it's booze day tuesday and a perfect day for fat tuesday, february 21st, and we are celebrating mardi gras. >> it is mardi gras in new orleans. >> nice balls. >> thank you. boy, bourbon street clears out quickly. usually wall-to-wall people. the streets were jammed at 10:00 this morning and this is i guess the cleanup, the after. >> what do you mean? it's over? doesn't it go on for a while? >> it's been going on for two weeks. people are exhausted. >> i see what you're saying, because tomorrow is the beginning of lent, whatever nasty things they're doing they have to stop today. today is the last opportunity. >> it's so much fun in new orleans on mardi gras. such fond memories of it. one of the memories is of the wonderful king cake, which we have on our table. >> i'm not going to destroy it this year, like i did last year,

looking for the baby jesus. >> a lesson kathie lee taught us. this is from one of the top bakeries in new orleans. why am i cutting it like this? >> i don't know. i thought you were supposed to use your fingers. >> take a bite. >> no. no bite. i'm looking for baby jesus. he's not there. did you get him? >> it's cinnamony and sweet and buttery and delicious. >> the person who gets the baby jesus has to buy the next cake for somebody. how many can you eat? >> people get a lot of those. we have a mardi gras cooking segment. we're drinking hurricanes, which are -- >> which i never realized why you drink a hurricane because you don't want hurricanes, you know, but people want these kinds of hurricanes. >> i know. they're delicious. they're fruity and strong and potent. >> oh, my. >> happy mardi gras, everybody. >> i guess there's a hurricane going on. >> a little later in the show we'll do some mardi gras stuff.

>> what's this? >> you just catch them. i don't know. you catch them. you throw them. that's what happens. we have a whole table full of beads. >> hoda had a big weekend. >> i went to florida with my mom for the long weekend to spend some time. we had the most relaxing, laid-back -- there's my mom and i just hanging. >> yeah. >> we have our beach picture. and the next photo is of one of your former boyfriends. >> what? >> john tisch. he's in the middle. >> aww. he's a sweetheart of a guy. >> there's his wife, lizzie, and mason their daughter and my mom and jen. he regaled me with the story of your chance meeting. it wasn't really a chance meeting. he wanted to date you badly. >> i don't know about that. all i know is there were two people, when i was working with frank on "good morning america," two gentlemen that said, kathie, i have a friend, they called, they said do you know that kathie lee johnson? frank said, yeah, we're friends, we work together.

both said can you set me up? i never did blind dates and i still don't. but anyway -- and i just never felt comfortable with those sort of things. both times i said to frank i'll go if you go. one was tim mara, whose family owned the giants since the beginning, and the other was john tisch, both men of great substance and great personality and wonderful. but i guess -- and john i liked a lot. but because frank was there and frank i was comfortable with, i yakked with frank the entire time. i ended up marrying him. sorry, john. i went to john's first wedding. i'm telling you, it was covered in all the society papers as one of the biggest weddings. it was gorgeous and amazing. there were all kinds of stories in the press, i don't know if they were true or not, that just the flowers alone from holland that had been flown in, like $500,000. one of those over-the-top beautiful things.

during the ceremony, frank leaned over and said, this could have been yours. you know, i was -- anyway, i saw john last week at the party before the super bowl and said, it could have been us. but it's a running gag. >> it is a running gag. >> a sweetheart of a guy. he is a doll. >> how was your holiday weekend? >> it was amazing. i went out to california with cassidy. she had a couple of, you know, auditions and cody's out there, his final couple of months of school, we think. i don't know. anyway, it was fun. at one point, took 12 -- i think it was a table of 12 of us with -- i never, like, sat down with cody and, like, 12 kids from his -- that he lives with. >> how was that? >> you know what, nice kids. he picks nice friends. one crazy kid called jersey, but other than that, you know, it was good. it was nice. i love california. you know i do. >> yep, yep, yep. >> all good. >> it is february, you guys, and there are some people out there

who don't realize it's february on the calendar because you still have your christmas lights up. people are getting sick of it. >> people are still wearing their christmas balls. >> hey. so we had a sneaky photographer who went around to various homes in one neighborhood and just snapped pictures of christmas lights that are still up. >> yeah. psychological reasons for wanting to -- at least those aren't colored. you know? the little white ones i can see keeping on all season long. >> but the santa and the reindeer -- >> and people have wreaths hanging on their doors. they're fire hazards now, you know? just get rid of them. move on with life. >> i used to have christmas lights on my balcony forever because, you know what, to undo it, to do it -- just leave it. >> where was jay this whole weekend? >> he was busy.

