Every year when I was growing up, there would be one Saturday in late November or early December when my mom would pull out a bowl of oranges and jar of whole cloves and announce that it was time to make pomander balls. The pungent smell of orange zest paired with clove is one the aromas that makes me instantly think of childhood, Christmas and baking.
Yesterday afternoon, I stopped by a local produce stand with no particular shopping list, just a desire to refill my fruit bowl and get something green. I bought a pound of brussels sprouts, two sweet potatoes and a bag of oranges because they looked so fresh and good. Wandering around my apartment this morning, trying to avoid starting in on the tenth revision of my thesis the thought struck me that an excellent way to avoid school work for just a little longer would be to make a pomander ball.
Grabbing my jar of whole cloves, a bowl and the most spherical orange, I set to work. There was something deeply satisfying about inserting the cloves into the orange and being greeted with that smell that takes me back to childhood. I always create a pattern with the cloves, working until it looks like a series of longitude lines around the orange, but you can do it any way you like. The trick I'd like to share is to make sure you poke the clove holes with a toothpick or skewer first instead of using brute force to muscle the blunt end of the clove into the fruit. It makes it a whole lot easier and much kinder on the fingers.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-29-2007 @ 4:27PM
paulie said...
do you just leave it then? sounds interesting and i have both in the house...
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11-29-2007 @ 4:41PM
slackferno said...
Cloven fruit has a whole different meaning to a certain segment of society...
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11-30-2007 @ 8:16AM
JPN said...
Yeah, I've never heard of this either and I wondering what you do after you attach the cloves, apparently in the fashion in the picture. I should Google it....
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11-30-2007 @ 9:17AM
Baron said...
You just leave it sitting out after you put in the cloves. It creates a wonderful smell. My grandmother used to do this when I was young and, as the author said, it brings back some great memories. The more cloves you have, the stronger the smell. I haven't used a toothpick to make the holes first, but it might be worth trying, just to get more of the fruit hitting the clove.
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12-01-2007 @ 2:28AM
Bri said...
I should try these out. I think it would be fun to take a day and make these and gingerbread men. Oh the aromas would be divine. It's on my list of holiday festivities now. www.figswithbri.com
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12-03-2007 @ 1:22PM
Kim said...
I've done this before; the book about how to decorate with natural materials that I have suggests using a fork to make the holes - 4 for the price of 1 :-)
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12-03-2007 @ 1:24PM
Marisa McClellan said...
Kim, using the fork is brilliant! I can't believe that didn't occur to me (although since I only recently started using a skewer to punch the holes instead of just shoving the cloves in there with brute force, I'm not actually all that surprised that I didn't think of it).
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