ly shame in being in debt is staying in debt when the solution is right in front of you. we understand. we were founded by someone who's been there. call us today or visit careoneworks.com. careone. we know what it's like to be in your shoes. hey everybody i'm lisa quinn.

welcome home. this weeks make over is a pretty common problem. we got a home owner who uses her dining room as an office space. she's hoping we can transform the room into a place totally comfortable to work in and to entertain in. so let's meet nikki. we have a lot of energy in our family. we have two boys. one is six and one is ten and my husband he's a bike rider. we all doing something all the time one or the other. if the boys are doing some kind of sports. so we have a lot of them in the car chauffeuring them around to soccer or kung fu, guitar. they're doing all those activities so my afternoons are really busy. i've never felt like it was a very warm room. we have a big table which i really like. it's a nice big rustic table. i use that space for a lot of things. i like to do craft projects. i have my computer in there so i do all my admin stuff.

getting the kids organized. i'm always sending emails, school, soccer, baseball that kind of things. and we use it to eat dinner at. there's only four chairs. the kind of chairs which we had to go with it. so it's not really functional for more than four people it becomes uncomfortable and i end up borrowing chairs from different rooms and it's all missed matched. so it'll be nice if it had, if we could fit more people around it that would be a big bonus. when you use it as a dining room do you have to get everything and move it out? or do you sort of eat around it? i do. you move it? we have, sometimes we have a slide show and eat dinner at the same time but usually if it's all grown ups we would move it out of here. so basically this is like a mom cave? yeah it is like a mom cave. i've looked around the house and i see that you have a very kind of french sheek kind aesthetic. you like that in here as well?

yes i do really like that. and actually the thing about this table is that's what i thought i was getting when i bought this. i bought this table when we moved here but i kind of feel like i bought it for a different house not this one. so we've been trying to live with it since we bought it, i'm not sure what the problem is. i think this table is awesome. i got to say i think this table is incredible. i do agree with you. it probably in your mind has too much of a masculine kind of profile; but we can soften it up on the edges with some upholstery. i think it's beautiful. and it's so nice and big. i think that's what's probably good too. it's got to give you a lot of space to work on. i think so. i loved to use it more. i mean quite often my mom comes over for dinner, my dad comes over for dinner. there's always one extra in the kitchen to cramped. and it's not comfortable for people. these chairs are really big. i think that's it. and we end up with mix

matched different chairs trying to make it work. how many people do you try to sit here at one time? well we have, we often have eight. okay. and usually more like six. sure. okay. well that's good. i think if we got slighter profile chair maybe we can squeeze more into. you never know. yeah definitely. i think, i think that it's a family style table we should do it that way. right okay. well this is a common problem. a lot of people don't know what to do with their dining rooms and then some people don't even eat at them until holidays. but if you guys are using it as sort of a multi purpose room; we can handle that. alright i'm going to talk to the people about my game plan and then i'm going to ask that you go; we're going to do this in three days. she's a good sport. we'll see you in three. okay. alright. thank you lisa. hey my pleasure. i would love to be able to do that myself. god knows i pour through a home magazines, country living. i get another magazine, i get better homes and gardens, i get house beautiful.

i pour through them but when it comes to time to do it myself, which i have tried i just never get it right. this table is to die for. i don't know how it reads on camera but looking at it in person we can't get rid of it. it's absolutely too nice. the chairs need to be replaced they're just a little old and i think that they have too straight an edge. there's a lot of dark square angles in this room and i know nikki has a very feminine chevy sheeks ability and it's just not showing in here. she's got a couple of pieces that do look good. this chest over here has that kind of aesthetic that she's got. it's nice and big. it looks like it provides a lot of storage. maybe if we keep that. bring a little bit more of that look over here. i've got some fun ideas for the wall art too. i think we're going to pull out some dishes. i know she has some really cute collection of vintage dishes. i love bringing food elements into a dining room; it's whimsical and i even have an art project that i've been wanting to do for a really long time.

and i think finally found the room that's going to fit it. so we're going to clear out this room and we're going to get the painters going and we're going to get started. ij:óo

welcome back to the show we are currently making over a dining room slash office for busy mom nikki. she's got two little boys. six year old fenton and ten year old fraiser. with regards to all these boys that i live with yes there's a lot of more energy in this house but luckily for me i have a husband who doesn't mind my feminine taste. he's very cool about that and he really kind of gives me the, free hand to decorate or get the things that i like.

i dress quite girly. i really like pink. i'm very lucky that nobody else in my family seems to mind that. so that's my outlet with all the boy energy. nikki uses the space as her office. as she organizes her family schedule. i felt like i was at a conference table and i was going to have a business meeting and i always felt like that. i never felt that warm and homey family dinner feeling. we're looking for dining room chairs. the ones that she had or a little bit over sized space they were a little too masculine. nikki wants something a little more chevy sheek; a little more feminine. and they were falling apart. so we have to think about getting her a better set of dining room chairs. she's got that very country chevy sheek aesthetic. so something modern like this isn't going to work even though it's cute and nice and compact. but something like this might work. what i like about it is it's got this nice painted

finish it's easy to clean and she's got two little boys and you know how little boys can be when they have their dinner you're going to want something that is easy to wipe down. so i think this one might be nice for the actual side dining room tables but i think he's using that dining room table as an office desk too. she sits there for long periods of time and when you get to a certain age when you're sitting on these chairs for a really long time you can do a real number on you back side so what i'd like to try and find for her, for her desk chair is something with a little bit more pad to it and maybe something with a little bit more feminine flavor which is why i noticed these when i walked in. this is the hendrix doll chair. it's got a washable slit cover on it. so if it does get dirty it's easy to clean but i like that it looks really sophisticated. i like that it looks taylored. i like that it has sort of rounded corners which adds to that feminine feel and what i like the most about it it's got really comfortable cushion so she can sit there all day long typing away and she'll be elegant and comfortable.

so we got her chairs now we're going to talk about art work. we're going to do something a little different in that room and we're going to do it with plates. we're going to go buy some plates right now. i collect dinner sets. i go to flea markets, garage sales, goodwill, salvation army. i'm always kind of trolling through there. nikki has an enormous collection of vintage plates that's she's not using they're just inside drawers and she doesn't know what to do with them so i was thinking hey why not pull them out and display them on the walls. what's the point in having a collection if you don't get to see them. however here's my little tip for the day. if you're going to be decorating with a lot of vintage plates or even decoratiing a table top for a party think about bringing in some modern elements. some modern shapes, some modern finishes. other wise the room can look so old fashioned and downy and grandmaish. we want to bring this room into the 21st century and i think some of these modern pieces we can. this one's only five dollars.

i can get three or four and still not break my budget so i'm going to grab some now. coming up next trouble on build day. it was just the dishes. that's all. at least it wasn't anything that could've been damaged. see how we finally pull this make over off. that's next on home with lisa quinn.

welcome back to the show we are neck deep in a dining room make over. our home owner nikki loves to cook. okay jack you share with fin. it's okay. alright. let's make pizza. i'm not professional chef but i do love to cook. i got an idea that maybe some neighborhood kids would like to cook with me. i tend to go with whatever they like to do. we'll make macaroni and cheese, or we bake bread, we make cookies, we do pizzas. the kids love it.

she's constantly using both her kitchen and her dining room. nikki hopes her dining room is turned into a beautiful space fr working and entertainment. i was hoping that i could get help making, by having a room that really all came together with some of the things that i already have perhaps and making it a functional room that we can really enjoy. it's build day. i've already dropped a bag full of dishes. so it can only get better from now.

so why don't you guys get rid of the chairs. we'll swish that table around like a 95 degree angle and we'll put the console back up against the window and while you guys are doing that i'm going to get started on the craft project. if you remember from earlier i was at ikea we were shopping for some dishes. we wanted to mix some new items in with the old items and that's what i've done. and here's the thing about hanging a bunch of plates up on the wall. it can seem overwhelming. it can seem odd. you don't know how to lay things out. you don't know how to pose the whole setting. you can go online. you can see a lot of great examples of wall art; specifically plate art to get your ideas; but then what i've done here and which is i think mandatory trying to do this is you lay it out on a horizontal surface first. then you can kind of see how everything works in relation to each other and then you just sort of use this as your template to hang them up on the wall.

went out and got these plate hangers form home depot. very inexpensive just a couple of bucks a piece and they just wrap around the plate and you hang them up and if we're a little off the plate will hop the holes. i wanted a diner sign. something that said eat. and i looked online and they sell a lot of them but they sold them for 400 dollars. so i wanted to see if i can do something a little bit cheaper,a little bit easier. i need it today. so i couldn't order one anyway. so i decided to make mine out of plywood. what i did is i went on my word program and i just typed eat. first i thought i do something really fancy maybe in cursive and maybe some crazy stuff, then i thought you know what this is my first time trying this let's try to keep it simple. i like the simple look anyways.

