Happy January! I awoke this morning to . . . wait for it . . . a dusting of snow! The first of the year. It was enough to turn the ground white and slushy, really just an inch but it pleased me immensely. I didn't even mind the feeling of freezing water seeping into my sneakers (foolish I know) as I rushed about running errands this morning.
Yesterday I forgot to post the rules for the Joy In January blog project. My apologies. I was supposed to let you all know that the three winners would be drawn and posted on January 19th. Each comment was to include a name or nickname and an email address. Oh well, no harm done. Please check back on Thursday when I'll post the winners using your comment name. Make sense? Winners will be chosen at random from the comments posted for that days giveaway. So if you only leave a comment on the first day you'll only be eligible to win that days prize. Whew, glad we got that out of the way.
I've decided to make up a pot of chili or spicy Asian mushroom soup today to help warm up. Spices such as cayenne and ginger are fantastic antioxidants and are even shown to increase metabolism, just what we need when it's cold outside! Something warm and hearty with a kick. Keeping with this idea of spice today we will give away a 6 ml. atomizer of Ginger Lily edp.
Ginger Lily is a unisex perfume, a fresh clean oriental blend with spiced ginger lily, allspice, clove, ylang ylang, rose, black pepper, amber and vetiver. It's one of my personal favorites and has garnered many loyal fans over the years. I find it's scent clean and uplifting. Would you like to try it? If so, please leave a comment with your favorite spice. This spice could be your favorite to cook with, to wear in a perfume, to eat, to sniff, to uplift. Whatever you please. To start the ball rolling, one of my favorite spices is cardamom. I love cardamom! I add it to steel cut oatmeal and once made a killer cardamom scented whipped cream! I'm guessing the increase in metabolism from the spice will not offset the fact I'm eating whipped cream :(
How about you? What spice do you adore? Please visit these perfumer's blogs for more uplifting scents and giveaways:
Hemla L. said…
ooh I LOVE cardamom.
my favorite spice: I will share a ‘recipe’ with you :)
we heat the house using a wood stove, it is recommended to place a dish of water on the stove, to help humidify the air.
i put a dish of water, and in that dish i put (aside from the water) peices of fresh ginger, cinnamon, allspice (you can also put a small ammount of clove, cardamon, any warm, sweet spice) and i leave it cooking there all the time.
when i leave the house i take a thermos of it with me, it makes you so warm after drinking. besides the fac that it’s a warm drink, it’s warming herbs. get;s your blood flowing to all the peripherials.
I love spices.
Posted at 12:33 PM on January 17, 2012
Sandi Lundberg said…
Yeah, you finally got a dusting! Your idea’s for today’s meal sound very good, the will add a little something extra to the aroma in the house on a perfect day. I go through stages of different spices that comfort me. Right now it is anything cinnamon. In fact I was totally thinking of baking snickerdoodles today :)
Posted at 12:49 PM on January 17, 2012
Holly F. said…
Cinnamon, ginger and cardamom are three of my favorites, not necessarily all together. My mother sings the praises of adding cinnamon to everything when I’m sick, and I don’t mind if I do because it is particularly tasty. Cardamom scented whipped cream sounds absolutely killer, and now I want some. I would also LOVE to try Ginger Lily. Thanks so much for the opportunity!
Posted at 12:51 PM on January 17, 2012
felicia said…
I love cinnamon for how it smells and I like it mixed with sugar. Ive heard it is impossible to eat it by the dry spoonful. Personally, I’d never try or reccomend anyone to try that:)
I would try whipped cream flavored with anything! Can’t say the same for clotted creme though.
Ginger and Lilly sounds very refreshing and like it would pair very well. i love ginger for the scent and the taste. Lilly, is so peaceful and graceful physically and scentually.
Thanks for your generous draw:)
Posted at 01:24 PM on January 17, 2012
hotlanta linda said…
I love garlic for healing/prevention, and cinnamon for fighting allergy/congestion in the sinuses – besides cooking w/ them!! :-)
Posted at 01:43 PM on January 17, 2012
nekosan said…
Argh, i posted in the wrong place. #headdesk# let me try again:
My favorite spice is also cardomum! Now i feel like I’m copying you. I also love ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon – and the “chinese five spice” blend (I think the bottle we have includes star anise, cloves, ginger, cinnamon).
Posted at 01:55 PM on January 17, 2012
cheesegan said…
I adore cinnamon in cooking, but not as a scent. As a scent spices I like are bay, coriander, pepper, and clove. Thanks for participating in the draw. Enjoy your snow.
Posted at 02:15 PM on January 17, 2012
Johngreenink said…
The mention of spices made me think a lot about scent and SAD and getting through January. Black pepper, in particular, is one of those spices that never ceases to amaze me. Whether it is in soup or perfume, it’s equally beguiling to me.
I took a trip to Istanbul back in 2006, and one of the best souvenirs I brought back with me was a Turkish coffee grinder. It grinds coffee beans to the most delicate powder you can imagine, and it dawned on me that it would be perfect for pepper. It’s been with me ever since, and the warmth of the pepper corns that come out of that grinder is like nothing else – it’s heavenly!
You’ve inspired me to make some soup tonight… something spicy to chase away any possible blues.
