this morning on "today's" kitchen, adding some asian flavor, the other than of the restaurant called blue ginger and he's also the host of simply ming on public television. and today he's going to teach us

to cook with lemon grass. lemon grass is something we often eat in restaurants but we don't know how to use ourselves. >> so there's two ways of using it. they come like this. i like to use a mallet or a hammer like this. and you see this little edge, so you want to keep banging this. what i'm doing here, is i'm just getting fibers loose. so when you have this -- >> may i try that? >> certainly. >> oh, boy. good way to get your aggression out. >> you want to use basically this nice juicy part. the green part is not nearly as flavorful. and what you do, you use it to infuse a broth like this. this is a simple lemon grass soup. i want you to try a little bit. and you'll see that there's large pieces of lemon grass which i actually like to place with it so people realize there's lemon grass there. you don't want to eat that,

because it's so tough. but you can really taste that, right? >> my gosh, it's fantastic. and how long when you cook it? >> that's just 30 minutes. >> and that just really adds to the soup. that is amazing, i've got to say. is it easy to find lemon grass? >> it used to be really rare, but now you can find lemon grass anywhere. i'm makie inine ining tre iningt brown. if you want to repel mosquitoes, rub lemon grass on yourself. the citronella candles, they're made out of lemon grass. ike going to make this garlic, and we do it kind of like a pilaf. then rice goes in.

there's lemon juice and lemon zest. scallions. cranberries. hand me that stock over there, that goes in here. >> you cook that up. >> you cook this and all this chicken goes back. this goes into an oven, 22 minutes of or so. >> 22 to 25 minutes. >> there we go. >> and so right hewe have the p it's so delicious. >> the girls are coming in. come on, girls, here you go. >> i love lemon grass. >> do you know how to cook with it? >> now i know. >> lemon grass, you can make a syr syrup. this is a lemon grass ice cream float which is delicious. >> thanks for helping us remember that food does not have to be boring.

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good morning, everybody. mike cannon. you know the commute is bad when the bay bridge is a good spot. >> let's take a live look out. traffic almost nonexistent as far as the backup at the toll plaza but still slow in many spots including 885 coming through oakland. look at this shot of the map. just coming through the south bay. 101 still jammed up as well as 87 coming off 85. the rest of the area's looking better through san jose, top corner of your screen, mountain view northbound 101 jamming southbound. we're really slammed coming through palo alto and mountain

view. earlier accident causing slowdowns on 101 and the golden gate bridge. the north bay starting to clear. >> look at all that sunshine. right now san francisco 69 degrees already before 10:00. you know it's going to be a warm day. without the sea breeze and our temperatures inland already mid to upper 70s. by lunchtime, near 80 in san francisco. near 90 out towards fairfield. livermore, san jose around 4:00 today. low 90s, upper 90s inland. morgan hill, also mid-90s today. tomorrow, the warmer start to the morning, we'll be a little hotter. then we start to cool off heading towards the weekend. you still have the option of paper or plastic at grocery stores across the state. overnight state lawmakers rejected a bill that would have made california the first state in the country to ban plastic bags. lawmakers debated whether the controversial bill was going too far in trying to regulate personal choice. a few california cities already prohibit plastic bags. san francisco is the first to do it back in 2007. palo alto, fairfax and malibu have also followed suit.

another bill that would have made it illegal to carry unloaded guns in public was rejected. it would have made it a misdemeanor to openly carry a handgun in public. current state law does allow carrying unloaded guns in holsters. and another bill that would have required gun owners to register their rifles and shotguns fell short during a vote on monday. more local news in half an hour. and the "today" show returns in about a minute.

hey, everybody, so glad you're with us, it's wines-day, do you believe it? it's september 1st. welcome back to hoda, you took a little time off. >> i did, hair issues. here's the thing with the hair. we've been talking about this keratine treatment for the hair. i thought, i'm not sure if it will work for me. now here's the thing, every day they blow my hair out here. so laura kill hersself, because it takes hours and hours of time. so if i'm left to my own devices, my hair is insane. >> you keep saying that. >> no, no, it's true. this is again and you're going to see it in a second. this is the reason i'm terrified to go to prison because -- i look -- i look guilty and you're going to see. and again, this is the one and only time this video is ever

going to run. this is worse than the no makeup day, for me. okay, show the beginning of this tape. >> okay. >> this is when left to its own devices, what it looks like. that is so bad. that's me, okay? so get over it. that's how i am, this is how i roll. >> i'll be waiting. now, the results will be revealed. they're blowing out the stuff? i kind of want to make out with arson right now.