it's nice and modern. we have a lot of french country chevy sheek going on here and it might be a nice balance. at least that's how i'm rationalizing the whole thing. so here's how we're going to get started. because these are really easy block letters; i brought a level and then i started thinking wow the level is the size i reall want the font the letters to be anyways so i'm actually just going to trace them out. i'm eventually going to put a finish over the top of those so it doesn't really matter if you see my draw lines. so that's one part of the e. now that we've got the imaged drawn out we're going to have to cut it out with the jigsaw. and this is what a jigsaw looks like. you probably have one

in your garage and you don't even know it. the trick is to get the right blades. and what you can see here really tight on there is they'll tell you how slow it is and how accurate it is. you want the slowest blade with the most accuracy. because what we're trying to do here is get a very fine edge. we don't want to do a lot of sanding because that's going to take a lot of time. so go ahead and make the investment. these are only like 3 bucks and do it right. so i'm going to plug in this saw. it's been a long day but we're almost done. we're going to go home get a little washed up, come back tomorrow and this room's going to be complete. so stay tuned because when we come back from the commercial break you're going to see it all fold together.

our dining room

make over is finally complete but before i show you the finished product i want to talk a little bit about this particular room. we had a lot of fun. our home owner had some really nice things already so it didn't take much to transform her unused awkward space into something fantastic. take a look at it now. we've made some spectacular changes in this room. with not a whole lot of effort. first and foremost let's talk about the paint color. we decided to do this sort of steel grey. it's from kelly-moore paint. varsity painting came in and applied the paint. they did a great job. filled a lot of the holes that were in the walls and then for our wall art. we used all these dishes. some of them nikki had already, but we went to ikea and we went to z gallery and purchased a few more modern pieces to blend with the more vintage pieces so that it gave it a little more modern touch didn't look

to vinagey, too old fashioned, to dowty. our other piece of art work is the eat sign. you might remember from earlier in the show. we created that out of plywood. very inexpensive. the plywood was thirteen dollars. then i went over it with some gold spray paint and then actually did a gold leaf treatment over the top of it. all things considered it was still pretty inexpensive. came in for under thirty dollars for a whole piece of wall art and it wasn't that difficult to pull together. we kept the table. the table is really the focal point of this room. it's just fantastic and there was no way we were getting rid of it. nikki loves it too. all we did was change out the chairs. a little bit earlier in the show we showed you the chairs they had in here. one of them was kind of beat up. they were all very heavy and masculine and really too big for the space. so we went to ikea for the host and hostess chairs we brought in these great taylored slip covered chairs. and then on the sides we

just brought in these fun little country inspired white wooden chairs. they're a little bit more compact. they're really easy to clean because this is being used as a dining room from time to time. and we just dressed it up with some of these fun little textiles that bring in that shabby shiek look that nikki loves so much. plant in the corner. always nice to have a little bit of greenery. some sparkle on the table and we are done. this was a really fun room to pull off. i love this look and i hope nikki loves it too. we're about to find out. alright nikki what do you think? oh my goodness i love it. yeah? fabulous. oh look at these and this. it's so pretty. you had such nice stuff to start out with which made it pretty easy and we've got it set for a dining room table right now but we got you these nice cushy chairs. i know you sit here all day on the computer too. i do. so we wanted to make sure it was something comfortable. used a lot of the cool stuff you had already and fixed it up. well it looks fabulous. i love it. i think you know my taste pefectly from i don't know how you do but it looks so good

the plates are adorable and kind of got that kelsic thing going on which is so nice of you. i love it and i love this as well. i love the sign eat. well since that's what you're telling everybody all the time. i know. eat, eat. i know. oh my god. the thing that i felt the most wonderful was the big e.a.t, eat sign. that was a big surprise. and then lisa told me that she had made that i was very surprised to see that she had made that by herself. it was amazing and it ties all the gold colors together and i love that. thanks for letting us come again. oh thank you for doing this for us. i love it so much. i'm glad you like it. listen if you guys need any information about this make over or interested in maybe getting a free room make over yourself; visit our website at livewellnetwork.com. and do you like us facebook? yes. facebook.com/homewithlisaquinn. from nikki and me see you next week.

bye. i love the room. it's just adorable. it's very pretty but very sophisticated at the same time. i just thought it was wo i can't believe what great job they did. we're here on this set of one of our supre awesome make overs and we're doing a little boys room

this week and it's all the blue paint, but there's a secret to this paint. you know chalk board paint? i think everybody knows about it. you probably used it on a cubbard door or on a small craft project. you probably see them makes a good brand. it come in either black or in that sort of school house green color. well get this i didn't know this until this week they also have a chalkboard paint that comes in all different kinds of colors. as you can see here you can chose twelve different colors. but what we did this week is we picked perrywinkle and we also picked banner blue. and we painted chalkboard paint from the very top of the ceiling to the very bottom. eventually when this is done we're not even finished with it yet, it's going to be like a comic book. that our little boy can change all the time. he can add super hereos or godzilla or giant spiders that take over the whole city; which i think is cool. and you can easily write on here like that.

you might want to change that but you can see it's going to be a wonderland for the kids and for years to come.

hi this let's dish we are throwing a grown up kids party. we'll do a grilled cheese bar, gourmet green burgers, and guinness brownies.

gourmet green burgers, and guinness brownies. coming up right now. ♪ good morning guys. welcome to let's dish. i'm chris koetke. on today's show we're having a grown up kids party. now what that means is we're going to be indulging in kids dishes that are throw backs to our childhood but with an adult gourmet twist. we'll do an upscale an unique burger that is green in color and our guest chef will make her version of mac and cheese but with the more grown up ingredient truffles and lastly we'll make a dessert brownie with a favorite beer amoung adults. you'll want to stick around for that one. but first, we're going to start with a grilled cheese party.

now the idea for this came from, i was thinking about my childhood and you know what my folks used to do? they used to have friends over and we would have pizza party and they'd put pizza dough out and put tomato sauce on top and lots of toppings and everybody made their own. so why not do the same with grilled cheese? i mean doesn't everybody love grilled cheese? so you do something like this. a nice little spread of different breads and cheeses. you can throw some meats in there if you want and lots of different toppings. now put this out in your buffet at home. put a little panini press out there and you know what the best part is? you don't have to do any more cooking. you just sort of sit back and let everybody have fun and customize their own. but if you want a couple of fun grilled cheese ideas that definitely takes grilled cheese to another space; i have some ideas for you. the first, we're going to begin by making something called a red onion marmalade and we're going to put this with some blue cheese in a bit. to make this it's pretty simple.

i'm going to take four onions. i sliced them real thin. put them in the pan with a couple tablespoons of butter and just let them sautee nice and slowly. it takes about 25 minutes. be patient. don't rush it. and then i'm going to take some red wine. i'm going to put a cup of red wine into those onions. and that's going to give us some acidity and change the color a little bit. and then i'm going to put in three tablespoons of honey, very accurately measured as you can see. but what i'm basically doing is creating a sweet and sour combo. at this point i bring this up to a boil and i let that wine reduce all the way down until it looks like this one right over here. now the secret is to really have this beautiful is to cook those onions all the way through. something every culinary student learns. you got to cook an onion until it's really soft because than it's sweet and it's oh so yummy. now, for our grilled cheese sandwhiches.

what we're going to do with that beautiful marmalade. here's what it looks like right over here after you cool it. and i have some bread. which is just kind of a tuscan loaf of bread and the thing about grilled cheese you can put any kind of bread you want. you want to do rye bread, you want to do pumpernickel, a sour dough, whatever you want. so there we go. spread those onions right on top and then i'm going to take a little bit of blue cheese. now this is the part you got to do this with your fingers. just about a half of ounce of blue cheese or so per sandwhich. you don't want too much because blue cheese is powerful. on top of that i'm going to put a little bit of mozzerella. now the mozzerella is there to give us a nice gooey melt. so when you bite into it it's sort of stringy and yummy and delicious. alright a little bit of green onions, a sprinkle those on top. notice i cut them really, really small.

you don't have to have them that small. again something in culinary school we insist on everything being perfectly cut. at home if you want a little bit bigger that's okay. a little bit of arugula on top. now what the arugula is going to do, that's going to give us the bite. that's going to give us the pepper. put everything down on top, take a little bit of butter. just going to spread the butter on top of both sides of the bread. there you go that's it. this is now ready to cook. okay if you're not a blue cheese fan i am, i adore blue cheese. let me give you another idea for a sandwhich that would be equally delicious and this one is going to be with a cheese called appenzeller. now you're probably saying appenzeller? appenzeller is well this is it right over here it's a type of swiss cheese. and there's lots of swiss cheeses you can use like ratcleff, or grier or even just your sort of standard swiss cheese.

so what do we do? i'm going to take a little bit of dejon mustard. spread about a teaspoon on each piece of bread and then on top of that i'm going to put some pancetta. a pancetta, this is a pancetta here. this has just been sauteed and what it is, is actually right over there that's pancetta rolled up pork belly that's cured. kind of like bacon. you can use bacon actually. if you want and then i put about 2 ounces of that appenzeller cheese right on top with a little bit of black pepper and we put on a little bit of pears right out of the can. and then put my butter on top and these both go into the hot sautee pan. and to help that cheese melt as we're cooking it i'm going to put a lid on it. alright after several minutes they are ready to flip over.

look at that beautifully browned and we're going to cover them back up. keep them melting. alright several more minutes later uncover that and take a look, there's are blue cheese right there. you can see that cheese just melted. the smell is unbelievable. and of course we have an appenzeller right over here. which i got to tell you is one of my favorites. i learned how to make this when i lived in switzerland. it is unusual, different, super good and both of these is kind of making the kid in me come out a little bit. really good. stay tuned for more gourmet version of the childhood classic the hamburger. become a fan of let's dish on facebook by going to facebook.com/letsdishtv and clicking like.

