Scent Stock
I don’t like baking cookies–all that monkeying with the sheets and trying to drop the same amount of dough so they cook to the same amount of brownness. I do like the holiday smells, though, so I put a pot of this on the stove.
Mulled spice
Eat an orange, throw the peel in the pot
Eat an apple, throw the core in
4 bay leaves
A teaspoon or two whole cloves
Half a cinnamon stick
Handful of cranberries if you’ve got them
Pinch of nutmeg or cardamom
Fill the pot half full of water, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Let it simmer as long as you want good smells; you can keep adding water.