he was in sun valley, idaho, doing some stuff. >> you guys are smart. you keep personal time together and you give each other space. >> yes. >> which is very important, i think. >> you need breathing room. >> i think you do. >> frank didn't go with us to california. >> what did frank do? >> i don't know. who knows what frank does? i don't know. >> all right. so, as you guys know, whitney houston's funeral was over the weekend and it was very emotional and poignant. we'll talk about it a little later. >> we haven't had a chance, you and i, to talk about it. i was blown away by tyler perry and really moved by kevin costner. they both absolutely captured tone perfectly, stories perfectly. it was magnificent. performances were amazing. bebe winans. i liked when kevin costner said god's probably wondering how he created something so perfect. >> absolutely great. they're obviously selling off some of her -- auctioning off, i

think, some of her things, dress and earrings and stuff. >> couple things from "the bodyguard." >> you know what's funny, whitney houston's story is such a big, significant story, and this other kid is next to her in this picture, jeremy lin, getting such incredible play, on the cover of "sports illustrated," "time" magazine. >> doesn't seem it's going to his head at all. >> no. >> very grounded in his family and faith. seems like he's enjoying it but also has perspective. he says this can't last. people will turn on you. have you noticed, hoda? >> they turn. >> they don't mean to. >> but they do. >> until you're not winning anymore. this guy will be a winner long after he stops winning basketball games. he's a winner of a human being. he really is. this is a guy who thought he was a winner. i love this story. >> you've been driving down the street and there are cones and you want to make a turn but you can't because there are cones blocking it. most people will not turn there because they know there are rules and others -- >> i can't, there's a cone.

>> other people say i don't care. so anyway, this happened in san francisco, california. a guy couldn't stand to be stuck in traffic so he took a short cut through the cones and got stuck in wet cement. so anyway, the workers were frantically trying to shovel him out and apparently he couldn't get out of the car. he's sloshing around. his porsche is in the cement. anyway -- >> pride comes before the cement. >> and also there was this lady driving through mcdonald's or whatever and the person in front of you is taking forever and they're trying to count their money and i don't know what's happening. you want to go. this woman couldn't stand anymore. >> she honked once, she did, yelled. >> didn't work. she decided to ram her, just to ram her car into the back of hers. the driver was arrested. >> then she realized, oh, my gosh, this is probably worse than a cone. and she drove away. but they found her and charged

her with aggravated battery. >> that can happen. have to be careful with your patience. >> i don't drive around a lot because i don't. i'm able to, but -- be grateful that i don't drive around that much. when i go to california, i get a car, rent a car and stuff. these newfangled things where -- just give me a thing where i can go reverse, you know, or park or drive. don't give me four drives. give me one drive. >> and a key that goes in the keyhole, not the nonkey cars. >> now there's a new thing. there's nothing worse than not knowing your car. you like press a little button this way to get it -- you guys know what i'm talking about? just the right little touch or it doesn't -- so i'm driving. cassidy has to brake everywhere we go. i can't get out of the parking

lot. i can't put it into reverse. i finally get in reverse and then i can't get it into drive. oh, lord. >> the new cars are harder. >> people are honking at me. somebody could have started -- >> ramming you, too. >> yeah. then i take it out on the person behind me. i go, go around, go arnold. like it's their fault that i'm so stupid i can't -- that's it. >> we have to talk about our girl, sara, because she's in "self" magazine. >> good for you, sara. what did you do to lucy danziger to get in "self" magazine? >> we don't like to print that, but we were doing girlfriend dates because there are so many times you just eat and drink and every girl knows paying for calories is not your ideal. brittany is in there and my best friend, erin. >> you got your little chihuahuas in there. friday night. >> how cute. >> apparently sara doesn't just stick to friday nights. apparently saturday nights is something that was so huge, sara

can't even -- didn't show up anywhere on sunday. sara. >> there was a party. >> it happened at my apartment. a little teeny place in new york where i thought i was safe to let christine go and maybe have a bible study in my apartment. >> but that wasn't what happened. >> that wasn't in the cards. at 10:00 here, i'm in los angeles, i start getting texts of people doing weird things with chickens. now, there's a chicken -- i have a chicken -- adorable little chicken on top of a huge thing. and one of our esteemed producers who won the edward r. murrow award, is doing something weird with a chicken. that's all i'm going to say. >> are her initials j.l. long? >> yes, they are. enough, sara. >> coming up, the latest news from hollywood and our guy -- >> is andy cohen here? >> andy cohen is in the house. >> hide the children! >> then where's the beef? sara finds out. if she's not too hung over.

