Scented Treasures: Aromatic Gifts from Kitchen & Garden

by Stephanie Donaldson

In the modern age of plug-in room fragrancers and spray polishes, Scented Treasures will show you how to scent your rooms with traditional gilded oranges, scented candles and polishes to make a Home Sweet Home, in every sense of these words.
For food-lovers, there are aromatic recipes for preserved lemons, herbal vinegars, garlic confit, fiery chili oil, delicious spice biscuits, honey cake and orange wine, among other delights, while for health and beauty, you can concoct a refreshing skin tonic, an herbal hair rinse and soothing lotions and creams.
Gardeners will find this beautifully illustrated book packed with useful information about how to create a scented garden, as well as ideas for making up a variety of seasonal posies, garlands and pot pourris using fresh and dried flowers and herbs.

Genres: Gardening, Reference

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bet these would be even stronger enough for me to smell

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those who enjoy gardening and observing the changing seasons, Scented Treasures is a virtual garden tour, with ideas about how to use the bounty to create seasonal concoctions for gifts. The oversize format, with beautiful photographs of herbs, spices, flowers, and the crafts that are made with them, is pleasing. Each of the four seasons is explored beginning with a poem, followed by its own seasonal garden tips, posy (nosegay), and potpourri, plus culinary and body product gift ideas. Hands-on types with gardens (or who peruse farmers’ markets) will find plenty of old- and new-school ideas.

Some examples of projects that intrigue me: lily of the valley pots, drying calendula flowers for soup, scented bath bags, and Coeur à la crème (spring); lavender water, rose sugar, fresh tomato basil sauce, and rosemary hair rinse (summer); spiced apple cake, scented floating candles, scented massage oils, and eau du cologne (autumn); spiced honey cake, sage and honey tea, fortified orange wine, and winter-blooming garden plants (winter).

Craftspeople, gardeners, and people who like giving and receiving homemade gifts will enjoy this book. Its format, tall and wide but not too lengthy, would also make a lovely coffee table volume, especially with its wealth of color photos.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

I checked this out because I'm interested in making essences and extracts from scratch, and I thought a book about working from the garden might have some of that, as opposed to just how to mix storebought essential oils. It has a couple of from-scratch recipes, but probably 3/4 of the scent instructions still involve buying premade essential oils. Which is not exactly working from the kitchen and garden. I am planning on trying the few ideas that were related to what I'm interested in, though.

[Lisa C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good jarred gifts -- some a bit to complicated for most occasions.

Includes:
pizza oil
garlic confit
homemade beeswax polish and furniture reviver
bath bags
oils & vinegars
bath bags
some food -- cheeses, cookies