>> i love it, i love it, i love it. i'm so glad i did it. i'm, i was so late coming to the table, so late. kathie lee even beat me, which is bad. i mean, come on. this is the answer. >> we have to do a before and after. >> no! >> we do, just to show the difference, because it's an amazing process. i mean -- >> now, i look -- wait, stop, take it down. no, that's it. we're finished with that. >> let me tell you the beauty of the whole thing. i went for a run yesterday morning -- i came back if the run and usually my hair looks similar to the picture we're never going to see again. and it didn't, it looked like this. [ addams family theme song ] >> everybody is so funny.

[ laughter ] >> okay! okay! >> you know, you prepared me for -- for the picture. but nothing really in life that you could have said could have prepared me for the picture. >> no, no, i mean -- jim, at's three times. [ addams family theme song ] >> you know what? i just want you to know, jim gaines if you've looking at me, you've torpedoed my social life. >> you'll be out of prison soon. >> and i'll be in. >> can you understand why i'm afraid to go to jail? >> you better live a pristine life, don't even drive. honestly, hoda. i say, you better make your

appointment right now for three months from now when you get your next keratin treatment. >> i would say it lasts two to three weeks. >> it lasts three or four months. >> i give it two weeks. >> i want to thank arson over at louis vicari. he was telling me that it was going to work out. i can't wait to go to the beach. i plan so much of my life around my hair. i don't go out in the rain, i can't cover stories in the rain. >> how in the world did you do katrina? >> i had a lot of hair gel, that's how i got it. >> okay. i needed a good laugh. thank you, baby. >> if you were at home last night, you saw "america's got talent." >> and the president also gave a speech. >> look, i'm talking about the things that everyone's talking about. >> that was not the most scintillating of speeches. >> there were two huge

performances. is it scintillating? >> it's scintillating, i was having fun. >> there were two incredible performances kind of book-ending the night. one was gabourey sidibe's mother. >> yes. >> and the other was the 10-year-old girl, jackie evancho. >> you just cannot believe, it's like an out of body experience. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> little giggle at the end, but you know what? pretty unbelievable. >> that was astonishing. >> that's unbelievable, this kid at ten years old. >> what was she singing? >> she was singing "ponte d

'tero." >> which means don't leave me. >> gabourey sidibe's mother. so we're going find out who is eliminated tonight. >> wow. i'd love to have that young woman on. i just want to hear for myself. i want to watch her mouth and hear the sounds coming out. she's just freakishly talented. we all remember how lee anne rimes was when she was singing a little girl. but she was singing country music so, it wasn't so start startling. this is like a 40-year-old opera star. >> and speaking of stars, miss miranda lambert, with five gmas, is sitting on the couch over there. >> looking so hot and full of herself. >> i can't believe you got five. >> i got nine.

>> nine, so you're competing against yourself in a lot of these categories. your fiancée was on the other day. >> i know, i'm sorry. >> i'm sure she's a little riled. >> well, blake shelton was on, and she tweeted before he went on the air, everyone tune in and watch the train wreck. >> only because she knows him so well. you see what i have to live with. what i got to go through. we're delighted that you're here and we're so excited, she's not going to sing for us today, she's going to sing for us in a couple of weeks. >> how's your hair? >> can you even believe? can you believe how now i can go running outside? >> i can't believe -- what it really looks like. >> no, no. let's move on [ addams family theme song ] ♪ >> hey, miranda.

>> what? >> it's funny. we all love you and you're just very brave. very brave. >> let's talk about -- >> were you wearing makeup in that picture, though? >> no. no makeup and no hair. some serious news, but still given in an uplifting way. michael douglas was on letterman last night and we announced that, we knew he had cancer. but he announced last night that it was stage four cancer. >> which is very bad. >> but he said the doctors are telling him there's an 80% chance of full recovery. >> i didn't see it, i just read it and sometimes words don't often tell the whole story. but i think we have a little clip at the end. let's take a listen. >> i feel i want to do something for you. can i do something for you? >> give me a hug. >> all right, by god. >> wow. >> and then the crowd gave him a standing o after that.