welcome back to let's dish. so hamburgers are like every kids favorite. and i have this idea to turn them green.

when i was in mexico i saw a sausage that's made in the city called toluca, and the sausages are bright green. so i said hey why not bright green hamburgers? and they are fantastic. and this is how you do it. we start with two and half ounces of baby spinach. i'm just going to put it right into our blender. that's perfect. just pack it all in there along with a half of cup of cilantro leaves and a half of cup of parsley leaves. you see where the green's coming from? and this is one serrano chile. that's going to give us a little bit of heat. and we just chop that up nice and thin. and here it is. a half cup of water. pour it into the blender. and at this point we're just going to process that until it's completely smooth. alright. after about a minute or so it's going to make this sort of green looking juice. i'm going to pour that right into a pound and a half of ground beef. and i'm going to put in our secret ingredient.

this is salt. about one and a quarter teaspoons of salt. and now this is sort of the gooey part of it. i just get my hands in there and i'm going to mix all that green stuff along with a little bit of minced up parsley and a little bit of minced up cilantro. now i said salt is the secret ingredient that is the secret ingredient to a great hamburger. the reason is. it makes it kind of sticky and it actually makes a moisture. so after i mix this in the next thing i do. that's perfect. that's kind of elastic. look at that. great. the next thing i do is i put this into the refrigerator for about an hour. let all those flavors come together and i form them into patties. they're going to look like these guys right over here. just like a traditional patty. to cook them i could put them on the grill or i've got a sautee pan. a hot sautee pan with a little bit of olive oil. i'm just going to put those into the sautee pan. and let them cook.

in the mean time i'm going to wash my hands. alright there we go. these have been cooking now for a bunch of minutes. and the question is how do you know when they're done? because take a look. if you cut this in half it's really hard to tell when it's done because it's green on the inside. so the way you tell is actually with an instant read thermometer. and you take this and you would put it into the side of the burger like this. and you got to look for hundred and sixty five degrees. that'll tell you that burger is perfectly cooked, safe, delicious and ready to eat. now how do we actually prepare this? i'm going to take a hamburger bun right over here and take a look at what i'm going to do. this is just a half of an avocado. i'm just going to take a fork and just sort ofsmash up the inside of the avocado. and with a spoon i'm just going to scoop some of that out. look at that perfect. and i just kind of smash it right on the bottom of the bun. it's kind of like instant guacamole because here we go a little bit of lime

juice put a bunch of lime juice there. and i have some diced up mangos. this is definitely an adult interpretation of the hamburger. there you go. little bit of mango. push it into our avocado. on top of that goes our burgers. oh this looks so good but that on top and then we're going to put one slice. let's get a perfect slice. maybe even two slices what the heck of tomato. that's our burger. how do you serve this? well i'm going to put it back on that plate and we're going to serve it along with a little bit of salsa and a lime wedge and keep squirting this on there because that makes it taste really great. again lots of flavor into that green hamburger. what an adult burger and yum. really good. try making this yourself. log onto livewellnetwork.com and search green burger, for

the recipe. stick around because next chef from noodle and company is giving mac and cheese

welcome back to let's dish. and welcome back to our kids party for adult. and we're going to make a really great dish. we brought in tessa stamper.

you are the executive chef noodles & company. noodles and company yes. and before we get into this dish which is going to be your version of mac and cheese. tell me a little bit about noodles & company. well at noodles & company we offer noodle dishes, soup, salad, sandwhiches with flavors from around the world. and so since we've opened our first restaurant in 1995 we've had mac and cheese on our menu. how many restaurants do you have now? we have 200 and...over 260 actually. and we're in 20 different states now, so we're kind of grown. so you're one of the first ones to do that sort of noodles thing. we were and it's such a perfect concept. i mean everyone love noodles. so many different cuisines have noodles as their base. we really found something that we liked and our guest love it. especially the mac and cheese. well i can smell this over here. so i'm dying to get going. get started on it. so you're making mac and cheese but this is not our average mac and cheese. no this is, what i'm going to show you today, a cheese sauce that is designed for the home cook. okay. so a lot of times people think cheese sauce is a little intimidating. so i got a method here that i think really works.

i think probably any french chef would probably through me out of the kitchen if they saw that i wasn't making a first. there are no french chefs in here anywhere. no. we're good. we're good. so what we're going to do is start here with the little bit of milk and cream and if i can have you add which is called vervamney. it is an equal combination of flour and butter that you need together and this is going to act as the thickener and the startch in this. and normally you would want this to cook for about 5 minutes just to cook out that raw flavor of the flour. and to that you're going to add your favorite cheese. here we have a cheddar jack cheese. you can use any type of cheese that's your favorite. i love gruyere cheese when i'm making a cheese sauce. love it, love it, love it. parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese. anything. as you can see that's starting to really thicken up there. so that cheese just melts immediately? it just melts exactly because you want a cheese that's going to have some nice melting point. can i buy any, go to the grocery store and buy the pre shredded stuff?

you can, i mean you can really pull this together very quickly if you get some of the pre shredded stuff. so we're just going to add a little bit of salt and pepper and like i said we've had mac and cheese on our menu since 1995 and we just this last year; it's the culinary trend to have to take some of your classic comfort dishes and add special things to that. what was that because i'm smelling like...that was special thing that was the truffle oil. so it was an infused truffle oil and to that we add that cheese sauce that really gives it a nice earthy, sort of garlicy flavor to it. the smell is really intense yeah. and truffles are big money i mean typically you have a whole truffle. normally this is something you would typically see in an upscale restaurant so really excited our guest love this. actually loved it so much that we are bringing it back this year. i got to tell you this smell it's like you put perfume on. i mean it's truffle perfume. so now if we had five more minutes this is what sauce would actually look like. alright.

and to that you're going to add some par baked or par cooked noodles. these have already been cooked off. so i put them in boiling salted water? you can put that...until their aldente. all that good stuff. set that over here. and then you just want to coat the noodles to get the cheese sauce all over it and you can stop there and it would be perfectly delicious. this is so easy to do. it is very quick and easy. i just find so many people think it's oh i can't make a cheese sauce but it's really, it really is fast and easy. so once we have that in there; so we've already added the truffle oil to this and we're going to add just to give it these sophisticated special ingredients that give it a little extra boost. kind of makes it a little bit adult. it takes it out of the park. so this is some sauteed portabella mushrooms and then on top of that. these are little baby portabellas. portebella mushrooms yeah a sautee. we sautee them up in a little bit of butter. and on top of that we're going to put a little bit more cheese because now it is mac and cheese and then--

now wait a second what is this cheese we have here? that is actually that's a parmesan cheese here that we grated up earlier right before the show. okay. so but this is like real parmesan; it's like super fragrant. yes. and it's just has a lot of the mommy flavors in it. those earthly flavors that just not salty sweet, bitter i mean it's just a very unique flavor on top of that we're going to put some of our bread crumbs. we make these in house every day. you make them at home with any leftovers. what did i do sautee them? i just, we actually you can make this with old bread that you have. you can cut it up make some crispy crutons on top of that put some parsley and that is our dish. that is our truffle mac and cheese. can i have a bite? of course you may. oh so... and we call it our fancy pack mac and cheese because its got some really awesome ingredients. that is oh so yummy. so our mac is back. a little more. this is my dinner. check out livewellnetwork.com and search truffle mac and

cheese for the recipe. in a few short minutes i'll turn brownies into an adult treat made with beer.

welcome back to let's dish. and this is time for dessert. and every kid loves dessert, but you know what so do adults. so we're making an adult dessert here. which is guinness brownies and then we're going to pull out some whiskey in a bit. but make our brownies. we're going to start with four eggs that i've just put into the mixer. and this is three quarters of a cup of granulated sugar. put that right in. in all i'm going to do now is let that mix up and while it's mixing take a look right over here because in this bowl in something called bain marie which is basically a doubled boiler. so i have right in here; i have some chocolate chips, 8 ounces, i have four ounces of white chocolate chips and about 6 tablespoons of butter. i just put it in here over boiling water and let it all melt together.

now, the next step is i'm going to take this and that's all; i mean this is like one gooey yummy mess in this bowl here. i'm just going to pour that right on top of those eggs and that sugar mixture. oh that looks great. and there's nothing like the smell of chocolate. and of course kids love to lick out the bowl but so do adults. i'll do that after the show. alright i'm going to mix it up just a little bit. and that's perfect. now in goes the dry ingredients. right in here i have 3 quarters of a cup of cocoa powder, and 3 quarters of a cup of flour and about a teaspoon and a quarter of salt. and i just bascially mix those together. now again when you're using this mixer be really careful because when you get those dry ingredients in there you can see sort of all the dust here. that's even a little bit too fast. if you turn it on too fast you are just covered in cocoa powder. which i guess isn't so bad. alright i'm going to mix

that up a little bit. and in goes our guinness. so this is one and a quarter cups of guinness. pour that right into the mixer. and it's amazing at how good that sort of dark roasted flavor of guinness goes with chocolate. the two are really fantastic together. in fact you can even drink a guinness with this dessert. it's hard to believe but it is really delicious. okay. that's it you can see how fast it is to mix that up. and now all i have to do. i'm going to just give that one quick little stir. had a little bit of powder that just sort of snuck into the bowl there. and then all i have to do is pour that into a 9 by 13 baker. that's perfect. and we grease that with a little bit of butter. and you'll see there's also a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of that baking dish. alright that's it. into the oven it goes.

