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Good question...I make some of my own, buy one or two, and doctor those up sometimes. I'd rather use them and have a meal that tastes good than not cook at all when there is no time or supplies to "do it right". Often a purchased blend will let me try a new taste profile, and then when we decide we love it, we will bulid our own from scratch, with better quality ingredients.

There are two ready-made blends that I use - lemon pepper and 5-spice powder. My lemon pepper is "semi-homemade" though (why do I want to kick myself for using this "term"?:-)) - I have a small grinder with the mix of lemon zest and black peppercorns which I bough originally back in London, many years ago (I know that it was Italian, but the name on the sticker has become illegible and I don't remember what it was), and ever since the original mix ended, I've been refilling it. Um, I guess, at this point it is entirely homemade:-).

I always make my own rubs because commercial ones are never to my liking (I've also discovered that some of them have trans fats, but even before that I just wasn't using them). I don't "pooh pooh" ready made rubs & blends and those who use them though - I think it's the matter of taste. I choose to make my own mostly because I don't fancy the combinations out there, but I don't think I will be mixing my own 5-spice powder any time soon:-). I guess the bottom line is, I don't mind spice blends that are pure spice blends, without "mystery ingredients", hydrogenated oils and stabilisers, but I will not be using seasoning packets that contain the above (and I guess I do kind of "pooh pooh" these, after all:-)...perhaps because "seasoning packets" and "Aunt Sandy" are now inseparable in my mind).

Do herbes de provence count for the purposes of your question? several years ago, before hurricane katrina, i bought a bottle of salt-free cajun spice from the French Market spice complay. it was nice because generally seasoning blends are over 1/2 salt, and this one wasn't. i felt like i got what i paid for (why pay $10 for a bottle of seasoning blend, when 1/2 of it is salt, which costs 10 cent?).

Yep, I dry it first. I use a paring knife (not a microplane) and "pick" a little bit of the rind (barely 1 mm), because the original pieces of dry lemon zest had some rind on them too, so I am guessing, the rind is what dries and allows the zest to dry with it (it's totally my wild non-scientific theory, so feel free to make fun of me here). When ground together with black pepper, it gives me pretty much the same (as far as I remember now:-)) result flavour-wise as the original mix used to. Naturally, the original mix gave me the idea of doing it in the first place:-)

SayWhat: Just curious, did you happen to get the idea for this question from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Pan-fried Ribeye post?

I don't use many packaged spices, but I do use the chili powder blend from my local co-op. I only get a little bit at a time, and they seem to have a high turnover on cooking spices. Other than that, I add my herbs and spices to a dish individually- that is, I don't make a blend and then add. I never know when I'll be in the mood for "super spicy," vs. "not that spicy."

Oh, I guess I have a little container of cinnamon and sugar that I mixed up a while back.

My mom uses the McCormick Montreal steak seasoning. When she sprinkled some on a pot roast bound for the crock pot, I thought it smelled and looked yummy. Unfortunately, I didn't stick around for the final product.

I use:
- madras curry powder
- Gebhardt's chili powder
- Tony Cachere's Creole (wish it was salt free, though)
- Sazon Goya (for rice, when I am lazy and just want to use the rice cooker and not bother with a pilaf),
- lemon pepper (never as a sub for lemon, only as another layer of lemon and/or pepper)

I have herbes de provence but I always forget about it until after I've already added most of the components separately.

I have not found a good Herbes de Provence and would like to make my own. The mixture typically contains rosemary, marjoram, basil, bay leaf, thyme, and sometimes lavender flowers and other herbs. The proportions vary by manufacturer. Thyme usually dominates the taste produced by the herb mixture. I'm sure some of you have your own blend. I'm hesitant to put in bay (as much as I love it, but I remove it when finished cooking), and I don't know how much lavender to use - I've never cooked with it. I wonder what other herbs are used? Suggestions would be most appreciated!

I like Ortega taco seasoning too, for tacos and simple and layered dips/salads. I've never tried to replicate it because I don't do a lot of spicy cooking.

