As the temperature falls outside, things are getting spicy in the kitchen.

With the holidays approaching, many people make a seasonal shift to a heartier, richer and cold-weather style of cooking, featuring soups, stews, roasted meats and vegetables, sauces and sweets.

And as the menu changes, a whole range of spices traditionally associated with the festive season become more pronounced in cooking and baking.

A list of spices typically used in dishes enjoyed this time of year surely would include “the pumpkin pie” varieties — nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice. Plus cloves, of course.

But there are others. Like star anise, crystallized ginger, orange peel, vanilla beans and cardamom. And more pungent, rustic spices such as bay leaf, sage and juniper berries.

For Sula Teller, it’s spices that suggest fall and the holidays.

“The ones I really think of are cardamom, cloves and star anise. I love to use these in baked goods and cakes. And allspice and nutmeg, of course,” said Teller, chef and director of food services at the Community Mercantile Co-op, 901 Iowa.

“I love to use these. They’re so aromatic and warming. When we smell them, they evoke good memories and thoughts of the season. It just gives people comfort.”

Other chefs and food lovers around Lawrence are also making a shift to different ingredients and spices.

Star anise

“Cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg. These are all spices that we use kind of sparingly, but moreso at this time of year,” said Ken Baker, chef and owner of Pachamama’s, a fine-dining restaurant at 2161 Quail Creek Drive. “Sage and juniper, more exotic things like cardamom and coriander — they have their place all year round, but you’re going to find them definitely more pronounced (now).”

Cooks are likely to utilize the spices Baker mentioned to flavor dishes that are often served in fall and winter, such as wild game, wild mushrooms, braised meats and roasted root vegetables, according to Baker.

The menu at Pachamama’s changes entirely the first Tuesday of each month. The November menu is studded with dishes such as a pumpkin-and-sage pesto tart, and a buttermilk-poached pheasant breast served with lentils, Madeira sauce and truffle honey.

Baker incorporates crystallized ginger in the apple butter served with a pork tenderloin. The cranberry chutney, served with duck breast, is flavored with star anise.

Fall and the holidays are a good time of year for Baker and other chefs.

Nutmeg

“In my line of work, it really makes us feel more alive and gets our creative juices flowing,” he said. “Right after the harvest, we have so much stuff to work with.”

“Spring and summer, it’s all about bright, clean flavors. Fall and winter are all about making flavor marriages through slow cooking.”

The products customers are purchasing at the Bay Leaf, 725 Mass., reflect the change in seasons.

“This time of year, people are thinking more of soups, stews and curries. We’re selling a lot of Dutch ovens, stock pots and cookware you would use to make those kinds of things in,” said Geri Riekhof, owner of the gourmet cooking store.

Sage

Which spices does she associate with fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas?

“I would have to agree with nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon … bay leaf in soups and stews. It’s apple time — baked apples with a cinnamon stick in them,” she said.

Tim Quillin, chef de cuisine at the Merc, listed the kinds of savory dishes he’s preparing for customers.

“We do move more into the starches, roasted potatoes, butternut and acorn squash. We’re doing comfort foods like roast turkey, brisket braised in red wine and mushrooms with lots of thyme. We’re shifting to stick-to-your ribs, comfort food,” he said.

His favorite spice?

“Allspice, of course. It smells like Christmas.”