I love when my house smells like fall. I do not love anything that requires 12 ingredients, a specialty grocery run, or an afternoon devoted to making that happen.
What is the easiest possible way to do this?
The shortcut: freezer simmer-pot bags
Instead of slicing fruit and digging through the spice cabinet every time, prep several bags at once. Slice, bag, freeze, then dump one into a pot with water whenever you want the house to smell cozy.
It takes about 5 minutes to prep a batch. That is my kind of home system: a few minutes now, almost no thinking later.
My easiest fall simmer pot
- 1 orange, sliced
- 1 apple, sliced
- 2–3 cinnamon sticks
- A few whole cloves
- Water when you’re ready to simmer
Put the fruit and spices in a freezer bag and freeze. When you want to use it, put the contents in a saucepan, add plenty of water, bring it to a gentle simmer, then reduce the heat. Keep an eye on the water level and add more as it evaporates. Never leave a simmering stovetop unattended.
Hack #1: Stop buying ingredients just for simmer pots
Your simmer pot does not care whether your orange is Instagram-worthy. Save usable orange and lemon peels, apple peels, slightly sad apples, leftover rosemary, citrus that needs to be used, and spices you already own. Keep a freezer bag for scraps and you are basically building a future simmer pot without doing extra work.
Hack #2: Prep several bags at once
If I’m already slicing one orange, I might as well slice three. Divide the fruit and spices among a few freezer bags and freeze them. Next time: freezer → pot → water → done.
Hack #3: Use your slow cooker
If you do not want to occupy the stovetop, use a slow cooker instead. This is especially useful around Thanksgiving and Christmas when every burner suddenly becomes valuable real estate. Add your ingredients and water and let the fragrance do the work.
Hack #4: Don’t measure everything
This is home fragrance, not soufflé. Want it warmer? Add cinnamon or cloves. Want it fresher? Add citrus. Have rosemary or cranberries left over? Throw them in. You are allowed to wing this.
Three combinations worth saving
Cozy Fall
Apple + orange + cinnamon + cloves
Fresh & Calm
Lemon + rosemary + vanilla
Christmas Cheer
Orange + cranberries + cinnamon + cloves + rosemary
The five-minute version
- Check the refrigerator for citrus, apples or herbs that need to be used.
- Slice them.
- Make 2–3 freezer bags.
- Add spices.
- Freeze.
Then whenever you want the house to feel cozy, dump one into a pot and add water. Five minutes of prep, cozy-house payoff whenever you want it.
And if my house smells like I’ve been baking apple pie all afternoon? I’m not correcting anyone.
What do you put in your simmer pot? If you have a ridiculously easy combination, leave it in the comments. I’m always looking for shortcuts.
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