Yuck!  Where did that combo come from?

Well, let’s start with the delicious smells that come from your kitchen when you cook…

Ahhhh.  The smell of fresh garlic cooking in butter on the stove.  The aroma of bacon frying.  Or meatballs steeping in tomato sauce.  Or apple pie straight from the oven.  Or the chocolatey smell of warm brownies. Or the smell of a Bounce sheet, shoved up your nose, while you’re trying to enjoy your shrimp scampi….

Wait, what?

That’s right, that wonderful scent of fresh laundry, the Bounce sheet or “Fluffy Towels”, overwhelming your entire sense of smell while you are attempting to eat dinner.

The two worlds of scent, though both so very lovely each in their own right, collide like oil and water.  They just do not mix.  Nobody wants a strong whiff of pine tree sap when they are cutting into a delectable rib-eye.

Whether your aim is to cover up an unpleasant odor in your house or in a room in your house, or you seek to transport yourself and/or guests to a tropical oasis with your “Bahama Breeze” candle, please, please, please make sure that you extinguish it at least 1/2 hour before you serve any type of food!

It can be extremely unappetizing to bite into a sausage stuffed mushroom, which has an incredible savory flavor, only to be assaulted by a waft of the cloyingly sweet and floral notes of “White Gardenia”.

Don’t be afraid to let the aromas of food be the “candles” in your house.

There’s a time for everything.  And around the time that you mean to serve any type of food at all, even if it’s candy and nuts and cheese and crackers, is not the time to have a lit, scented candle as the centerpiece of your table.

But, if you do love the ambience that scented candles evoke, by all means, have them lit when guests arrive.  Then, extinguish them a half hour before you put any food out and enjoy the rich perfume of all the herbs and spices.

And, if you’d like, light your candles back up after all food has been put away and everyone has had a chance to forget about it!

Bottom line:  go ahead and get that candlelit dinner for 2 ready for Valentine’s Day.  Just make sure they’re unscented!