>> david asked him, had he been a smoker? and he said, i had been a smoker and a drinker. and we don't know if it's true or not, and he said, this is the kind of cancer that came from drinking. so we should have -- a segment, you know around here. >> definitely we should. >> all right. sarah, hi, baby. >> we're talking about extremes that fans went through for their hair. i went to paris and the water was bad for my hair and so i boiled bottled water, and took to to a beautician. without that bottled water, i couldn't go. a big shout-out. >> you could pull an andre agassi and just shave it. >> remember sinead o'connor? >> yes. >> let's see hoda in the skull cap. >> i'm over the whole hair issue. >> miranda lambert is us.it us.

>> and andre agassi. look how cute they look together. i'm hungry. what's for dinner?

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that's miranda lambert singing her hit, "white liar" she's nominated for nine country music awards. >> from her latest cd, "revolution." receiving all kinds of praise. >> a lot of people are saying best album of the year. how are you feeling? >> good, it's crazy. 2010 is like a whirlwind year for me. such a blessing, great things keep happening, i'm going, okay, when something bad going to happen. >> you had a lot of struggle years before all of this. you're not an overnight sensation. >> no, i started when i was 17. and this year on the cmas, i'll be 27. i've been doing it for ten

years. >> when you heard the sheer numb of nominees. yesterday they changed, you heard five and they updated them to nine. when you heard the numbers, what did you think, miranda? >> i didn't think i could even be eligible for nine. i was hoping for a couple. but you know, there's a first for me in singer of the year, and song of the year, for "house that built me". >> can we just turn up that? i love that song. >> it's all about stuff in our world and sometimes when you don't have the stuff, you got everything else you really need. and you have to go back down memory lane once in a while. it's a beautiful concept. >> you write a lot of the songs on your cd, don't you? >> yes, i write almost all of them. "the house that built me" i didn't write. this one i pitched to blake, but i heard it and i had such a huge connection. >> blake shelton, your fiancée. >> yes, i'm sorry. >> he gives you hell if a good

way? >> yeah. >> that's why you guys are going to have a really great marriage. because you both have a great sense of humor. and boy, do you need that. >> it makes you not take yourself too seriously. >> he's nuts, though. he really is. >> also, in a good way. >> sometimes, they both tweet like crazy. this one and blake. blake tweets a lot of four-letter words, i'm just telling people. >> you just said something -- what bugs the crud out of you about him? >> everything. >> does he have a habit that just drives you bonkers. >> he doesn't hang up his towel. why not? >> does it go on the floor? >> yes. >> how about if you don't pick up that towel for about ten days and see what happens? >> it will mildew. >> i do love how you describe how he proposed to you in a cornfield, is that true? >> he did. we're really normal. we both have farms in oklahoma and when we go home we're just

no makeup, hats. >> how do you wear your hair? >> i think your hair is awesome. >> i love you, miranda. >> i just called her to say, you look hot. >> like you put your finger in a socket. >> you love everything about this man? >> i know all the bad things and i'm willing to put up with them. so, yes, i do. >> figuring out a set of problems you can deal with and stick with that one. >> you got a tat on your arm, it's got two guns and wings. >> it's my logo. when my first record, kerosene went gold. >> guns are an important part of your life, aren't they? >> yes, i grew up in texas and my dad was a police officer for 25 years. taught me how to shoot early. got my first b.b. gun when i was seven. i got my chl, i got it when i was 21 and i got a little .38 with a pink handle. >> don't mess with miranda.

>> congratulations, you are a well-deserved success. >> thank you. >> it's called "revolution." and miranda whirl be back with us on september 29th to perform one of them. do we get to pick which one? >> i think y'all did. >> next, andre agassi opens up about his life again and tennis. you know when i tickle your belly... and you have that moment of... "oh, yeah!" well... this... is mine. sprinkled with cinnamon, sparkling with taste.

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at the height of his career, andre agassi was famous for his long hair and unique fashion on the court as he was for his game. >> but off the court, his life was full of ups and downs and really amazing conned dictions which he details in his best-selling book, "open." an autobiography, now out in paper back because it was a smash when you were first here with us last year. great to see you. >> good to be here. >> it was one of those heavy books you didn't mind carrying around because it was such a page-turner when it was in hard back. i was surprised by how much i didn't know about your life. >> i was surprised about how much i didn't know about my life