375 degrees. it's going to take about 20 minutes or so. take a look at what it's like when it's done. this one came out just a little while ago and it's nice and cool. oh that is beautiful. but it's time for step two of our recipe. and that's a little whip cream. and to whip the cream this is two cups of heavy cream. one of the really important things again all culinary students learn this one is whip cream in a cold bowl. it's really, really important. after a few minutes of whipping and some good exercise; you can see there's these nice little soft peaks here. and that is perfect. now we have to flavor this. remember i said we're going to put some whiskey. in fact it is sort of an irish coffeee thing. so i have two teaspoons of instant coffee and two tablespoons of irish whiskey. i'm just going to combine those two. stir it up to get that coffee to dissolve. and that smells really good.

absolutely. and i'm going to pour that right into the whip cream and i'm going to go head and put a third of a cup of powdered sugar. and then i just incorporate that by giving it one last little whip. and remember keep that whip cream cold other wise it's going to break and it's not going to be so pretty. now it's time to make these brownies into that wonderful little dessert. here we go. i have the brownies. i'm going to put just a little bit of irish whiskey sprinkled on top. that's kind of an optional step you don't have to do that. but really it's good. and then take some of that irish coffee whip cream and just put a nice bunch on top. don't over whip that. you can sort of see it gets nice and soft like this. if you want to give it one more nice little fun touch, just a little bit of cocoa powder. sprinkle on top. and that's it. okay we're all out of time but for more let's dish; check out our website

livewellnetwork.com or shoot us an email at letsdish@livewellnetwork.com don't forget to fine us on facebook. search let's dish tv and click like. for more tasty updates and behind the scenes photos from the show. thanks for dishing with us. see you next time for another let's dish.

nestled off the las vegas strip i found the women who wine. and these lovely ladies

welcomed me into their group for a new take on manicotti and a salmon dish and a whole lot of wine drinking. they have been meeting together every monday for the past four years now and i quickly understood why. women who wine, i've learned how to open a bottle of wine, i usually let a guy open it for me because cute with muscles he can open it. they love cooking, they drink, and laugh and they have a whole lot of fun doing it together. it's all coming up right here, right now on my it's all coming up right here, right now on my family recipe rocks. ♪ on a quiet lovely street but just two miles outside here is the las vegas strip and hustle and bustle and what ever happens in vegas stays in vegas, but what i'm going to share with you is a group of women who wine, dine,

and have a good time, so lets start cooking and drinking. today's recipe comes to us from the women who wine. it's a group of las vegas locals who do a weekly get together for food, wine, and gossip. were at the home of crystal ball who had hosted this week's gathering. she was kind enough to let us into her house and the secret circle of women who wine. this is the kitchen. this is it. a few question before we start cooking and talking about the food. crystal ball, is your name. that's it. that is given name? well my mother is creative but not that creative my husband gave me the ball. he passed you the ball huh? no he gave it to me, i tried to give it back. now the group of women that come here explain that to me, its www, what does that stand for. women who wine. it's a group of women two get together once a week and started a couple years ago

it was a women's group comin' together celebrating friendship and womanhood, we go over each others problems and issues, we support one another's activities, its been fun, sad moment, its been good times, happy time, its been phenomenal. we have everything from judges to prostitutes, we have everything in there. with no matter because were all women. here's to you, and here's to me, and i hope well be friends eternally, but if something should happen and it can't be then áááá you and here is to me. we talk about money, politics, fashion issues and food. food of course, what are we cooking today i know you have a couple dishes we're making. the wine group, merlot manicotti. merlot manicotti, okay it's interesting.

i'm italian, i like merlot, i like manicotti. never seen it combined but i'm excited. the women who wine, that's how we came up with it. interesting dishes that involve some kind of wine or champagne. you infuse that with whatever you're cooking. it's infused in the sautéing of the meat. what's the first step to making this. the first step is the meat, sautéing the meats. that's where i start, start with chicken sausage, we mix it up with shrimp. so you marinate the sausage. you marinate the sausage, sauté it, and then sauté the shrimp. i have a question who came up with this recipe did you come up with this. or something you maybe made and infused the merlot. i love manicotti and cheese, i like playing around with stuffing, i served this one, it

was just like it got an encore every time. do you have any more, can i take that last one. so it worked. it's got chicken sausage and i mix it with the shrimp and the ricotta cheese and spinach and mushrooms and i do it in a wine sauce that is to be the best, you want some of that. yeah you do. crystal uses two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, then sausage skin and onion, garlic cloves, and salt and pepper and lets that cook. then she boils the pasta. on the other burner she sautés the popcorn shrimp with butter until they turn pink. so far we have the sausage grilled with onions, manicotti boiled, shrimp with butter and little onion as well. next what are we doing. next mix them together. sausage with the shrimp.

smells good already. does it smell good. oh yeah. and then what do we put in next, this is marinating a little bit. marinate together a little bit, let this cook a little bit longer. never seen it made like this before and i'm very excited about it, i must say. crystal adds chopped parsley for color and taste. then its time for the merlot. the most important ingredient. wine, merlot. merlot. now we have last nights, women who wines, left over merlot. to taste actually we don't want it overbearing. not overpowered, a nice little light merlot feel. right were not trying to drink the dish. no because you're going to drink with dish. now its time to combine all the ingredients.

two cups of ricotta cheese, a half cup of parmesan sprinkles garlic powder and pepper then mixes in sausage and shrimp. a quarter cup of mozzarella on top then its time for pasta stuffing. the manicotti has cooled, mixed up the ricotta cheese with your mixture of shrimp and chicken sausage, next. take the sauce right there? right spaghetti sauce, any sauce you like, whatever you choose. put a little on the bottom of the pan. then take our manicotti. hello. okay. open it up. no. take small get it through the center. i'm going to stuff you you little. just turn it around. i got it in there but. you've got a heavy manicotti. why thank you. alright.

look, see i did it. and it was better than the, that jacked up masubi rice thing, it was terrible i tried to do. so when you leave here you going to be talking about my manicotti. i'm going to be talking about how i stuffed your manicotti. that sounded bad. crystal next puts mushrooms and mozzarella, and its time to bake. so the manicotti goes in. the temperature is 375, it goes in how long. 30 minutes. and guess what when we come right back were checking out drunken salmon when my family recipe rocks returns.

we're in las vegas nevada, at the home of crystal ball as she is hosting this weeks women who wine gathering. a unique gathering of a system of women who get together to eat, drink wine, and let their hair down. we compared crystal's merlot manicotti and it just went into the oven to bake, some of the other group members showed up and our cooking show quickly became a party.

hey, hey hey. we get funky and crazier the later it gets and the more wine we pour. it's a sisterhood. when the door opens and another sister walks through that door with a bottle of wine it warms our hart, makes us feel like we have somewhere to go. the girls were in full force drinking and having a good time. and i was defiantly getting used to it but now its time to dive into our next dish. manicotti is in the oven cooking so what is the next dish we're preparing. this is my main my of debbie dixon and she has a recipe called drunken salmon and you've got to try it. so we're going to talk to her, and you can go wine and dine with your girls. alright. yes, talk to me. i'm going to ask a couple questions. first of all what did you prepare how did you start with this salmon what do you have in there now.

this is marinated, lemon juice, wine of course and my special seasoning. it is white wine yes. because with fish you want white wine. can we know what the special seasoning? no. is that it right there. it's just a little mixture. how long have you marinated that. it marinated 24 hours. in that bag, obviously the prep, what's the next step to do. next bring it out of the bag hit it with seasoning again and put it on the skillet on top of the stove. what do we have here as well. this is garnish on top. excuse me. the wine is kicking in already. we (mumbling). this was a whole slab of fillet and i cut it into these pieces. how did this come about.

with three w's right here, we have to incorporated wine, i have to have drunken. it was at one of our meetings and a little bit too much wine and continued into the whole drunken salmon motif. it was the women being drunk and it added to lets drink some more infused with the salmon. it kicked off like that and ever since the girls have loved it, and i cook it every time. and while cooking it i have another glass of wine. it's like cheers. sprinkle. alright now. so we cheers and sprinkle. and drink. cheers. you're so funny. drink girl. drink. i messed up. so this is how it happened the last time. it's basically how it happened. so you sprinkle a little bit and like oh this is good, take a sip. sprinkle. hang on forget it might as well put it in the salmon.

that's what happened. so what's the next step. to the skillet. let's go to the skillet. i do a pan fry. what happens is that i'm typically in a hurry when i'm cooking and i have found the pan fry method is the quickest, fastest and best. and it's the simplest. so all were going to do is put it on. probably not long is it. doesn't take long at all. salmon is a quick cook. i started on the skin side down, with butter, there we go. so that has to cook for a while, probably about five minutes on one side and then we flip, until it hardens and crisps, charred. flip it in more butter, more wine, more seasoning, and then i do cover it and let it simmer quickly. this is the drunken salmon. how much white wine do you put in. i put in a whole bottle, and i drink

the other half. (laughing). let's do the math here, i put in a whole bottle and i drank the other half. so what does that tell you? you are áááá up. and here it is drunken salmon. up next we dive into the drunken salmon and merlot manicotti, then we meet two more ladies for their recipes for quick lemon sorbet cocktail and some tasty sugared nuts, when my family recipe rocks, returns.