it's time for "today's buzz" for all the celebrity news you need to know this minute. >> from remembering whitney houston to "saturday night live," host of "watch happens live," andy cohen. >> andy's in the house. >> yes, he is. how are you? >> this morning he said i'm tired. i said, why, because you have the best life in the world? >> i'm appreciative of everything. i just said i was tired. you asked me how i was doing. >> thankfulness and gratitude. >> by the way, i was sober as a church mouse last night just so you know. >> really. why? >> you said i had a hangover. >> no i didn't. not you. >> whitney's funeral saturday. you got to watch. >> i thought i want a baptist funeral. i just thought it was absolutely incredible. >> a celebration. >> a celebration. adding to what you said about costner and tyler perry, i

thought that her bodyguard was incredible, her real bodyguard, pax houston, her sister-in-law. everyone added something completely different. >> yeah. nobody said the same kind of story. >> exactly, which i think presented the full picture of her. >> full picture. >> there's been a lot of buzz about bobby brown being turned away and what happened. apparently he was invited plus two or something and he brought nine people. >> you don't do that. it's rude. >> it is rude. but to his credit, he didn't cause a scene. he went in, kissed the coffin, left. >> what happened with bobbi kristina? there was talk she left. >> there's a lot of unfortunate speculation saying that she has some sort of a substance abuse problem herself. i'm certainly hoping -- >> it wouldn't be surprising. it's tragic. >> rihanna and chris brown. this one shocked me. they are collaborating again? >> well, there was speculation for a while. rihanna said there was a special guest on her new song.

there was speculation that it was maybe going to be chris brown. it turns out it is, and not only that, chris brown has a new remix out of "don't stop the music" and rihanna's voice appears on that. now, it's getting so much publicity, which i guess -- >> that's probably the reason. >> i know. but you know what, nobody wants -- nobody wants them to be together. >> well, i don't know, but maybe they want them to be forgiving and moving on. maybe it could be that. is anybody saying they are now a couple again? >> there is speculation. >> oh. >> i don't read that crap. >> stephen colbert. that was weird. he was gone for a week. >> he was gone for a few days. they shut down production of his show last week. >> for his mom, right? >> it turns out his mom who's 91 was ill and he sent out kind of a special message to her last night. it was his first night back. and she has 11 kids. it turns out you're a very

strong woman and sent her a very sweet little message. >> i think that's awesome. guys like that as having a mother and loving them. but you don't hear about his personal life and that kind of thing. it makes somebody very human and lovable. >> we got to run. >> stop it. >> happy fat tuesday. >> happy fat tuesday. >> happy mardi gras. >> how is the show going? >> going great. >> good for you. love you. >> thanks. see you at 11:00 tonight. >> we'll be there. >> up next, sara takes a stab. she's the one i said was hong over. working the counter of a popular new york city specialty shop. can she cut the beef? can she find the beef? we know a place where tossing and turning have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before.

when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelli, occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then get lunesta for $0 at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta. ♪ $5 ♪ $5 footlong [ male announcer ] februany's on! any regular footlong™ is a $5 footlong™... all day long. subway. eat fresh®.

