Fall's the season for pumpkin spice! Which of course, contains no pumpkin; rather it's a blend of warm spices that gives pumpkin pie its characteristic taste. And of course, it's widely used in beverages and foods (see below for examples). The basic formula is 3 parts ground cinnamon, 2 parts ground ginger, and 1 part a combination of nutmeg, cloves, and allspice.

Making your own lets you adjust to your taste, and you can consider exotic additions, like mace, ancho chile powder, coriander, a bit of black or white pepper.

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1-1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoons ground cloves
1/2 teaspoons ground allspice

Just mix 'em up thoroughly and store in a small sealed container. This recipe makes 18 teaspoons.

Uses:

Sprinkle pumpkin spice into your coffee grounds before brewing, dust it on top of your finished drink, or mix it into a homemade syrup to create a flavored latte. You can also use it in hot chocolate, smoothies, even cocktails.

Or use it in pancakes and waffles: stir pumpkin spice into your batter or sprinkle it on top of your stack. Or add it to whipped cream, cookies, muffins, cake, oatmeal, granola, ice cream or anywhere else that calls for warm spices.