until i really poured myself into it. i put thousands of hours into the book. >> about three years? >> three years. >> what was the hardest part of it to write, to be honest. >> the hardest part was deciding to do is it. the honesty wasn't a question for me. you can't write a book about your life and not talk about your life. >> and call it open. >> yeah. i mean i turned a bright light on myself. and you know, i had to learn a lot about myself through the process. because you're sort of reaching back and you know, finding that strand, that kind of ties your story together. >> were you worried about what other people would think, what your dad would think, what your wife would think, what brooke shields would think? >> i wrote it with my children first and foremost in my mind. but the book's written in present tense. so any judgments that might appear to be in the book are really through the lens of what i was going through at the time. and most of that time i was so darn confused myself, that it's not an accurate portrayal of anybody. but it is of me. >> i wanted it to be hardest on

me, let's put it that way. >> what's fascinating, you would think a book about tennis would be not so interesting over and over. because the ball went this way, the ball came back, or it went out. but you write so compellingly about your struggles as a child who, you really had your childhood hijacked from you. >> yes. >> and that is, you really did hate tennis, didn't you? >> i did. >> and nobody would believe you when you would say, i hate tennis. >> for me, it was imposed on me and it was a life i found myself in. and i didn't really take ownership of it until i was 27 years old. until i was ranked about 140 in the world. until i hit a pretty low depth and was in depression and all sorts of things. i gave myself finally the permission to walk away from it. and the second that i did that, i also asked myself, what if i now choose it for the first time. >> and your relationship with your dad is one will find interesting. your dad sort of pushed you into something that you went unwillingly.

and there's some resentment, obviously in the book. >> there's resentment on how he sort of brought tennis into my life and that sort of thing. but he came with his good as well. i celebrated the fact that he was proud of me. he did introduce me as the number one, future number one player in the world and that's a powerful emotion for a boy. but at the same time he came with a lot of intensity and i felt the weight of the world on my shoulders from an early age. getting sent away it home at 13 was an experience that i had a hard time working through as well. >> you've had a year to look back on the whole thing. are there things that you wish you hadn't shared? and are there things that you left out of the book that are still yet unknown that you wish you had put in? >> the truth is that no man's life, no person's life fits inside the cover of 400 pages. you just can't do it. so it was really hard for me to really prioritize the formative things in my life. the formative people, the formative experiences and where it really, you know, helped me develop as a person and how it impacted me. i don't regret anything i put

in. because i was very clear on the intersections of my life. as far as what could have gone in. i felt like i could have spent another 400 pages. >> well, we'll wait for that. >> it's a great read. ordret'stin , >> tt'hain stores now. coming up next, we'll play "who knew." as a mom i believe books brighten a child's future.

so join the sunnyd book spree. when your child's class collects 20 labels... . . good morning, 10:26. i'm brad cannon. time to spread the wealth.

we've been in the south bay. time to go to the peninsula. >> and the wealth is spreading from the peninsula. southbound 101 still very slow because of all these folks heading down through palo alto. really have seen a lot of traffic bursting toward an earlier accident but that cleared about an hour ago. not clear for 880 northbound coming out of san leandro. still slow through oakland past the coliseum. a live shot, things are starting to clear. better pass there and no problems at the toll plaza. lots of sunshine now in oakland. temperatures, 73 already in san francisco. mid-70s in san jose. most of our inland spots easily climbing into the 80s and 90 aids this afternoon. upper 90s for concord. low 90s san jose. 80s up and down the peninsula. even lower 90s around the inner bay. the weekend ahead looks cooler as the sea breeze starts to pick back up. time now 10:27. more news right after the break.

new video from that engine explosion that forced a qantas jet to make an emergency landing tuesday. take a look at the sparks. you see them flying out of the engine. this is cell phone video that has been posted on the web. it came from one of the 224 passengers that were on that flight. the pilot was able to land without anybody getting hurt. certainly some scary moments. another blood drive today to help the fremont police officer who was shot in the line of duty. officer todd young will undergo more surgery and he's going to need more blood. today's drive at santa clara high school from 2:15 to 6:00. young graduated from there back

in 1989. he's in serious condition now put behe is stable. he was shot last week in oakland after a confrontation with a suspected gang member. a dreamhouse in marin county could be yours if you win the luck of the draw. nonprofit group is going to start selling raffle tickets today for this 3600 square foot home in san rafael. it has four bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, plus a pool, a spa and garden. money from the raffle benefits needy families in marin county. those tickets are $150 each. for more information, go to mar marinraffle.com. thanks for joining us. the "today" show continues next. have a great day. we'll see you back here tomorrow. st ary a and we're back on this wednesday with another edition