[ male announcer ] the emotional burden of debt. not everyone can understand it. the worry. the endless collection calls. we know what it's like... to be in your shoes. we're the providers of careone debt relief services. we know because bernie dancel, who created careone, overcame his battle with debt. and because we've helped over 5 million people, just like you. we help consolidate your unsecured debt into one affordable monthly payment. for your free personalized plan, call our certified credit counselors or visit careoneworks.com.

the women who wine are an amazing group of ladies with a bond like no other and their weekly gatherings consist of great food, interesting conversation and plenty of laughs. we're like um, food for each other, we keep each other in a state of mind that you've got some help here, whatever you need we've got your back and that's a good feeling. after getting to know these women and sharing a few good bottles of wine it was time to try the merlot manicotti and the drunken salmon. and food is hot and time for a taste test. the merlot manicotti and drunken salmon cooked prepared, i'm ready to dig in. you're already digging in before i even got to it.

(laughing) let me hit up the manicotti first. women who wine. you know it's not like anything. hold up, i'm italian i've never made manicotti with shrimp and chicken sausage. it's really good. okay! i wanted the manicotti now into the salmon real quick. awe crystal come here. yum. this is good. wonderful. two things no lie, i'm not going to bs you, i don't like salmon, the only ever person that ever made salmon that my anniversary with my wife and my daughter made it, i didn't want to eat it, it was really good. this is amazing. (cheering).

it's a juicy salmon with the wine. we like juice. let's toast to drunken salmon. drunken salmon. only as women who wine would do. www.thewomenthatwine a lot, dine a lot, you know what happens with family and friends with you eating and doing that stuff and keep that going on, hopefully for generations, cause its cool and awesome. cheers. cheers. thank you so much for letting me go into your kitchen. the drunken salmon had a nice butter taste and the merlot manicotti was a delicious twisted with the shrimp and chicken sausage. and as if this wasn't enough miss lolo was going to show me her recipe for sugar nuts. well i'm here with another women who wine, not women who whine. it's a woman here, lolo. and a little side dish thing we do, a dessert kind of nuts right.

little after dinner kind of. after dinner nuts. what do we have here? some sliver almonds, a little bit of vegetable, and a cup of sugar. how will we do this. first heat up the skillet. a cast iron skillet cause it holds the heat better. were going to pour this, two tablespoons of oil. add the slivered almonds, these are raw you don't get the toasted. and this is a cup of sugar. and what were looking for now is to caramelize these nuts. how did you come up with this recipe or was it handed down. it was recipe a girl friend of mine when i lived in la gave me the recipe. i've been making it for years. i used to go to jazz festivals and i would pass my nuts around to all the different people. (laughter). then when we stared getting together as women who wine i presented the nuts

and they loved them. and then our captain put another twist on them and we put this season. it already has a crushed red pepper as a heat to it, but with the seasoning on it, it put a real kick on these nuts. so i'm going to turn the heat up just a little more. i don't want to be kicked in the nuts. okay. coming up next we finish making lolos sugar nuts and the founder of the www, will make her signature sorbet drink. when my family recipe rocks continues. ij:ó:ózo

we're in las vegas getting to know a special group of ladies who call themselves the women who wine. we sample some amazing food, sampled a lot of wine and now its time to take a sip of the founders famous after dinner cocktail. so while lolo is caramelizing those nuts over there, we have a special drink don't we.

we most certainly do. i call this drink the www, send the sister home feeling home feeling sexy drink. that's right. what have we got here. lemon sorbet. zesty lemon sorbet. to stat with the sorbet, throw it in a bowl because it's going to be absolutely fabulous, then the prececco of your choice, the most and least expensive will do the same. as long as its percecco. as much as you want to make. it depends on how sexy you want to feel. where you want to get to. that fine. hey, hey, hey. and then you just take a whisk and kind of melt that in here a little bit. right. what i'm going to do is pour it here inside here joey.

and then i'm going to let you do the honors of pouring. in the glass. into a champagne glass. what do you think joey fatone is going to think of that. he's going to say hey baby turn the lights down, are you married. i say yes. i've got a kind some where but try it at home. then done. enjoy. here is to you baby. here is to you. this would definitely get some ladies forgetting things. i'm feeling pretty sexy right now. you look sexy right now. let me have another sip of that one. have another sip cause you might not remember later on. don't get it twisted. i remember everything. (laughter) simple but effective. this is the kind of day you always hope for. great food, wine all in the company of a fabulous group of women, as if the manicotti, salmon and sorbet weren't enough we still had to put the

finishing touches on these sweet and spicy nuts. we took the nuts out of the skillet into a bowl what's next. now we put our little mix on it that kicks it up a notch. two tablespoons of sugar here. some cumin, some crushed red pepper. little kick. little salt. add in the gates, hot and spicy. to kick it up. as emma would say i'm going to kick it up a notch a little bam. pour that over these hot, piping, toasting nuts. nuts, hot nuts. mix it up. mix it. (singing). hot nuts. that's not what you said yesterday. come on.

triple digit. that's good. with the cumin it's very good. it's unique. and with some wine it really enhances the wine. that's what's been amazing about this whole episode we have incorporated wine in. wine works in everything. now if you want to know about these recipes, we have a few of them, go on livewellnetwork.com click on my family recipe rocks and look at this recipe from the www. from the 702. cheers. cheers. cheers lovely ladies. thank you guys so much, i really appreciate it. we had a blast the food was amazing thank you so much once again. thank you. my pleasure. we'll see you next time on my family recipe rocks. i hope that women who watch this show would kind of get in tuned to what

we're doing every week. this is a sisterhood. doesn't matter how much money you have, doesn't matter what your background is, it's just the sisterhood that really matters. it's something i would like very woman in america to experience.

>> this is "best recipes ever." whether you're a pro-baker or you're just getting comfortable in the kitchen, you're gonna

love today's easy bake treats. first, creamy fruity strawberry cheesecake turn overs. and with a few simple pantry ingredients, you can whip up this rich and simple chocolate cake any night of the week. then get the kids in the kitchen to help with these chewy tropical coconut macaroons. so get ready, because the best easy bake treats are coming up next. today's easy bake treats are so simple, they're perfect for beginners in the kitchen. we're starting off with strawberry cheesecake turn overs. store bought puff pastry is the secret for making this recipe

extra easy. i have some strawberries here, and i've just taken off the tops. and i'm just cutting them in half and into quarters. what we're gonna do is we're gonna macerate these. that means to coat them in a little bit of sugar so that the sugar draw it is -- draws the juices out from the strawberries. we're gonna get these into our sauce pan. but we're not gonna heat the sauce pan up right away. we're gonna heat it up later. so let's get a little bit of sugar on here. i need four teaspoons of granulated sugar. that's just gonna help sweeten the strawberries up as well as draw out all the juices. we're gonna add in two teaspoons of corn starch. we're gonna thicken it by turning on the heat and allowing this corn starch to thicken up those juices.

we're also gonna add a little bit of lemon juice. and the lemon juice is gonna keep our filling from being too sweet. so i'll add a little bit of lemon in there just to perk up the flavour a little bit. and then we'll just add a pinch of cinnamon. let's get that in there, just like so. and then all you want to do is just give it a stir and let it sit. once it's sat for 30 minutes, this is what you're gonna have. you're gonna have a mixture that looks like this. your strawberries are slightly gonna soften. but look at all that strawberry juice that you have at the bottom of your sauce pan. we're gonna turn on the burner now because we want the sauce to thicken up. so we'll turn on the burner to medium heat and we're gonna add about three tablespoons of water. one, two, and three. what's gonna happen is the strawberries are slightly gonna soften here and the juices, they're gonna thicken. let's get to our cream cheese

filling. for your cream cheese, you need six ounces. it's easier when you start out with your cream cheese on room temperature. with your hand mixer, you just want to give it a bit of a beat. then what we're gonna do is we're gonna add some icing sugar, we're gonna sweeten this up. this is pretty much like a strawberry cheesecake inside of a turn over. we have our strawberries over there, we have our cream cheese here that we're gonna sweeten up with a third of a cup of icing sugar. then we're gonna add in a half of a teaspoon of vanilla. vanilla and strawberries, they go well together. you just want to beat this again. start off slow with the icing sugar and then your vanilla. all right, so that's good. i'm actually just going to use a spoon here and get some of that icing sugar off the sides

of my bowl and just mix it into that cream cheese mixture just like that. our strawberries are over here. they are done. look how nice and thick they are. they've sort of softened. we need it to cool slightly before we put it on our puff pastry. here's our puff pastry, you can buy it at the grocery store. i prefer the type that's rolled. it saves you from doing all the work. when it comes rolled, it's about a ten inch square. so you need to roll it to a 12 inch square. take the knife, and cut it into quarters. my other personal preference is to use all butter puff pastry. you'll see it right on the package. just cut this into quarters just like that. take some of this cream cheese mixture. and we're gonna put in this

one. just spread it on like so. you see where we're going with this, right? these are gonna get folded into little triangles. right? and then what you're gonna do is take some of that strawberry mixture. and place it over top. don't overstuff them. just a little bit is all you need. and what's great about this recipe is you can get a bunch done, bake off half and then put the other half in the freezer before you bake it. and then you can bake it right from frozen. so take a little bit of water. go around this edge here. this is gonna be our glue. that's gonna help it stick. then we're gonna use a fork to press it down and to seal it. so we'll just go just like that. the little bit of that strawberry filling comes out,

that's ok. take your fork and just seal it up like you would a dumpling. and then make some steam vents on the top. and what you're gonna do is you're gonna transfer it on to your baking sheet. you can only bake four on a baking sheet. and you do want to bake it in batches. so do one batch at a time. or like i said earlier, take half the batch like the four like we're doing right now and place it into the oven. ask then the other half that you haven't baked yet, put it right into the freezer. and they'll keep in there for about two weeks. and you can bake from frozen, just add three minutes on to your cooking time. speaking of cooking time, my oven is preheated to 415 degrees. this is a nice course sugar. not gonna dissolve with the heat. and it's gonna add a nice

crunch. you can just use regular sugar or any course sugar would be perfect. so 15-18 minutes into a 425 degree oven. when they come out, this is what they look like. check it out. a great little treat to go with your tea. i want to show you guys what it looks like on the inside. let's just take one of them off here. let me show you what's inside. are you ready? now can you see that strawberry and cream cheese filling? look inside there, doesn't it look awesome? i guarantee, no one will be able to turn down one of these. here's how to get them just right. macerate your strawberries for 30 minutes. press the seem -- seams of your turn over with your fork.