it is time for "sara in the city." wow. everything new york has to offer. >> this time around she checks out a local business that's been

around for more than half a century. >> one of my favorite things about the city is you can get almost all your own groceries from family specialty shops. this week i decided to check out what life was like as a butcher. >> what would you like? >> this is an institution in manhattan's west village. >> good morning, sara. >> good morning. a family run business passed down for four generations and counting. i got to meet brothers jerry, frank, and joe. along with frank's son, matthew. was that difficult working with family? >> we're still here. we work with knives. >> now, aside from the fact you've been here for so long, what makes this the place to go? >> i think our relationship with our customers. we're really family oriented. >> frank took me behind the counter to try out my own charm. >> sometimes you have to suggest

things, sara. >> i have to suggest things? >> do you like lamb? beef? >> what's your favorite? >> the brown one. >> it was time to get down and dirty. >> we put the new york strips in here. this is your new york strip. >> okay. >> you're going to pull that out. >> do you have, like, clampers or something? >> right here. these are the clampers today. lift it up. it's not going to bite you, sara. we dry age all of our steaks. it's about 21 days old. >> i've never picked up a piece -- on my shirt? >> no. on your apron. >> okay. >> wow. that's a lot of meat. >> yay, sara! >> very nice. >> tony, i got a new butcher. >> regular customer tony was aiming to please. what kind of steak? >> professional. >> frank, let's talk about it. what are we giving him? >> normally i give him a rib eye. >> i would say the rib eye looks amazing.

>> my favorite, too. >> my favorite, as well. tony, are you going to cook this for me? can you make the steak and come back? should i put it in there nicely together like a heart? >> it does look like a heart. >> i was really getting into the swing of it. i got it. i think i need a steamer. >> no. >> he passed me on to baby joe. to learn about veal. is that a butcher thing? were your hands a different size before? that looks like a serving of meat by itself. you're wasting string. >> don't tell him. >> jerry, joe's wasting string. >> they always tell me that. >> there's a little sibling rivalry here. >> very good, sara. very good. >> leg of lamb. >> then it was matthew's turn to throw me a bone. >> a beef bone. these are famous. >> rivalry or not, there was no shortage of fun behind the counter. >> we always listen to lady gaga.

100% lady gaga store. >> why? is it the meat thing? >> because she's the best. yeah, it's a meat thing. >> by the end of the day, there was even a little love in the air. tony! he wasn't joking. tony, i love you. >> sara, you two timer. >> you cut the meat. he made it for me. that's romantic. >> i got the wine, sara. >> i think i love tony now. first day on the job. how did i do? >> you did great. you fit right in. >> i'm a natural! >> a natural! >> butcher hands, yay! graphic. >> nice. work. >> it's not going to work out.s th wis. u sjam eger is with us.

we're back on this tuesday with more of "today" with the handsome actor sam jaeger. you've probably already fallen in love with him. it just took us three minutes. >> he plays stay at home dad who along with his wife is gearing up to adopt a baby from a teen mother to be. take a look. >> i think he's going to want me at the hospital. i'll call you as soon as i get there. >> your bag. your purse. hey. >> yeah. >> our son is coming. >> our son is coming. >> wow. >> aww.

>> now you've sealed the deal. now we really love you. >> that's a lot packed into these last few episodes, isn't there? >> yeah. normally on the show people are looking for gossip, i'm always, like, well it's basically two people working things out with their children. >> real life. >> for once we have good, juicy gossip. >> tell us. >> trying to figure out if we get this baby at the end of the season or not. >> very sweet. you're not going to tell us. >> that's as risque as we get. no going over a cliff and cars blowing up. >> it's still despite not having the bells and whistles. >> you care about the characters. >> what i love about it is it's so messy, like real families are. it just shows all the complications and people just trying to be better parents. >> we never start out that way. let's have a really bad marriage and a messy relationship. >> yeah. totally. i don't think she was going anywhere but i'm going to stick it out for a couple months. >> you have a couple kids. do those life lessons play out

helping you out here? >> i realized recently that my -- i find these issues with my character. i want to defend him, and i'm, like, i realize is that my character's issue or my issue i'm trying to project? >> because he's a stay at home guy? >> he's a stay at home guy and loves his wife, and just like my wife is very strong willed. erica -- >> so there are problems at home? that's all right. we don't judge. tell us about it. >> it's rough, to be honest. yeah, but trying to figure out, like, going into to work and thinking, why am i defending joel here? is that joel's issue or -- >> as an actor, that's what you do. you observe to take what you learn and apply it to a character. >> yeah. so many great actors on our show. i'm so lucky i get to go work with all of them. >> and in real life you have a 2-year-old and a 17-year-old stepdaughter. >> yeah. yeah. >> do they get along? >> they do. >> do they have issues? >> no. they get along well. he goes to bed every night calling her name.

