What Will Winter Bring & Cooking At Home

What Will Winter Bring & Cooking At Home plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Fall is definitely here and winter will soon follow here in the Northwest. A La Nina weather pattern could mean a more accurate forecast according to meteorologist Brad Rippey. RIPPEY: We do expect the warm dry conditions during the cold season months across the southern tier of the country. All the way from southern California to the southeast and conversely we expect cold and wet conditions which translates to quite a bit of snow for the upper Midwest, the northern plains and on into the northern Rockies and the northwest. So really sort of a northern tier cold wet condition and a southern tier mild and dry situation. My wife is a great cook. She loves to do it too with the freshest of produce and herbs out of her own garden. But not everyone has this talent. The TV dinner generation of the 50's has turned into subsequent generations of people who can't cook. But that seems to be changing as more and more people are taking cooking classes. Classes are being offered for everything from cooking the basics like spaghetti to more complex meals. Even some restaurants are getting into the act. In the U.S., new research shows that restaurant eating is down by 17 meals a year from a high of 211 in 2001. Cooking at home is really becoming the hip new thing to do. Imagine that. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. So, you think you want to be an organic farmer. You've weighed the pros and cons, did your homework, and still decided no matter how down and dirty, back breaking, and often times frustrating farming can be, it's the career choice of your dreams; be it your first or second career go around. At this point it might be a good idea to find out what it's really like living the rural, farming lifestyle. There are different ways to go about this, but one of the best is through volunteering, which allows farmer want-a-be's the opportunity to gain real life experience on honest to goodness real working farms. That's where World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms comes in. WWOOF consists of more than a thousand farms across the U.S. that host volunteers who exchange their muscle for food and accommodation. In turn volunteers get the chance to learn farming skills; anything from growing crops, working with livestock, wine making, to keeping bees. So if you are truly interested in learning what it takes to be an organic farmer, and are ready to work harder than you've perhaps ever worked before, become a WWOOFer, and discover your "inner farmer". Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.