apollo and manteia means divination.

Herbs & Spices for the Simmer Pot

• Bay: protection and the consecration of wishes
• Oranges: joy
• Apples: protection
• Cinnamon: comfort
• Cloves: drive away negativity and attract positivity
• Thyme: prosperity
• Allspice: wealth, success
• Cedar: expels negativity
• Sage: wisdom, health
• Rosemary: remembrance, mental clarity
• Ginger: abundance
• Star Anise: magic
• Chamomile: good luck, prosperity, and relaxation
• Lavender: peace
• Evergreens: symbols of life and yule

Simmer Pot Gifts

Last year, I found myself needing 30+ teacher gifts for my kids teachers (In addition to the 50+ that I usually make for the teachers that work for me.) I needed something that was inexpensive, easy to make and meaningful. These fit teh bill perfectly and I ended up making extras for some friends and family. The bay leaf wishes in the ones the kids made for their teachers were particularly special- they each wrote them themselves in their scrawly kid handwriting and they customized them for each teacher in a sweet and hysterical way. (The gym teacher’s said “everyone brings the right shoes” etc.) I hadn’t told them to do that because I was very much in assembly line mode and it was a reminder to me to slow down and appreciate the season.

Materials:

• a bag of oranges
• cinnamon sticks (I like to buy them in bulk the same bag has lasted me years)
• cloves
• dried thyme
• pieces of fallen evergreen branches
• bay leaves (I like to buy them in bulk the same bag has lasted me years)
• any other herbs or spices you might want to add
• mason jars
• permanent marker
• baker’s twine or ribbon
• labels explaining what a simmer pot is

Method:

Cut the oranges into thin slices and dehydrate them thoroughly. I used many orange slices from discarded lunches for this. You could also just use peels.

Place a few oranges and and the herbs and spices into your jar.

Write your wishes on bay leaves with marker and tuck them in.

Cap your jars, decorate with twine or ribbon and add labels explaining how to use the simmer pot jars.

Printable Gift Labels

Right click on the images below to save and use for your simmer pot gifts! They are single images, so you’ll want to choose the “tile” or “print multiple images on one page” option in your print menu.