Here’s now to insert star anise and cloves into lemons, thus creating “star-studded lemons,” courtesy Kathy Rose, a floral designer and member of the Green Spring Garden Club. The club hosts its annual Christmas Homes Tour 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, in Williamsburg.
You can insert the cloves and anise in any design you choose, and you can decorate oranges using the same method.
Materials: Purchase 6-8 lemons, whole cloves, and star anise ahead of time, because placing the cloves in the lemons is a little time consuming. (Star anise is available in the spice section or Asian food section of grocery stores.) Gather greenery a day in advance, trim off any leaves or needles on the lower part of the stem and place the stems in slightly warm water for several hours or overnight. Purchase flowers the day you plan to use them and give each flower a fresh diagonal cut and place in warm water. If leaves or needles are left on a stem that is submerged in water they will decay and shorten the life of the arrangement. Soak oasis an hour or more in cool water before using.
How to “star-stud” lemons: Remove any labels from the fruit. Decide if you want the cloves arranged in circles around the lemon, a diamond shape on two sides, a swirl pattern, or an overall design. Using a small finishing nail, begin piercing holes in the lemon where each clove will be placed. Continue piercing the lemon making the design as you go. It is easier to pierce a few holes and immediately place cloves in those holes. After lemons have been studded, prepare each star anise by carefully wedging one end of a toothpick into the underside of each star anise and secure with hot glue, thus creating a “stem.” Pierce a hole in the pointed end of the lemon and attach a star anise by gently pushing the “stem” into the hole in the lemon. Store lemons in a covered container in the refrigerator until you are ready to place them in the arrangement. (They will stay fresh-looking several days kept in the refrigerator.)
About the homes tour
Christmas Homes Tour tickets are $30 full tour, or $10 to tour a single house. For more details on tickets, parking and houses, please see the club’s website at: green-spring-garden-club.org.
The houses featured this year in The Revolutionary City include the charming Unicorn’s Horn, next to the Golden Ball jeweler’s shop, which was last on a tour in 1997; the Custis Tenement across from Bruton Parish Church which now is under a long-term lease to the church for use as a “gathering place” for meetings, receptions and for bridal parties to assemble; and the large and elegantly furnished Coke-Garrett House on Nicholson Street. The other three houses are conveniently located just south of the Williamsburg Lodge within two blocks of each other on Tyler and South England Streets. Two of these homes have never been on a tour before. The Seymour Powell Tenement was one of the original 88 buildings in Colonial Williamsburg but was moved to Tyler Street. The Richardson House was built in 1910 and has had several recent additions, including the guest house with a fun-loving nautical décor and the Brooks House which was built just three years ago will surprise people with its contemporary design inside.
All proceeds benefit local horticultural projects and scholarships in Environmental Science and Environmental Biology at the College of William and Mary and Christopher Newport University, as well as Nature Camp scholarships. In the last two years, grants for plantings and/or garden furniture or structures have been given to the Virginia Living Museum for the new conservatory and children’s garden, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Virginia Zoological Park in Norfolk, Dream Catchers, and Mattey’s Garden at the Matthew Whaley School. The endowed Green Spring Scholarships in Horticulture at Virginia Tech also were supplemented.
Posted by Kathy Van Mullekom; kvanmullekom@aol.com
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