I have been thinking of a fun winter shoot to do, as I haven’t shot by myself without a stylist for a while, and a simmer kept popping up while looking for ideas. In the past years I have done a lot of winter cookies and I wanted to do something a little different. It is an easy and beautiful way to make your house smell all Christmassy. There are plenty of varieties you can make too. All you need to do is fill a pot 3/4 full, add in the ingredients you want and bring it to a boil for a few minutes. Once this is done turn the temperature down to low and you can simmer all day long. You can even reuse it the next day if you would like. Add more water as needed so the ingredients do not burn. The ingredients I used are listed below and of course of the ingredients are optional, and you can vary to your liking. It smells amazing!
- Spruce (can add pine, fir, evergreen or rosemary)
- 1 tablespoon cloves
- several lemon slices (I used preserved lemons)
- 4 halved mandarin oranges
- 1 1/2 cups cranberries
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 1 piece sliced ginger
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- (optional juice, cranberry, pomegranate, apple cider)
In other news, I am heading down to Phoenix next week to meet the newest addition to my family. My nephew!! Eek. I am so excited. I also am excited as it is going to be my first time in Phoenix during winter. I am looking forward to doing some winter/Christmas activities with my brother & his wife and kids for the first time. I have mentioned before, but I love Christmas! My second favorite holiday after Halloween. The older I get the more I enjoy it. I love going to look at lights, which I will do tonight. I love to spend time with family over the holidays. I love watching Christmas movies of which I have seen Gremlins and Die Hard already. I used to really hate Christmas, but now I have learned to celebrate it in my own way. 😉 Maybe tonight I will watch the new Very Murray Christmas special. Haha