CHRISTMA MEMORIES

When Christmas comes around I remember the Christmas spent when I was a child - with Christmas Trees, Pine Cones, Lights, Sweets, Presents, Holy Miselto, Decorations, Home made Cakes and Milled Wines. But most of all I remember the Aromas of Christmas - Pine, Orange, Spices, Sandalwood, Cypress, Frankincense and Myrrh suffused the house with a warm, hospitable glow - we used to have "Chimney Fires" burning and woods was used.

I remember us as kids making Christmas logo for the fire - for that we would add one drop of essential oil of Sandalwood or Cedarwood to a log of wood (any old wood). Surprisingly one aromatic log of wood was enough per fire to give the ambience. The other highlight of Christmas was the cooking in which we all had a hand, we would sit around this huge wooden table in the kitchen making Christmas Cakes, Mince Pies and Chocolates and Puddings that contains spices. My mother used essential oil of Orange Lemon in the Mince Pie and no one could keep away from the kitchen. To release the aroma of the Christmas Cakes, Puddings she used a drop of Ginger essential oil.

Making Mulled Wines for Christmas was another speciality of my mother. I remember when we all used to come in after a walk or after shopping the most amazing and welcoming drink.

Here is the recipe that I would like to share with you all - Take a litre of Red Wine (not expensive) and put in a non metalic pan with 2 sticks of Cinnamon and 2-3 Cloves, 1 piece each of dried Orange,Ginger with 2 tablespoons of honey to which 2 drops each of Orange essential oil, Mandarin essential oil, has been added. Put the pan on the heat and stir. When the wine starts to bubble take off from the heat and serve.

Christmas is not complete without Christmas Candles. I love the aroma and warm glow of candle light. I remember we used to make Christmas Candles at home. We used powder tins as moulds and to amke them aromatic we used to put essential oils of Pine, Cinnamon, Gerenium and Orange. So now I make my candles aromatic by lighting the candle and when it melts I put out the flame and add a few drops of essential oil to the warm wax and re-light the candle. I also use Diffusers a lot.

The other thing I do is spray the Christmas Tree with pine essential oil - Take 250 ml. of water in a spray bottle and add 6 drops Pine essential oil in it.

To bring the aroma of Christmas at home I also spray the whole house with essential oils of Cinnamon, Clove and Pine. Take 250 ml. of water and add 6 drops each of Cinnamon, Clove and pine. This also keeps the colds and flue at bay because they are antiseptic and anti viral.

The Pine cones that we get in the market don't smell like Pine - So I put them in a large plastic bags with few cotton balls to which Pine essential oil is added. Tie up the bag and leave it over night. Mandrin, Orange and Gerenium essential oils put people in good mood. Cinnamon essential oil appaludes.