>> and wakes up at 4:00 calling yours. >> we're trying to train him to call hers. so far no luck. >> good luck with that. >> thank you. >> an independent film you're working on as well? >> yeah. i wrote and directed a movie called "take me home," about a woman who gets into a cab in new york and drives across the country out to california. >> and they bond. >> and they bond. yes. >> that's great. >> thank you. >> that was just from your little brain? >> yeah. i conned my wife into playing the woman and we shot from new york all the way out to california. >> with a 2-year-old with you? >> no. it was before the 2-year-old. somehow she's still married to me. >> you made a movie together and do construction at the same time -- >> especially with a woman that powerful, as you know. >> there really are issues. >> sam, good luck. >> thank you. >> you're adorable. >> all righty. where can you catch it?

>> tonight at 10:00, 9:00 central on nbc. >> all right. up next, what sex has to do with networking. >> oh, sex. >> you might be surprised to find out. that's right after this. [ male announcer ] when do you take 5-hour energy?

when i'm on the night shift. when they have more energy than i do. when i don't feel like working out. when there isn't enough of me to go around. ♪ when i have school. and work. every morning. it's faster and easier than coffee. every afternoon when that 2:30 feeling hits. -every day. -every day. every day is a 5-hour energy day. [ male announcer ] 5-hour energy. every day.

if you think we've come a long way, baby, just wait until you hear the stories some women reveal about what really goes on in the working world. >> ivan mizener is the chairman and founder of business organization, bni, as well as the co-author of "business networking and sex," not what you think. and paula williams is a lonely workplace expert. how do you follow that? we're happy you're here. >> thank you. me, too. >> a lot of this is about networking. i think a lot of us find us in a position where you have to network, you have to go into a room with strangers and meet people. it makes a lot of -- i know me and some other women uncomfortable initially. >> i'm sure. one of the reasons is the networking disconnect where people show up at networking events and they're there to sell. if you ask them, i'm here to buy, nobody's there to buy.

so after trying to sell and not build relationships -- >> like a competitiveness instead of cooperativeness. >> the collaboration is key. and women are better at it than men. >> why is that, ivan? >> it's based on a survey we did of 12,000 business professionals and found out that women were more likely to be collaborative, to be relational and men were more likely to be transactional, hi, my name's ivan, what's your business? >> hoda, your point, the word networking scares us. schmoozing and -- >> yeah. phony. >> yeah. in essence it's about meeting people and finding a genuine connection, learning something about this group of people, you know, whether you check in on linkedin, whatever that is, so you know something about them so it feels natural. if it feels more natural to you, it will to them. >> are men not treating women well? the way we teased, we said you won't believe story. >> absolutely. we had open-ended questions and

a thousand responses. three women in a row said i hate networking events. men hit on you, it's like a dating service. then the fourth one, the guy, says i love the networking events. a great way to pick up chicks. on behalf of men everywhere, i'd like to apologize. >> that's never going to change, though, no matter how much enlightenment they get. >> oh, yeah. >> you're just an infear -- inferior species. >> oh! >> some women wear phony wedding bands because they don't want to be hit on. >> several women said they wore wedding rings, they weren't married, so they wouldn't get hit on. >> that doesn't usually stop men, does it? >> no. >> men are more likely to be guilty of premature solicitation. which you to believe want to say fast three times. i want to say that three times. that's where they meet somebody and go right into the business or are trying to make a connection in some way, whereas the women don't do that. >> when you brag about how great you are, guys seem to think that's a great thing, hey, i've done x, y, and z.

usually every woman in the circle is looking around going, get a load of him, can you believe it? should women be more that way? >> i think at the end of the day when you're authentically talking about what it is you're contributing, if you love the job you do or the business you started and you're genuinely asking questions about the person in return. that is two-way exchange. it's not hey, look at me. i know something a little about you. >> it comes off as phony. even though they're not phony people. >> women are better at that, making that relationship. where they're weak and where it came up in the survey was they're not as good at asking for the sale. >> what do we do instead? dance around it? >> one person said i hate going to networking events because women spend 90% of their time talking about their families and kids and don't get to business. >> women want to offer something first and then ask. sort of what can i do to help you? >> in the survey, here's the

