That's a lot of dough to be plunking down for coffee infused with what is essentially nutmeg-scented, artificially-colored-and-flavored high fructose corn syrup.

Ahh, Fall. Season of color-changing leaves, crisp mornings and the ubiquitous pumpkin spice latte. It's an oft-yearned-for treat when September finally comes around and local coffee shops finally roll out their strictly seasonal pumpkin-flavored coffee drinks.

But if you're buying them daily or even every other day, at nearly $4 a pop, it can add up to a lot of dough to be plunking down for coffee infused with what is essentially nutmeg-scented, artificially-colored-and-flavored high fructose corn syrup. But don't worry, there is a BrokeAss solution: make them at home with high-quality ingredients, obvs.

This freshly-brewed, wildly cheap version of the pumpkin spice latte can be warming your hands and your spirits any time you please--even after the coffee shops close, and without an espresso machine. The directions below are for one latte, but the ingredients priced out will make about a week's worth of homemade lattes. And best yet, you likely have most (if not all) of the ingredients at home already.

If you like your lattes straight, feel free to omit the spices and/or sweetener.

Note: The ingredients listed are for just 1 latte, but the total cost is enough to make at least 10 of them.

Something magical happens when tiny tomatoes are cooked whole. Their skins become soft and their insides become incredibly juicy and sweet. When bitten into, they release a nectar that tastes like a bite of a fresh-off-the-vine tomato in the peak of its season. I learned this when I first made yesterday’s tomato-studded frittata.

In this burger recipe, I employed the same technique by tucking whole grape tomatoes into 1/4 lb beef burgers along with herbs, olive oil and fresh garlic. The resulting burger features an incredible combination of charred tomatoes on the outside and ready-to-burst ones on the inside. I served these without buns, and with the addition of a generous smear of creamy goat cheese and a shower of fresh herbs. Good aioli or mayonnaise would also be lovely, as would a crusty sourdough roll.

On Saturday mornings, I like to sleep in and then laze in bed with coffee and back issues of The New Yorker. Eventually, I’ll get out of bed and make breakfast. During the week, I usually dive right into the day with nothing more than coffee, but on Saturdays, I take my time with a nice breakfast. Lately, this frittata has been my go-to Saturday morning breakfast (though I’ve also served these for lunch or dinner to great response), due to its combination of ease of preparation (so, um, it’s also hangover- friendly) and satisfying deliciousness. It puffs up into a filling and protein-rich bowl of savory egg-iness and the grape tomatoes turn very sweet and juicy, thanks to their being left whole. The frittata is great with toast, but it doesn’t need it. This is also an easy recipe to reduce (I usually make just one or two at a time), or multiply. Additionally, all the ingredients can be poured into a greased cake pan or casserole dish and then cut into wedges or squares after being cooked.

Good caramelized onions require two things that we as a culture are not particularly good with:

1) Butter.
2) Patience.

Regarding the first, I stand by my belief that butter is your friend in the kitchen. Certainly, it has the potential to be a foe at times. It can burn easily, it can be unhealthy in some preparations (particularly when battered and deep-fried). That said, when cooked over a low heat (and in moderation), it can be one of the most wonderful flavor-deepening agents you can employ in cooking. Many people choose canola or olive oil to caramelize onions in. I will pick butter every time. It’s a very inexpensive way to give incredibly rich flavor to lowly onions.

As for the second item, unlike most recipes on BrokeAss Gourmet, caramelizing onions requires a fair amount of patience. This is obviously fine if you are talented at waiting. If you, like me, are impatient by nature, it can be more of a challenge. The best solution I’ve found is to cook whatever else I’m serving while the onions caramelize—that way I’m distracted and less tempted to turn the heat up just a pinch. It’s imperative that the onions cook over low heat the entire time to thoroughly and evenly draw out their sugars, yielding a sweet, soft caramelized result.

Serve on burgers, sandwiches, grilled meats, etc.

When I finally realized that beets, with their dense-yet tender texture and sugary-yet-earthy flavor could not be a more perfect addition to basic pico de gallo, I slapped my hand across my forehead in disbelief that I had never though to try this before. About ten minutes later, when I took that first spoonful of the citrusy, summer-sweet concoction, it was like when I first figured out that I could make cinnamon rolls out of pizza dough. Or when I discovered that it’s possible to hide people on Facebook.. Ingenious.

Spoon it over grilled burgers, steak, chicken or fish, serve with tortilla chips or do as I did and eat it with a spoon.