Slice a few apples and layer then on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle them generously with cinnamon or some apple pie spice. Place them in the oven on low heat-250? to 300?- for about 30 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the scent drift through the house. You can leave them in the oven and later reheat them for more of that apple pie smell.
Take a large saucepan and put about 8 cups of water in it. Set it to boil and then add lemon slices, orange slices, lime, and any kind of citrus peel you have on hand. Dried peels work just as well. Toss in a cinnamon stick, some nutmeg, allspice, bay leaves, and juniper berries if you have them on hand.
Use your imagination and add anything that would give off a nice scent. Prowl around your herb garden and gather lavender, rosemary, rose petals, even some aromatic wood such as redwood. Toss in a vanilla bean, a bay leaf, and maybe some dried fruit.
Bring all of it to a boil and then turn down the heat, let it simmer and enjoy the wonderful smells that drift through the house.
Remember to try out your combinations before any guests arrive. Practice makes perfect and you don’t want an unpleasant smell greeting your guests.