beaut of of it, women actually networked less, spent less time networking, but generated more business than men by a substantial amount. >> because of their relationships. >> because they're relational. that beats transactional every day of the week. >> once again, we win. >> coming up next, toys that teach your children a thing or two. something for everybody right after this. i'm meteorologist chris warren with your forecast across the country. we have a few spots we're going to watch out for with the chance of rain and snow, particularly around the great lakes and the appalachians, increasing chance for storms, as well as we get into the afternoon hours. that next system pushing out of the rockies and out of the northwest into the plains during the course of the day. still a very mild day for a huge chunk of the country. yellow, orange and red we're looking at 60s and 70s all the

way from parts of illinois and indiana down to the gulf coast. we'll see cooler air to the north but relatively mild for this time of year. a chance for snow on thursday for the northern plains and in maine. otherwise, quiet weather in the northern locations and the chance of storms is right in through here. thursday, mild temperatures still with a huge portion of the southeast. that chance for rain pushes off into the east right along the eastern seaboard here with upper 40s and lower 50s for the northeast and washington, d.c., lower 60s, a bit cooler for you in atlanta. then 30s and 40s in the rockies. for saturday, another system moves into the pacific northwest. it's a colder system, some of the higher hills you may have snow makes. around the great lakes, we could see some snow showers copping up and cooler air moving back in to the southeast. that system now that was in the

northwest moves into the plains on sunday. cooler air will be behind it. upper 20s for highs in billings and minneapolis. minnesota feeling some much cooler air. still mild, cooler than midweek in the southeast. orlando still looking nice. remember weekdays on the weather channel, watch "wake up with al." 2:30 in the afternoon, a lot to do, and you've hit the wall. but you got to get stuff done. so take 5-hour energy. just open it up, knock it back, and roll up your sleeves. 5-hour energy is faster and easier than coffee. man, does it work. you'll get that alert, energized feeling you need to get stuff done. a lot of stuff. wow. look at you go. 5-hour energy. when you gotta get stuff done.

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"today's moms" is brought to you by crest 3d white. >> time for "today's moms" and ways to keep your kids busy during winter recess. from reading and writing to arithmetic, toys that will teach your children as they play and have a good time. >> sean bean is "parenting" magazine's executive editor and is here to share his favorite picks to bring out the genius in your child.

hi, sean. >> how you doing? >> so much for kids these days we didn't have for our children. so much fun. >> absolutely. >> the wall coaster. before you do it, tell us what's going to happen. >> actually, the 12-year-old kid invented this. his dad found him in a basement. he was cutting paper towel rolls in half, scotch taping them to the wall. >> show us how it works. >> this is a great idea. you can throw a bunch in here. and it goes all the way down. you can do it all along the wall. you can use stickies to attach it everywhere. >> you can start in different places? >> yes, you can. >> look at this, hodie. >> okay. pretty cool. >> yeah. >> did this make this little kid a fortune? >> is he a billionaire? >> oh, he bought a bentley. i saw him. he's doing just great. >> look who we have here. >> little girl. hi, babies. >> abigail and elizabeth. what are they doing? hi, guys. >> this is called pizza mania.

pizza is math because it's the world's most delicious pie chart. so why not break it down into a game so it forces addition, subtraction, because the chef calls out the order, he says add pepperoni, add mushroom, take away onion, add green pepper. it becomes an addition and subtraction game for young kids. a fun way to work on math. >> cool. thanks. and? >> one of the big things going right now is personalized books for kids. a couple cool ones here. here we have personalized storybooks where essentially you put in the kid's first name and last name and get the books back with their name inserted in it. >> great idea. >> hi. >> hi. >> it spells it out over the course of pages so it's not just about learning your name but reading, about spelling. who doesn't want to read a book about themselves? >> narcissism. >> good for you. >> the older version, essentially you get this packet

which looks like the s.a.t. form but you fill out the pages, draw, add stories, pictures and send it in. three weeks later, you get a leather-bound book and it's a really fun way to get kids engaged into reading and writing. >> okay. >> rory story cubes is super cool. you get nine cubes. you just roll them out and you have little pictures on them so you make a story based on what's on here. >> excellent. >> you can say once upon a time, kathie lee was walking down the street with a cane and hoda parachuted in and landed on a sheet. >> yeah. >> storytelling, problem solving. really cool. >> we have about 1:30. up front, who do we have? >> look at alex. >> essentially this takes a coloring book and puts it on your ipad. >> you're drawing here and it's coming up here? show us more. >> is that spider-man? that is really cool. >> that's awesome.

