You can't make a single dish these days without having to run out to the store to get a special ingredient. What is pumpkin pie spice, and can I make it myself?

 We really don't rank pumpkin pie spice up there with the most exotic of specialized ingredients, but as it is the spices that make an otherwise bland pumpkin pie special, it is worth coming up with something.

Pumpkin pie spice is a blend of "warm" spices, generally including some or all of the following: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, allspice, mace. There are indeed a lot of pie recipes out there that call for pumpkin pie spice, but there are probably as many where the recipe writer specifies a particular mix of individual spices.

There are a variety of pumpkin pie spice blends on the market at various prices in various quantities. You can also easily make your own. — and quite possibly without having to run out to the store. Here are a few options:

• Mix 1/4 cup of cinnamon with 4 tsp of ground ginger and 2 tsp of nutmeg
• Mix 1/4 cup cinnamon with 1 Tbsp each of ground ginger, nutmeg, and ground cloves
• Mix 1/4 cup cinnamon with 2 Tbsp of ground ginger and 1 Tbsp each of nutmeg and ground cloves
• Mix 2 Tbsp each of cinnamon and ground ginger with 1 Tbsp ground nutmeg and 1 tsp ground allspice

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