SPICING UP YOUR HOME AND DRINKS FOR THE HOLIDAYS : SPICED BEVERAGES.Byline: Nancy Byal Special to the Daily News The following are ways to fill your home with fragrance: Holiday Wine: In a saucepan, combine 3 cups red wine or apple cider, several cinnamon sticks, 2 or 3 (2-inch) strips of orange peel and 3 tablespoons sugar; heat until hot, but do not boil. Strain and serve in mugs garnished with strips of orange peel. Cinnamon Espresso Coffee: Add broken-up cinnamon sticks to whole beans or ground coffee. Pack into jars with tight-fitting lids. Tea Brulot: Wrap 6 cinnamon sticks and 1 teaspoon whole cloves in a double thickness of cheesecloth cheese·cloth n. A coarse, loosely woven cotton gauze, originally used for wrapping cheese. cheesecloth Noun a light, loosely woven cotton cloth Noun 1. and crush with a mallet. Combine with 2 cups tea leaves and 2 teaspoons each dried grated orange and lemon peels; pack into jars with tight-fitting lids. Fragrance Homey Spice Blend: Bring a pan of water to a boil. Reduce heat and add several cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, whole cloves and whole allspice allspice: see pimento. allspice Tropical evergreen tree (Pimenta dioica) of the myrtle family, native to the West Indies and Central America and valued for its berries, the source of a highly aromatic spice. . Keep it simmering gently. Potpourri: Put together a mixture of whole spices, dried herbs and flower petals to fill open baskets or jars. Pomander po·man·der n. 1. A mixture of aromatic substances enclosed in a bag or box as a protection against odor or infection, formerly worn on one's person but now usually placed in a dresser drawer or closet. 2. Balls: Use a metal skewer to make starter holes about 1/4 inch apart on oranges, lemons or limes limes plural limites (Latin; “path”) In ancient Rome, a strip of open land along which troops advanced into unfriendly territory. It came to mean a Roman military road, fortified with watchtowers and forts. . Insert a whole clove in each hole. Add a ribbon and hang in a closet. Testing spice freshness To check ground spices for freshness, use the sniff test. Take a quick whiff of the allspice, cardamom cardamom (kär`dəməm): see ginger. cardamom Spice consisting of whole or ground dried fruit, or seeds, of Elettaria cardamomum, a perennial herb of the ginger family. , cinnamon, cloves, coriander coriander (kōr'ēăn`dər), strong-smelling Old World annual herb (Coriandrum sativum) of the family Umbelliferae (parsley family), cultivated for its fruits. , ginger, mace and nutmeg. If you need to take a second sniff, it's a signal to replace the spice. The flavor alters as it weakens, so even doubling the spice amount won't give the desired result. |
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