finally for a golden crust, brush your turn overs with an egg wash and sprinkle each with a course sugar to give them a sweet crunch. and that's why this recipe for strawberry cheesecake turn overs is tested till perfect. after the break, a rich chocolate cake that you can make any night of the week. don't miss it.

>> even if you're just starting out in the kitchen, today's easy bake treats will make you look like a pro. and i chose this recipe for chocolate snacking cake because it's rich which chocolaty and you only need one bowl to make it. it doesn't get any easier or sweeter than that. i added half a cup of cocoa powder into a sieve over the bowl. i'm also gonna add some baking powder, this is gonna help our cake to rise and become nice and light. as well as the baking soda will do that. so one teaspoon will go in. and then we're gonna add in a half a teaspoon of salt just like that. and then what you want to do is you just want to sift all those ingredients through. flour as well as cocoa powderment you can see right there, tend to clump at the bottom. that will put lumps in our cake. just press it through the bottom of your sieve. and there we have it

underneath. add in some packed brown sugar. brown sugar is gonna be a bit tougher to pass through the sieve. but brown sugar, because of the all the moisture really tends to clump up. and because we're making this just in one bowl, we are passing it through a sieve first. find a sieve that doesn't have the tiniest holes so the sugar won't have any problem going through. just a little bit more. and that is good enough. perfect. so the wet ingredients go in with the dry ingredients, they're not separate. now we're gonna add in a half a cup of butter milk, which is nice and thick. and we have so many recipes on our website. if you find you have some butter milk left over after this recipe, you make salad dressing, you can make muffins, you can add cupcakes.

we'll also add in a half a cup of water. this too will also add moisture. and then for some sweet smelling aromas, we're gonna add in one and a half teaspoons of vanilla. perfect. now all you want to do is mix this up. and then we're gonna pour it into a greased cake pan. my oven is pre-heated to 350 degrees. we're just gonna stir this around until all of the ingredients are incorporated. now come on, how easy is this cake? there we go. we have a nice batter. we're gonna pour this into our greased cake pan. and we're just gonna scrape that right in. just like so. and then you just want so spread this mixture out and it's gonna puff up a little bit in the oven and we're gonna have a beautiful cake to snack

on. hence the name snacking cake. there we go. so 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. when it's done, this is what it looks like. a basic chocolate cake. so you just want to take it out of the cake pan, let it cool down for a bit on a rack. all we're gonna do is we're gonna cut it in half. there we go. how cute is that? and look how moist and soft it is. like a little chocolate sponge cake. and then go ahead and dust it with a little bit of icing sugar. just like that. this cake will definitely satisfy your next chocolate craving. here's how to get everything just right. for the perfect consistency, sift all your dry ingredients before mixing in your wet. and add your mixture into a

greased cake pan so that it's easier to remove. and that's why this chocolate snacking cake is tested till perfect. up next, easy cookies that even z p

>> if you want your kids to get more involved in the kitchen, today's easy bake treats are just what you need. and the kids will love helping you make these tropical coconut macaroons. i'm just whisking until it's a little bit frothy, one egg white. what you're gonna add to this is some condensed sweetened milk. we're just gonna add this to our measuring cup here. i just need 2/3 of a cup. look how thick this stuff is. it's almost like a really thick pudding. so we're gonna add this in. this is gonna add tons of sweetness. we're also gonna add in a pinch of sea salt. just to balance out that sweetness. then we're gonna add two and a

half cups of unsweetened coconut. we'll give it a stir there to add it into our condensed milk and egg white. then we're gonna add in some candied fruit. i have a half a cup of candies pineapple here. next you can add in a half a cup of candied mango or papaya. they have such nice bright colours that they're just gonna look like jewels in these little macaroons. this is a great recipe, like i said, for the kids to help. there's not too much measuring. it's more just stirring and putting together. this will also be great for a bake sale.

this is pretty much done. i'm talking about easy recipes today, aren't i? so now what you want to do is take a rimless baking sheet. let me explain what happens with the rimless baking sheet. if you have a cookie sheet that has the sides on it, the heat has to go up over the sides and then it will hit the cookies. by having a rimless one, the heat will directly hit the cookies on all sides. now take a teaspoon measuring spoon. we're just gonna measure little half circles just like that. just gonna line them right up. my oven is pre-set to 325 degrees. it's a pretty low temperature because we don't want them to brown too much. we just want them to brown just a little bit. and they're gonna go in for about 15-20 minutes until they're no longer sticky when you touch them and they're slightly golden. i love these cookies because they're sweet and they're also really chewy.

when they come out of the oven, you just want to let them rest for about five minutes. and then you want to transfer them over to a cooling rack so that they can properly cool. so there you go. i bet you can't wait to get your hands on one of these. here's how to get them just right, lightly whisk your egg whites before adding your condensed milk so that it incorporates well. your macaroons are done when they're no longer sticky to the crunch and they have a golden colour. and there you have it, tested till perfect macaroons. when we come back, it's time for the easiest treat yet, butter scotch crunch bars. don't go anywhere.

>> today we're making baked treat that is are so easy you can whip them up any night of

the week. you only need four ingredients to make these butterscotch crunch bars. they're an irresistible sweet treat, and they couldn't be easier to make. just watch. what i did was i took some gram crackers. you want to make sure you have the crackers, not the crumbs. you'll find them in a box at the grocery store. you just want to open up the package and lay them on a greased piece of parchment paper. and you want to line them up. make sure that they're nice and snug. because we want the butt butterscotch topping to go over top, and not down and around them. sometimes the actual crackers are used to smores when you're camping. you'll find them in the baking aisle at the grocery store. you need one cup of melted butter. see all the little bits of white on the top of our better? those are milk solids.

that's what tends to make butter burn if it's heated too hot. you just want to heat it over low heat. make sure that you pack it well. and then we're gonna add this in. this is what's gonna give us that nice butterscotch flavour. it's granulated sugar that's been coated in molasses. we're not really gonna melt our sugar right now. it's gonna melt a bit in the oven. you just want to sort of heat it and combine in. then we're gonna add in some toasted slivered almonds. someone asked me, how do you get your almonds so thin? i don't do any of the work, i buy them this way. these too you'll find them in the baking section. you can toast them yourself or you can buy them toasted. i bought them toasted because i'm doing easy desserts today. so you're just gonna add this

in here. give this a stir. i'm just gonna turn it off the heat now because my sugar and butter were combined. and then we're just gonna add this in. then what you're gonna do, i'll bring the gram crackers over here. and you're sort of gonna pour this all around. don't dump it in one area because it will be tough to spread. sort of dump it all over. because if you dump it in one area and you try to spread it, you're gonna move all those gram crackers around. so this is the best trick. you're just gonna sort of spread this all around just like so. it's almost like we're icing them. wait till this bakes up in the oven. it's gonna be -- it is like, i had one and then i had two, and then i had three, and then i had four.

it's so addictive. and it's so easy to make. this is gonna go in a 375 degree oven for ten minutes. and then when it comes out, you just want to let it cool for a bit before you transfer it. you need that sugar to harden up that butterscotch topping. and then take your parchment paper, pull it, and then all you're gonna do is you're just gonna slice it up into nice little bars. and see, you see the gram cracker, you see the butterscotch and then you see the almonds on top. and no one needs to know how easy these were to make. here's how to get them perfect. lay the graham cracker ins a single snug layer on the baking sheet. pack your brown sugar, then add it to your melted butter. that's why this recipe for butterscotch crunch bars is tested till perfect. you'll find more easy baking

recipes on our website. so make sure you check them out. and i'll see you soon for more and i'll see you soon for more "best recipes ever."