of who knew trivia game. we are celebrating early. kathie lee is across the street at the msnbc digital dot-com cafe and is going to hand out $100 to the winners who answer correctly. and those who don't get her cd. joining me in the studio is ken davis, author of "don't know much about history." are you ready? >> yes. >> let's go across to kathie lee. >> a beautiful mom and daughter visiting from texas. which u.s. president made labor day a holiday? grover cleveland, franklin d. roosevelt, john kennedy or richard nixon. you say you know the answer. >> grover cleveland. >> brilliant, mother and daughter. >> congratulations. grover cleveland, i would have missed that one. >> he made labor day a federal holiday. because he had broken a strike,

the pullman railroad strike and he felt like he had to throw labor, organized labor a bone. so he gave them the first three-day weekend. >> perfect. back across to kath. >> look at all of these ladies from dallas, texas here for the u.s. open. but i guess you are cowboy fans, right? >> yes. >> after it was instituted in 1938, how much was the federal minimum wage? >> five cents an hour, $1, or 25 cents an hour. ladies. minimum of three seconds. >> five cents an hour. [ buzzer ] >> oh! >> oh, wrong. i thought it was. >> the correct answer is 25 cents an hour. a quarter an hour. >> 25 cents an hour, they're cowboys fans, so what can we expect? >> whoa!

>> uh-oh, who do you root for, ken? >> i'm a new yorker. >> go on, the 1938 fair labor act instituted not only the first minimum wage, but also the first child labor laws, until 1938, children worked routinely in factories and mines, terrible conditions. >> okay. >> sorry, dallas. >> back across to kath. >> where and when was the coffee break invented? columbia south america in the 1600s, stoughton, wisconsin or seattle, washington. or none of the above. >> let's go with b. >> yeah. >> wow! >> i love when they win. all right. that was stoughton, wisconsin, the coffee break was created in 1882. explain, please. >> great story, a bunch of norwegian housewives, their husbands were working in a tobacco factory. but they got new jobs in a wagon factory. the wives went to work for the other factory, and the owner

agreed, they would only agree to work if he gave them a break in the afternoon for a coffee break. it became part of the language in the 1950s, though, when there was an advertisement that talked about the coffee break. but if you go to stoughton, they celebrate the coffee break there in a big way. >> congratulations to stoughton, back across to kath. >> these ladies and daughters are from syracuse. that's right. in the united states, when did paid vacations become law? 1938, 1968, 1976, or never? >> b. [ buzzer ] >> everyone has a story. >> she loves singing that song. >> the correct answer is -- never. >> the united states has no federal law mandating vacations. of course most workers get vacations. but in europe, the average workers gets 20 days guaranteed paid vacation. so that's practically a month of work. but no, 1938, we got an

eight-hour workday and a 40-hour work week, but we never got a mandated paid vacation. >> got it. back across to kath. >> in what city did the first labor day parade take place, chicago, new york, boston or washington? >> chicago. [ buzzer ] >> another. >> they're thrilled, look at them. the correct answer is new york. >> new york, 1882, the first labor day parade takes place unofficially, we forget, labor day is really how hard it was to be a working man or woman in the late 19th century. it was a long struggle. so labor day was created to work for the eight-hour work day and also to organize workers. and it was hard-fought. there was a lot of violence and death in the labor movement. >> we have time for one quick last one. kath? >> from austin. what company got its start making punch clocks for workers?

ibm, general electric, at&t or 3m. >> general electric. [ buzzer ] >> it's a big day for me. >> ibm started the punch card? >> it started out before it was ibm. it was the tabulating records company and it was punch clocks and eventually merged and became the international business machine. but that's where computers really got started. punch cards going through holes. >> ken, thank you so much. your book is great, "don't know much about history." it gives you everything at your fingertips. coming up, how to get rid of stains and smells that plague your home. daily annoyances, kathie is on her way back after this. so we can save on all our game time favorites. aah! [ laughter ] [ dad ] what do you think of that, huh? [ mom ] and if there's a better price out there, they'll even match it. which means come game time, i'm just as ready as he is. go! go! yeah! [ mom ] game time costs less at walmart. save money. live better. walmart.

