To me, the worst part of cooking isn’t the clean-up (I have my wonderful husband to guilt into helping me with that)…it’s the fact that our apartment smells like whatever I made for hours – sometimes days – afterwards. This is especially problematic when it comes to smoky odors, like those that pour out of our ancient oven whenever we roast anything.
When people come over, I want my home to smell great. Not “fine”…amazing. This is tough when you cook as much as I do, but voila! In addition to the old standby, scented candles (which I’m constantly burning anyway), I have a few neat tricks up my sleeve to help eliminate the less-mouthwatering aftereffects of last night’s delicious dinner.
– Place a cinnamon stick in a pot of boiling water, or sprinkle powdered cinnamon on a foil-lined baking sheet and put it in the oven on low heat. (Cloves and rosemary also work.)
– Slice a lemon in half and place it in a pot of boiling water.
– Pour a small amount of vanilla into a foil-lined, oven-safe dish and put it in the stove on low heat. Go HERE to learn how to make homemade vanilla extract.
– “Smudge” your apartment with white sage.
– Place a small amount of dried lavender or sage in a frying pan on low heat and push it around until it releases a lovely scent (careful not to let it burn!).
– And my favorite way to eliminate unwanted odors? Just whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Any other ideas?