Posted at 03:33 PM on January 17, 2012
Lindaloo said…
Yesterday was our first real snow day, and you’re right it was chili for dinner. As for a favourite spice, that’s a bit like asking a mother to pick her favourite child. Cinnamon certainly gets a lot of day-to day work, and I love ginger in all forms, but I still can’t get out of my mind from two days ago the dark chocolate bar with coffee and cardamom. Must get more! I’m just going to believe the benefits of the cardamon, and the anti-oxidants in the coffee and dark chocolate neutralize the calories in a 100 gram/3oz bar.
Ginger Lily sounds very appealing.
Posted at 03:45 PM on January 17, 2012
Olga said…
Oh God! Ginger Lily! What if I am the lucky one?? I was just thinking about lilies, they were on my mind. Actually, lilies are often on my mind as it is one of my favorite notes in perfumery. And I do love spices too, ginger and cardamom especially. I would love to be a lucky winner and take away my blues with what sounds like an incredibly creative and joyful composition.
Posted at 04:43 PM on January 17, 2012
Felicia said…
Mine is nutmeg, I love how it’s warm and sweet, yet woody as well. Also, smoked chilies, tho they are hard to find in dried form.
Posted at 05:11 PM on January 17, 2012
sujaan said…
As far as food, I am a cayenne fanatic! I put it on everything, especially in winter. With spices in fragrance, I love cardamon and bergamot and sometimes a dusting of clove is wonderful with the right combination. Ginger and Cardamon sound lovely.
Hemla L. has a great idea about scenting the pot of water, I never thought of that. Thank you! And I love that Sandi Lundberg suggested making Snickerdoodles. Yummy idea!
Thanks for another great draw!
Posted at 06:38 PM on January 17, 2012
Zee said…
My favorite spice of the moment is also cardamom. To eat and to wear. I’m throughly enjoying a local aromatherapists body cream consisting of grapefruit and cardamom eo’s. Even though it’s pretty mild where I live compared to many places it get’s me through my version of winter.
Posted at 09:26 PM on January 17, 2012
Zlati said…
Charna, I love that you spiced up the SAD discussion :-). Spices can have such a warming and uplifting effect – perfect for the cold winter days. Two of my favorite spices are clove and cumin. And Ginger Lily sounds wonderful – I would love to try it. Thank you for the great blog post!
Posted at 09:58 PM on January 17, 2012
Michael S said…
Cinnamon always runs out fast from my spice rack. Its one of my favorites to cook with, and the smell is heavenly, though easily overwhelming in the essential oil form.
Thanks!
Michael
Posted at 10:05 PM on January 17, 2012
einsof said…
superlative spice… that’s hard. for our purposes of SAD i would say my favorite spice is ginger. cheering, warming and healing. an influx of inner and outer warmth. supportive in the ills of the winter season- colds etc.
currently, however, enjoying coriander & rose. einsof.
Posted at 10:18 PM on January 17, 2012
Amy H. said…
Love your Ginger Lily scent. I love spice heat in my cooking, whether it’s with ginger or pepper or chile peppers or my great favorite, sichuan peppercorns! Love the numbing aspect there in addition to the spiciness.
Posted at 10:27 PM on January 17, 2012
Karen Williams said…
Yum. The soup looks delicious and I would say my favorite spice combination is Cardamom and Coriander. I keep a small bottle of freshly ground and add to my morning oatmeal and waffles. I also like to sprinkle on hot chocolate. The Ginger Lily sounds fabulous and I would love to smell it!
Posted at 11:36 PM on January 17, 2012
Py said…
Ooo cardamon is totally a fav. I think anything spicy has to take the gold though. Mmm mom got me some ghost chili sauce back in the fall I am still in love with. A lil bit of that will liven up any dish.
Posted at 12:20 AM on January 18, 2012
QuoterGal said…
Ginger Lily sounds inspired – I love ginger and other fragrances & spices for a winter lift, and the pairing sounds perfect. I have a much milder form of SAD living in L.A. than I did for many cold, dark years on the east coast – but it still hits around January.
My favorite spice smells & tastes are cardamom, black pepper, cumin & coriander . I also like the middle eastern mixture called adviyeh – which varies from recipe to recipe, but the one we make contains cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, rose petals, cardamom, black pepper and cumin – a gift from my Perso-Armenian husband. It’s great in stews and just for smelling.
Posted at 12:25 AM on January 18, 2012
rosarita said…
Oh, that scent sounds lovely. Cardamom is a big favorite of mine, too, and spicy scents are my favorite category. Other scent loves are clove, cinnamon, ginger, anise, nutmeg……and I love to eat these flavors, also. :) And of course, there’s cumin, coriander, curry……whatever I can get my hands on!
Posted at 11:42 AM on January 18, 2012
mim said…
I also love cardamom, along with saffron, coriander, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves…I love spices in food, bath and body products, and fragrance! Ginger and vanilla too.
I like Indian cooking which uses spices in balanced combination rather than highlighting any one, usually. I also like adding a few threads of saffron or pods of cardamom or piches of coriander to a pot of cooking rice or tapioca pudding, or making warm vanilla milk using one of these spices and vanilla (my mom made it for us in the winter/when we were sick, it’s like cocoa without the cocoa).
Saffron might be my favorite in a perfume (because of safran troublant) but pepper, clove, cinnamon, and cardamon are all very close seconds!
Posted at 09:41 PM on January 18, 2012