[laura mckenzie] what wonder of the world can you discover in asia? the great wall of china! it's incredible! [announcer] welcome to laura mckenzie's traveler. looks like a movie, doesn't it? hi. i'm laura mckenzie, and welcome to china, a country that's really fascinating to me because it's a mix of so many different time periods. for example, you can be on a bullet train going 250 miles an hour one day and the next in an ancient fishing village that hasn't changed much in a thousand years.

you know, here in china, you don't just see places, you experience cultures, and i can't wait to show it to you. [laura narrating] china-- where a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. a collection of historical sites, colorful cities, and fascinating cultures. a country where fishing villages and rice paddies give way to skyscrapers and bullet trains. the landscape here is as diverse and beautiful as the people, from the mountains of xian to the harbor of hong kong. historically, china was ruled by a succession of dynasties-- families who passed power down through generations. but in the early part of the 20th century, civil war and japanese invasion ravished china. the chinese communist party took control in 1949, and still rules today. with all this history and culture, a visit to china is certainly an eye-opening experience--

so get ready for a whirlwind tour of this amazing country. beijing, hong kong, xian, and the country's showpiece-- shanghai. this is the fishing village of zhujaojiao, and it's a great place to come. it's about an hour from shanghai, and if you want to see china, this is the place to come. they call it the venice of the east because of all these little canals. you get on a sampan, you cruise through the village. i tell you, the best way to see it is from the water. the fishing village of zhujaojiao is literally living chinese history. this is one of the most interesting day trips you can experience. make sure to have extra film or memory cards. this peaceful little village in picture-perfect. the most photogenic part of the excursion of zhujaojiao is on a sampan, cruising the canals the area is so famous for. no motors here. these cruise the old-fashioned way.

these canals are amazing. they're all manmade, and they go from here, 1,100 miles, all the way to beijing. i mean, you can take the sampan to beijing. but you know what? i think i'll fly. an 1,100-mile trip on a sampan. hmm. now, how long do you think that would take? zhujaojiao is over 400 years old. and its proximity to shanghai has kept it an important local trading village here in eastern china. before the roads took over, these picturesque canals were humming with all the goods being shipped in and out. but the charm of this peaceful little village extends further than the waterways. so plan to do a little exploring on foot. one thing you're gonna find when you come to the village is that you will be doing a lot of walking-- a lot of cobblestones, uneven paths, some stairs. so make sure you don't wear those 3-inch heels. leave the manolos in the closet and take a walk on the slow side.

exploring the streets of zhujaojiao is like stepping back in time. check out the architecture. this classic five-arch bridge spans the river. several buildings are topped with those recognizable chinese-style roofs, and what village here would be complete without hanging chinese lanterns? now, this is china. after checking out the sights, you'll also find some very unique souvenirs in the alley shops. now, here's a find-- the little book of mao. [chuckles] unusual, huh? what i love is in here you'll find all these little antique stores mixed in with the tourist shops, and you can find some special things. look over there. colorful. we have coins. another antique store. hi, guys. hi, guys. now, this is more typical of what you'll find in the alleys here. souvenirs. jewelry. fake pearls. silks. and don't forget to bargain and bargain hard, at least half the asking price. ooh, i see something. while most of the souvenirs

are cranked out for the tourists, a lot of what you'll find will be handmade. and because the culture here has lasted for centuries, you really do see that history and tradition reflected in the variety of goods for sale. china's claim to fame is its silk. once worn only by chinese royalty, coveted by the rest of the world, this beautiful fabric comes from tiny little silkworms. once a well-protected secret here in china, i got a chance to see how these ordinary little worms make one of the strongest fibers in the world. i go this way? okay. open wider. okay. wider? yes. who knew i had a talent for silk stretching? visiting the village of zhujaojiao gives you an incredible opportunity to see some of the people live here in china. to be a part of their village and their culture, even for a short time-- it's an opportunity you don't want to miss.

historically, china remained closed to the rest of the world. it wasn't just silk making that was kept a secret. through the dynasties, emperors carefully protected the country's traditions. but within this closed society, china's written language, music, drama, and art continue to develop. and today, it's recognized as a completely unique and greatly influential artistic culture. the chinese express their artistry in various ways, from folk music to food. chinese food is customized to what ingredients were available in local regions. and while the term "chinese food" can range from szechuan to cantonese, one specialty you'll recognize. now, what is dim sum? dim sum are little dumplings, and if you're lucky enough to be invited to a dim sum banquet, it will look like this. cold dishes to start, served on a lazy susan like this. but remember, you'll only be served chopsticks, so start practicing.

a lot of the chinese culture you'll experience here remains undiluted and traditional. but you can also see the recent impact of western culture-- lavish hotels, designer shops, and recreational activities like bowling and tennis. all evidence of a newly synthesized culture. but things here are not always what they seem. wow! starbucks! i know what you're thinking. let's go get a coffee or an iced tea. i wouldn't. you know, even though it's an american brand, it could be made with shanghai ice and water. you never know. you can't be too sure. so i say if you don't break the seal yourself, don't drink it. next up-- walking on top of the great wall of china. here's a tip. [announcer] laura mckenzie's traveler will be right back.

momomomomomomore information on, visit me online at... china is home to one of the world's oldest living civilizations. as the local villages and population of china grew, so did the governing empires. royal families ruled for generations, and with each new family came new architecture, religious temples, lavish palaces, and beautiful countryside retreats. each dynasty left its mark on china's history. is it colorful? oh, yeah. is it exotic? [chuckles] you bet. is it historical? well, this bridge dates from the ming dynasty. what do you think? as with any government in power, someone else wanted it. so each chinese empire had a need for protection. to keep the invaders out, the chinese started the practice of wall building over 3,000 years ago, and the construction

of one of the world's most famous fortifications began. originally several different walls, it was eventually united as one. the morning mist. isn't that beautiful? and right over there, i can see my first glimpse of the great wall of china. ooh, this is so exciting. the great wall of china, stretching and winding over 4,000 miles of hills here in china. one of the seven great wonders of the world and the single greatest feat of architecture in china. the great wall is an easy excursion from beijing, china's capital city. there are four main points of entry to the great wall, and the badaling gate is the closest. but i ventured a little further to the mutianyu section, about 90 minutes outside of beijing, to avoid the crowds. construction on the wall began in the warring states period in china. several separate walls were built, and then china's emperor shin bridged the gaps

and united the people to protect china from the huns-- invading tribes threatened china's northern border. he put guards on watch 24/7. wow. these guard houses are a lot bigger than they look from down below. i mean, there's little rooms going off on either side. and they're all slightly different, depending on where they are in the wall and what they have to guard. it's great. the great wall is definitely great, and calling it a wall is slightly misleading. it's an intimidating military fortification with fire platforms and beacon towers. today, the great wall no longer serves its military function, but it does serve the visitors who journey here to see it. it stands for a tangible piece of history, honoring its heroes and the emperor who united china. the great wall may be the longest wall in china, but it's not the only wall visitors travel to see. another great wall in china

surrounds the city of xian, the capital of the shangxi province in northern china. famous for the terracotta soldiers found lying in a field a few years back. xian's city wall was its first attraction. and from the top, you get a view of it all. circling the original city, it's best seen by rickshaw. the top of the wall may be wide enough for cars, but it's zoned pedestrian and rickshaw only. rickshaws are one of the original modes of transportation in china. once operated by feet on the ground, today it's feet on the pedal. the best place for a rickshaw tour is beijing. your guide will take you all over, past card games and dominoes. and in addition to the homes you see on the tour, you'll also see some very famous historic landmarks. now, the rickshaws will stop on the tour and sort of let you get out and take pictures and point out where you are. there's an area over here that we're not gonna get to,

so the first building there, that's the drum tower. and the black roof beyond, that's the bell tower. aha! they ring the morning bell and beat a dusk drum, the largest musical instruments in china. actually, according to eastern philosophy, music is an important means of keeping society in good order. music from the temples mark the day's beginning and the day's end. so while you're here in china, it's historical sights by day and neon-lit entertainment by night. and there's no place in china that does neon better than shanghai. if you want to see something really spectacular, then you have to come to the bund at night. the lights here are just incredible. in fact, i think i've seen things here tonight i've never seen before. the sights, the sounds, the shopping-- everything come to life at night in china. work by day, play by night, especially on the shanghai stage.

china's artistic achievements have always been a great source of pride for its people. not just anyone can do that. traditional performances often combine dialogue, martial arts, music, dance, and acrobatics to tell its stories. this form of theater, first developed in the 18th century, is known in the west as peking opera. the chinese people gained more artistic freedoms after the country's cultural revolution in 1976. self-expression was encouraged, making some art forms bolder and less traditional. as the ancient chinese proverb says, "if you must bow, bow low." i'll remember that. next up-- more from the fascinating country of china. here's a tip. [announcer] laura mckenzie's traveler will be right back.

wewewewewewelcome back. and for more information on china, visit me online at lauramckenzietv.com. just hearing the name china makes you think of a lot of different images-- communist mao, the forbidden city, the terracotta warriors, even the lucky color red. china is unique and easily recognized,

but it's not just for these that china is known for. it's also known for its incredible markets. and one place to practice your bargaining skills is definitely hong kong. you think it's busy here? ha. now this is what i remember about hong kong. tons of people everywhere, a lot of noise, and these signs back here-- i mean, look at them. they totally block out the sky. this is the electronics market. this is where you want to come for your cameras and all the electronics that you're going to want to buy. look down here. it's just great. and if you think this is exotic and great, you should see the markets at night. once an ancient trading port, hong kong is still famous for its harbor. this major financial center still relies on shipping, with cargo ships, ferry boats, cruise ships, and sampans all coexisting in perfect harmony. hong kong may have adopted a few western ways, but here tradition continues.