why does it say box tops for education on your soup? oh, it's a program that raises money for schools. that's great, but this is a can. yes it is. you can't have a box top on a can. yes we can. but a can isn't a box. we know. i don't think you do. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. [ laughs ] this is it! [ all ] 10...9...8... a new school year has so much potential! any resolutions? my resolution is the same as always; keep her full and focused with my fiber. [ all ] 3...2...1... happy school year! [ female announcer ] this school year, make a resolution to give your kid kellogg's frosted mini-wheats cereal. an excellent source of fiber from 100% whole grain. that helps keep them full so they can focus on the day ahead. keeps 'em full...

keeps 'em focused. we're all striving for it. purina cat chow helps you nurture it in your cat with a full family of excellent nutrition and helpful resources. purina cat chow. share a better life. that's why i got them pillsbury toaster strudel. warm flaky pastry with delicious sweet filling my kids will love. plus i get two boxtops for their school. toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat.

and now on today's whip it. time to clean up your life, from the and now on today's whip it. time to clean up your life, from the set-in stains around the house, to the under-eye circles that won't go away. we've got three experts to show us how to get rid of our everyday annoyances. >> yes. first up, getting rid of the household hassells that stink up your home. we're going to jump right in. everyone has had that situation in their kitchens, smelly garbage, icky, what do we do. >> here it is. clean and green odor e limb nay tor. it was formulated for pet messes, but it takes care of a lot of things, including inside your trash can. it's ecofriendly. >> clean and green. >> what does it smell like? >> and what it does is the particles actually binds the

odor particles and it naturally biodegrades and takes away the bacteria that causes odors. >> that smells fresh. the smell of onions. >> a musty, damp basement. all you need to do is cut an onion in half. the same chemicals that make you cry when you chop an onion are actually bacteria killers, germ killers. they kill the bacteria in the basement. >> but won't it smell like onions downstairs? >> for about an hour it will. leave it overnight, okay? >> got it. this is a good one, musty clothes. i see alcohol and i don't get what's going on. >> you have to. vodka takes out musty smells in your clothes. so if you're moving your fall clothes and winter clothes out of your wardrobe and putting them in your closet, a couple of light spritzes, leave them in a well-ventilated area and hang it up. vodka kills germs without any smells. >> and you clean it? >> no, just leave it. >> stains. help us out there.

>> the first thing, stains that just have happened. you spill coffee in your carpet, baby wipes. this only works on stains that just happened. go right to your baby wipe and vigorously brush and it will come up. i promise you. you know what else it's good for? >> what? >> deodorant on clothing. deodorant stains, it will remove it. keep these handy in your glove compartment in your purse. >> cool. >> sarah, thank you. >> we'll head upstairs to kathie lee. >> thank you, hoda. acne frizz, undereye circles, but enough about hoda. we all hate them. here are some solutions as kristen prada, executive editor of "allure" magazine. hello. >> hello. >> umptly, if you get a zit, it's not going to go away immediately. but here's what you can do to disguise it.

visine, tap it on the zit, it is going to take the redness out just like it does in your eye and the coolness of the refrigerator will help shrink it. so the zit will actually go down a little bit. >> why not use preparation h? >> well, you could. but this will help with the redness. you want to make sure that the pores open up. so, you're going to wash your face with this acid and we love this from biore. dab a little. it draws more attention to it if you make it like an eyesore. >> this you say neither hoda or myself would have needed the keratin if you would have used this. >> this is a product for people with frizzy hair. different formulas based on the texture of your hair.

it uses polymers. they coat your hair in a way that it blocks out humidity but keeps all the nice moisture in your hair. i was recently in tampa, florida, it was so humid that my sunglasses were fogging up, but my hair remained perfect. >> i looked at your hair and thought, you must have had a keratin treatment. >> no. we're out of time? real quick. under-eye circles, you want an eye cream with retinol and vitamin k. vitamin k keeps the blood vessels from leaking, that causes the redness and retinol is going to help thicken your skin and concealer, dab it on and let it sit for about 30 seconds or a minute. then blend. >> we've cleaned the house and banished the blemishes, now we want to get rid of those pesky people. michelle collins is a psychologist. how are you? >> i'm good, how are you doing?

