Slashfood.com recently posted an article about making pomander balls. I decided this would be a fun activity to get into the holiday spirit. Basically, you take an orange and poke it with whole cloves. Some of the comments on the Slashfood article suggested using toothpicks or forks to poke small whole to push the cloves in to, and I found using a toothpick worked the best.
The options for poking designs into the orange are endless, but I stuck to a pretty basic pattern of lines. It was a bit difficult to push the cloves without breaking them, but it smells fabulous, which really is the whole point of the project. The smell of spice with fresh citrus is wonderful for this time of year. I saw a suggestion of using lemons or limes, but I’m not sure how that would smell with the cloves. Obviously, the more cloves you poke into the fruit, the stronger the smell will be. You can attach a ribbon and hang for decoration if desired, or just sit pretty in a bowl.
Look for whole cloves at gourmet markets or specialty stores to get a bargain.
Here is my attempt:
