Time for Pot Pourri

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23205, 26 November 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

Time for Pot Pourri

Stored Perfume for Christmas Gifts

By D.B.

Now that the gardens are full of rosen we should set to work to make pot, pourri. Little jars or packets of it make such pretty Christinas gifts too, which is a great help -when one has to think of a large number of friends to whom one would like to send something a little better than a Christmas card, and yet not too expensive. Pot pourri costs very little except patience;- for you siiuplv must be very particular indeed about the careful drying of the petals and leaves, or else

tliey will have a musty, mouldy smell instead of that delicious fragrance you expect. The Ingredients Ihe simplest pot ponrri is made from dried roso petals, ;lnvender, rosemary, i-rweet thyme and wallflowers, mixed with a little powdered orris root. Some tiny pieces of stick cinnamon are added, and a few drops of oil of cloves and eau-de-cologne sprinkled over. Another old-world ingredient of which few people know is the dried skin/of a tangerine orange broken up and mixed in. I suppose mandarin skin would do, for we Baeui to hear very little of tangpnnea nowadays. But it adds a very ■l' .

subtle and haunting fragrance to the pot' pourri. Lemon verbena is another very delightful leaf to include, but that scums to be getting rare too. The Making First, dry the petals. Pick the flowers when they arc just full out, and lay thsiii on trays to dry, turning them two or three times a day to allow the air to penetrate thoroughly. It is better not to put them in the sun, as their perfume is Weakened thereby. Wihen all the various petals are brittle and dry, which will not bo tor several days, add them to the "base," which you have already prepared. Foundation or "Base"

For this you mix together thoroughly lib. common salt, Jib. saltpetre and of borax. Then add a good handful of dried lavender flowers (the real English lavender is best) and a fe\<' cloves or a good teaspoon of ground cloves. Now take the dried petals of all kinds and add them to this foundation, mixing well and adding a small teaspoon of ground cinnamon and half a teaspoon of mixed spice as you are mixing. The powdered orris root may bo omitted if you are far from shops or want to be economical. Let it Mature Have a large glass jar ready, ami put in about an inch of the mixture; then, sprinkle with a little oil of cloves or verbena oil; then put-another inch of the mixture, then more oil, and so on. When the jar is fidl sprinkle well with lavender-water or eau-de-cologne, then close the lid and leave it to mature for a week or ten days before filling your gift-jars or bags. An Alternative Instead of the "base" given above, some people put alternate layers of rose leaves and rock-salt in a jar and let it stand for a fortnight. The top layer is always of salt. Stir it once a day with a wooden spoon, taking care to replace the top layer of salt. Then turn the mixture into :i bowl and mix all the spices and orris root with it, afterwards putting it to mature with the sprinklings of oil as already described. Another way is merely to mix the dried v petals and the spices together and put them into the gift-jars straight away, sprinkling with oil of. cloves and finishing with eau-de-cologne or lavender water as before. In this case just sprinkle a little salt at the bottom of the jar.