>> the markers he's using can't use it to draw on toilets or walls or anything else. you don't have to worry about messing up the house. >> come here with us. >> all right. >> this is discovery dee jay. music inspires brain activity. used to be a casio keyboard. now it's all about the turntables. 26 sound effects, eight rhythms, the headphones. they can sing through it. totally cool. a lot of fun. >> you guys did really well. thanks so much. stay with them. okay. >> for older kids, you see these man on the street interviews where you ask some tween about american history. you ask, where is new jersey? they say it's close to old jersey. nobody knows anything. this is just a fun way to learn facts for kids 9 and up. hold on. >> wait, wait, wait. >> jackson is the capital of which -- >> mississippi. >> we're done.

>> moving on. >> moving on. >> for the coup de grace, city blocks. obviously blocks are really fun, open ended, creative toys. used to be lincoln logs but who wants to be living in a cabin in the woods? let's go to the city and build something cool. we have the chrysler building here, which is great. the boys here are working on something brand new. >> good job, guys. >> we're expecting the empire state building to be done in the next 20 to 30 minutes. >> thanks so much. we appreciate it. >> up next, time to party. a mardi gras menu. but first, guess what? this is "today" on nbc.

all right. we are taking you into "today's kitchen" to celebrate mardi gras the right way. if you're inviting friends over for fat tuesday, we have one. >> the co-owner of a wonderful restaurant in new orleans called le creme. >> from sugar. >> sugar. it's actually sugared. >> what are you whipping up? >> first of all, i want to start out with a nice little beverage. this is actually the official cocktail. new orleans is the only city in the country that has the statesman dated cocktail. >> bourbon in it? what's it got? >> rye whiskey. a little absent.

>> you'll be absent a long time drinking this. absent from work the next day. >> we have just a couple minutes. >> go! whip it up! >> i know you're both phenomenal cooks. we'll make a little jumbalaya. >> okay. >> this is just basically a smoked pork shoulder. >> pork. mm-hmm. >> we'll get this nice and brown. you want to really brown it. >> okay. so actually then we'll get the chicken in here. >> chicken and -- chicken and sausage. >> and sausage. you want to get this all nice and brown. you'll cook this around. >> brown that. >> we're going too to get celery. >> onion, some garlic. this is the trinity, the traditional cajun. >> okay. >> onions. you'll stir that around a little bit. >> tomatoes. >> a little tomatoes. then let's get the spices. cajun spices. >> bay leafs. >> some rice.

>> and then rice. and some chicken stock. >> not beef stock. chicken stock. >> chicken stock. you want to put some shrimp in there and other things? >> yes, we do. look what's happening. >> now we have our jumbalaya. >> you added some rice to it. >> some rice. and let that cook. going to let that cook about 20 minutes. >> come on. >> and then here. let's get some of this. >> you know it. of course. that's a party dish. >> this is great. >> thank you very much. a little bit of scallions on top. >> no. no. we just have a minute. come to the back. >> delicious. >> all right. let's go to the back here. next we have a new orleans tradition. absolutely beautiful. so little crystal hot sauce.

next up, banana beignets. >> banana filled? i'm going to dunk it in. >> chocolate sauce and strawberry sauce. >> we only have about 30 seconds but this is your favorite. >> bunt cake. >> thanks for coming to see us. happy mardi gras! tomorrow, hide the children. william shatner will share his world with us. >> i'm a little afraid. >> how to dress before you walk out the door. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> steve: from studio 6b in rockefeller center, the national broadcasting company presents -- tonight's guests are --

and featuring the legendary roots crew. and here he is -- jimmy fallon! [ cheers and applause ] captions paid for by nbc-universal television -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: oh, hey, everybody! thank you. welcome to "late night with jimmy fallon," everybody. happy valentine's day, you guys! [ cheers and applause ] happy valentine's day. oh, yeah. it's so exciting. everyone on the campaign trail is celebrating with their sweetheart. rick santorum and his wife, karen, newt gingrich and his wife, callista, mitt romney and his swiss bank account. [ laughter ]