>> let's start off with the bad boyfriend that we're trying to discard. how do we do such a thing? >> you've got to be firm with him. i suggest you take notes, make a plan of all the things you want to say when you go into this meeting, so he can't change your mind. he's toxic, so he's going to push back. you want to find a safe place to have the conversation. possibly someplace quiet, but public. you want to be very clear, you want to break up, no negotiation. >> clarity is important this those things. let's pretend you break up and he says can we go for coffee in a week? >> no. take a break. a clean break. no friendship. >> what's the point of breaking up if you're going to be friends? >> no. >> toxic friends, we all have them. they're bad news, how do we discard those? >> you slowly start backing away. stop calling them. let some of their calls slide. start being too busy to go to some of the things with them. you want to pull back slow. you don't necessarily have to attack them and go and say, i don't want to be your friend because you're toxic. chances are they'll attack you. >> should you just say hey, look, i don't think this is a great friendship for me, without

being aggressive about it? >> you can. if you want to bother. or you could just let it die, move on, look for healthy, stronger friends. >> what about the busy-body, gossipy friends who are like gnats, all around. >> share less information and give them positive stuff, if you're always saying everything is great and good and wonderful, they'll move on to find somebody who has great, gossipy use. >> there's the saying that you attract what's within you. so you should have good people around you. >> so you should think whether you're the gossip, too, and whether you're adding to it. if you stop, they'll stop. >>xt, how to prepare > mingan unext, how to prepare an end of the summer feast that your guests will not soon forget, after this. and general mills big g kid cereals can help. did you know it's the only leading line of kid cereals with at least 8 grams of whole grain and a good source of calcium? cereals they already love, like lucky charms and cinnamon toast crunch.

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we're in today's kitchen getting saucy with an end of summer feast in september while the weather is still great. the beaches are quiet and the

food is still fresh. the perfect time to relax and enjoy the flavors of summer. >> we're talking lobster, tomatoes and watermelon. chef fred bassalion from nantucket. a nantucket boy. >> one my favorite places on nantucket. always delicious, always fresh. when he brought this out to us at the restaurant everybody stopped and went -- i want one of those. tell us what you're making. >> it's pretty funny. everybody thought you got it because you're special. no. everybody can get one. >> when does that kick in? >> we're going it make a lobster bloody mary. it's a lobster skewer using maine lobster. a little bit of lemon. >> ouch! >> a piece of lobster. these are heirloom tomatoes. >> a great time of year for those. is it really like a quarter of a pound of lobster. >> it is, it is. we have them at the restaurant,

they're selling like hotindication. >> should you use the claws? >> you can use claws, you can use tails. i like the presentation factor when we use the claws. >> lots of lemon. >> you can put another one on. >> then we have some horseradish-infused vodka. >> oh. >> and this is not the reason i love it. >> all right. it's among the reasons. >> we've got our skewer. >> a little bit of house-made bloody mary mix. >> you can imagine when that's delivered, people go crazy. people don't know what what it is and they want it. >> we serve it at the brant-point grill. >> i might take this one with me. >> i left out the skewer. >> that's the money-maker. >> what are we making down here? >> a grilled watermelon steak salad. you take a circle cutter. you can cut it in any shape you like. pull it out, you have a round circle of watermelon. which is really cool, especially

for vegetarians. put in a little marinade, we use triple 8 rum, and we grill the steak right here until it gets a little bit of grill marks on it. and the sugar and the rum will give you the grill marks. we put it over here on a bed of arugula with a little bit of honey dijon and cider vinaigrette. a little bit of candy pistachio. and some house-made cheese. >> and what kind of cheese is that? >> this is a fresh farmer's cheese that i make right in the kitchen. you'd be surprised how easy it is. the recipe we have for you. all it is is zlee simple ingredients. cider vinegar, milk and salt. you want to try it? >> i love it, i love it. i'm just over here eating my lobster. >> these are great. and so easy to prepare, too, huh? >> and people love it, it's the wild factor as well. >> it's the wild factor on both of these things. >> isn't that delicious?

>> yes. so good. >> wow. thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> thank you. we'll be back with more of "today" on nbc. !%

this is a little bit of a sad day in new york. >> it really is. you probably don't know why, but it is. >> lindsay sobol is going to be leaving new york to go to nbc in l.a. come on up, lindsay. >> she's recently married. >> yes, your life is all turning around. are you going to miss us, too? we're going to miss you, sweetheart. >> she's going to be in santa monica, she's going to be wearing her thong, she's going to be so happy. >> you will be in roller skates, darling before you realize it. >> we promise you. >> have a safe trip. >> the roller skates, the thong,

the sun setting. >> and my mom is watching. >> tomorrow, "the real house wives of new jersey."