Ok gosh here we go. Tony Cachiere's comes in no salt find his website. I use that in my fried chicken. McCormick Montreal Steak is the secret ingredient in my smashed potatoes. Old Bay is what I sprinkle on my chicken panini bread that everyone loves but cannot place. I love penzeys salt blends they are so nice. I also love Penzeys cake spice and I used it in coffee cake and cinnamon rolls. I love Penzeys shallot salt and shallot pepper. If you have not tried this sweet oniony mix you should. I use Sazon when I make arroz con pollo and there is no real replacement for that little packet it just works. Chinese 5 spice is the pinch that goes into my bbq sauce and teriyaki. I experiment with flavors and if I am out and about and I find a new one I always bring it home and give it a try.
Old Bay is a Maryland bay staple. There are different renditions and the one I like best I got at the Ace Hardware store in MD. It is a local mix with just a bit of hot pepper and very little salt.

The only commercial blends you'll find in my seasoning inventory are curry powder and garam masala. Neither gets used much, because I usually add individual seasonings myself when I cook, even if I'm making a curry. But, it's mighty convenient to have a jar of a good-tasting blend on hand to add oomph to some quick dish I'm just throwing together without a recipe.

I also make a big container of my own chili powder from my own recipe and keep it on hand at all times. I hate the commercial blends because they are usually mostly salt. Mine is cheaper, tastes way better, and contains no salt. Why pay three times as much for something that's mostly cheap salt and insufficient quantities of inferior spices? Also, they usually contain garlic powder. Although garlic powder does have a place in my kitchen, I find it unsuitable for chili. I always use fresh garlic for that!

Oh. Wait. I do have furikake and Japanese five-spice or seven-spice. Do those count? I always think of them as condiments, because that's how I use them...

I use Old Bay for a chili-beer poached shrimp recipe and for nothing else. I use Lawrey's seasoning for Chex party mix and for nothing else. I use five spice for my plate of fried rice ( have to hide it in the back of the cabinet from my SO or he'll gag). I purchased a jerk blend, cajun blend and garam masala each for one recipe and have not used them since. I use chili powder along with garlic powder and cumin for beef tacos. I have to stop this!

I'm really trying to be better about keeping my herbs and spices more current. I watch the expiration dates closely on herbs that I purchase from the grocery and date all the bulk herbs and spices I buy. I grow most of my own herbs and dry them for my own blends. No real grinding required there since all you have to do is rub them in your hands. The SO, the grillmeister, insists on making his own rubs, so excess of spice mixtures tend to pile up in the cupboard by fall.

Jerzee - I'm a little fascinated by the shallot salt/pepper you mentioned. I am going to check into it. I got SO several spices through Penzey's or Pendrey's, can't recall which, when he was making charcuterie. But we were living in OH then and couldn't find anything more esoteric than chili powder there. We have been really getting into salts lately. There is a new spice shop in Ann Arbor, MI where we live now and we got Murray River Australian Pink Salt, Chardonnay Oak Smoked Fleur de Sel and Black Smoked Sea Salt. They are just pretty groovy to experiment with.

@srhcb.....I copied a previous post explaining this, but I have not yet tried it myself. Good luck!

A couple of people have said recently that they have trouble with links in posts. For those of you trying to embed links, the HTML you need is shown below, under HTML HINTS. Copy that and paste it into your post where you want to insert the link. You should see this:

link/a>

Then, in a new window or new tab, find the website you want to link to. Copy its URL. Go back to your post and replace just the letters URL with the copied URL, making sure you don't delete the equal sign (=) or the quotation marks. Then, where is says LINK, type whatever text you want to stand for the link in your post. It can be anything ... a word, a phrase, any thing you want. Just be sure you don't delete the slash or the A after it (/a). When you are done you should see something like this:

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You need the whole http://www.

i like old bay, herbes de provence and there this chili powder mix that i get that has cocoa in it which i like alot

Penzey's Sunny Paris, which has the magical powers to improve a bland fish dish or transform a budget lunch (ramen) into a passable experience.

I tend to make my own cajun seasoning because, like most of you, I cut the salt by almost 3/4. I like salt, just not that much in Cajun seasoning, I want the spices to shine.

I recently found a recipe for a Spice rub from Bobby Flay for steaks that was very good - a little heavy on the coriander seed - so I would cut back on that the next time I make it but very flavorful.

I do need to pick up some Chinese Five spice - been out of that for awhile.