But while I relish the opportunity to guzzle chocolate with reckless abandon, I do miss the outdoor bounty of spring and summer. There's no denying that cold weather and snow make gardening and foraging options scarce.

If you're pining for warm-weather produce and the rich flavors of foraged food, I've got some good news. You can still have a taste of the wild in wintertime by crafting your own unique seasoning blend from the food you grew and foraged all year long.

Getting started the right way

Where should you begin? With the basics, of course! A solid seasoning mix is there to spice up your food, transforming bland bites into vivacious victuals. In the case of homemade blends, it can also be a way to use up excess garden veggies and foraged edibles from the summer.

A DIY mix enables you to incorporate seasonal foods you can't just buy at the store and taste wild foods when you can't have them fresh. You have complete control over what goes into it, but it can't happen without the prep work. What does that mean?

Dry it up

When you make a seasoning blend, you want to start with pre-dried ingredients. Drying produce might sound inconvenient, but think of it like this: you won't be able to use up all 17,000 tomatoes you grew this year anyway.

Instead of letting them rot, you can simply dehydrate the excess by hanging, using a dehydrator, or whatever method you prefer. By the end of the year, you should have a solid base of dried herbs, spices, veggies, and fruits to choose from.

Keep in mind that wild mushrooms should always be cooked before consumption. If you're using fungi, cook them first and then dehydrate them. Trust me, it's definitely worth it in the end—cooked shrooms have a much richer umami flavor than raw.