Pumpkin Pie Spice

It's that time of year, when people peel open their cookbooks, or go online in search of the perfect pumpkin (insert baked good name) recipe. Whether its pumpkin bread, pumpkin cake, or pumpkin cookies– November is the month when kitchens across the US embrace this fall vegetable. One item that you'll likely see on the ingredient list for many of these recipes is pumpkin pie spice.

STOP! Don't go running to the grocery store in search of this spice which will assuredly sit in the back of your cupboard until next November, by which time it will have lost most of its potency and be too old to use again. Instead, try mixing together spices that you already have in your pantry to make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice.

It's a cinch and even if you don't have a couple of the spices, chances are it's worth the investment because these are spices that you can use all year round , and not just during the holiday pumpkin season.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Ingredients
¼ cup ground cinnamon
2 tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
½ tsp ground cardamom

Directions
Combine all ingredients for desired mix and blend well. Feel free to experiment with amounts to get a blend that works for you.

Heather's Helpful Hints
Spices and herbs should be kept in tightly closed containers in a cool, dry, dark place.  A screw-cap container is better than a flip-top container because it can be tightly resealed.