[birds chirping] hi, sweetie. [kissing] here in hong kong, people take their birds for walks in the morning. no, really. early in the morning, if you go out into the parks, you'll see people walking along, holding their birdcage, and then they'll let them sing and enjoy the music. they'll hang them up on racks like here so they can socialize, and they'll sing even more. and then afterwards, they take them to a teahouse where they'll have their morning tea, they'll listen to the bird sing, hang it up right next to them, and it's a great tradition here. hong kong is no longer the barren rock it was in 1842 when britain seized it after the first opium war. today, it's a mecca of market madness, and one of the main shopping areas is on nathan road in the kowloon district. here you'll find electronics, jewelry, fashion boutiques, lavish hotels, great museums, and the jade market-- the place to come for all things green. look at that.

she's actually making the necklace and stringing the jade beads on to make a necklace. it's really great. heavy negotiating going on in this market. this is the place to come to get your trinkets-- your jewelry, your earrings, your bracelets, your souvenirs. now, if you want anything really expensive, it's probably better to go to a jewelry store. but this is where to come to find the fun stuff. and don't forget to bargain. offer about half the asking price, and then work up from there. now, how do you tell real jade from fake jade? well, supposedly by the color. if you hold a piece up to one of the lights here and it reflects, well, it's probably plastic. and i also heard that if you lick it and your tongue turns numb, that's real jade. i'm not going to lick it. you lick it. how far will you go in search of a deal? it's all in the spirit of market madness. but you may need to adopt some unusual shopping tactics in the more unusual markets. but such is the nature of travel, right? back! get back!

here the people are friendly, the markets are hopping, and you never know what you'll find. now, if you're in the market for electronics, get it in the market. do your homework. make sure you're really getting a good buy because you're going to have to pay duty going back into the united states. also, make sure they're going to work. i mean, the voltage is different here, the television systems are different over here. and who knows if the phones you buy here are going to work over there, or the sim card and all that stuff? i don't know. if you find out, call me. okay, now you're getting the hang of it. just watch what you're buying and do hang in till night falls. you got to see the markets after sundown. it's not just souvenirs you'll be shopping for. you could also discover your destiny. now, this is one of the more unusual fortunes that you can have done here-- not by a human, but by a bird. let's see how it works. now, i've had my fortune told before,

but by a bird? yes, this is a feathered fortune teller. basically, you pick a question, master tzi picks the deck, and the bird picks the card. very cute. master tzi then interprets your results. mine said, "keep moving forward. "you'll conquer all difficulties. the future is obedient." so i have no idea what that means. i much prefer this chinese proverb-- "lady rests happy with bright future and full shopping bag." now, that's my destiny-- here in hong kong anyway. as if riding in rickshaws, shopping for bargains, and climbing a great wonder of the world isn't enough, there's a lot more of china to discover. but a girl's got to eat and drink, right? next up in my future-- a little bit of authentic chinese cuisine. here's a tip:

[announcer] laura mckenzie'straveler will be right back. i didn't need to be perfect to get here, to lose over 50 lbs on weight watchers. it lets me be me, and i'm only human. i love food, i love life. i had no idea i could be so in control and so free at the same time. ♪ i feel like i'm on top of the world right now ♪ introducing the new weight watchers 360 program. built for human nature.

join for free and expect amazing. because it works. but don't just listen to me. listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. with snapshot, i knew what i could save before i switched to progressive. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. you're not filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today. even an iraq vet like me who's in really good shape needs good healthcare especially when it's top-quality and convenient. and it's not just for men. in fact, aren't you a vet, patricia? yeah. i served in the air force. so, check us out. and see you here. e e e e e e back. and for more information on china, visit me online at: there's nothing more authentic in china than its cuisine.

and i know exactly what to order. peking duck, anyone? now, this is my favorite. but just like tea, there's a ceremony to it. after the duck is presented and carved, you take small portions of duck meat, strips of crisp duck skin, cucumber and scallions, roll it all up in a thin pancake like a chinese burrito, add a little plum sauce, and eat it with your fingers. just be sure not to confuse your vocabulary. in hong kong, a peking duck is also an overworked student. now, that's funny. you know, i learned a lot here in china-- about the people, the places, some of the history and the culture. only recently open to visitors, it's truly a fascinating country. another chinese proverb says "to know the road ahead, ask those returning." spoken by a true traveler. so, on the laura mckenzie scale of 1 to 10, i'd give china:

would i come back? absolutely, to see what amazing things they'll come up with next in shanghai. you know, here in china, you don't just see places, you experience cultures. and i have to say this is one experience i'll always remember. i hope you enjoyed seeing it with me and that you'll join me again next time from another terrific place somewhere else around the world. from china, i'm laura mckenzie. bye-bye. [announcer] laura mckenzie's traveler is brought to you in part byasta, the american society of travel agents. for more information, go to travelsense.org. closed-captioned by j.r. media services, inc. burbank, ca

it's an island paradise in the heart of the caribbean sea, but most of this

destination is protect with one of the only national parks outside the 50 states. from white sand beaches to a rain forest hike back in time, you're about to discover why this tropical getaway is so special. (underwater mumbling). ♪ this is cruise bay on the island of st. john, part of the us virgin island just east of puerto rico, st john is a meca for sun seeking tourist in searh of white sand beaches, world class diving and some of the best snorkeling on earth. it's also home to one of the 58 us national parks

set aside to protect special places of natural beauty. virgin islands national park. this park covers 60% of st. johns total area. which means people can enjoy st johns beauty free of large crowds and resort common in other tropical areas of this caliper. we invited motion guest hiker angela along to explore virgin islands national park with us and discover its true charm. we met up with angela at the total unique concordia echo resort on the eastern side of st. john. my first reaction when i arrived at st. john was just all the colors of the building, the warm humid air and the turquoise water that was just everywhere. one of the first things i did was throw off my flip flops and stick my feet in the water. our first step was hook up with hidden reef echo tours for a guided kayak trip near round bay we quickly learned that driving on st. john is an adventure in itself. okay if you decide to rent a car on the island you're going to have several

types of automobiles to chose from including the ford ranger with the back seat with canopy id say go that way if you're into adventure. if you value your life i would say chose something else. in addition to our sketchy rental and steep twisting roads it took a little while getting used to driving on the opposite side of the street. in addition the locals like to drive fast here and cut corners, and it's not uncommon to have a goat standing in the middle of the road enjoying the laid back life style. did we mention the hills here are really steep? all part of the adventure right now, in our beautiful little rental automobile, didn't quite have the juice to make it up these steep hill, so we had to drop me, angela and john and the guys are going to go tae another run up this hill.

this will be good. want to place bets based on how far he makes it up. he said he had his ac on too. that's probably the least of the problems. exactly. well meet him at the top. here they come. speed running it. no problem. okay guess we've got to catch them now. wait. after surviving mr. toads wild island ride we met up with justin with hidden reef tours near the beach, this protected bay and waters was the perfect back drop for our first paddle on st. john. alright. check out angela. there she is sitting in maybe the bluest prettiest water i've seen in my life.

what's your take on this water? it's gorgeous. i almost don't trust water this blue. it is amazing. this is justin over here, this is our guide justin, he's going to take us somewhere and tell us something. paddling on water so clear you can see the bottom fifty feet down is pretty cool. this leisurely row along the shore gave us a chance to settle into the beauty of virgin island national park and the scenery. it was a great way to access some top notch snorkeling spot you can only get to by boat. we paddle, he is really cool, super knowledgeable. nice leisurely cruise. right now over one of the biggest reefs in this area and tie up on a ball right now and hop our of the kayaks and snorkel around this beautiful reef, so

lets find out what's under the surface. we always like to do a guided tour like this when we first arrive at a location like st. john. justin had a ton of good info and local knowledge and gave us a good handle on what to expect for the rest of our trip. snorkeling in water this clear is a real treat. justin put us on a nice coral reef with lots of fish and vibrant colors. the water was really warm, it was just perfect to get into because even with humidity it cooled you down significantly and you didn't get chills so you could snorkel for an hour. we were all excited after our first trip along the amazing shore line of st. john. after getting back into our kayaks we paddle to the car and headed back to our home while on st. john the concordia resort on the bay. away from crowded cruise bay on the west side of the island.

the concordia is one of the only places to stay on this less inhabited side of st. john. with echo friendly tent cabins, solar showers, and amazing views. one of the permanent residents of this part of the island is hard to find until you drop anything edible on the ground. i used a piece of pizza crust as the bait and it didn't take long for the jungle floor to come alive. seemingly out of no where caribbean hermit crabs also called soldier crabs seized on the bait and devoured it in minutes. another interesting example of the diverse wild life found on virgin islands national park. up next we leave the white sand beaches and blue water behind to a jungle hike that reminds us of a dark chapter in the islands history. then were stopped in our tracks as spiders of unusual size put everyone on edge when motion returns. ww

were on the caribbean island of st. john and exploring one of the few national parks outside the united states the virgin islands national park. our guest hiker angela and i got things started with a fun paddle on round bay with the help of a local guide. after heading back to our island base camp at the concordia island resort and navigating the narrow road ways with our over powered rental truck it was time to hit one of the top hikes in the park along reef bay trail. what is our plan for the adventure today. the plan for the adventure today is we finally get to hike today and really get our sweat on. oh good, i needed to sweat. i know you did and you probably needed to right when you stepped off the airplane. now did you have, when you heard you were coming to the virgin island did you have vision of hanging out on white sand beach and umbrella drinks and stuff. absolutely several. you don't get to do that.

our job is to show as much of the island as we can so people can decide what part of the island they want to go sip umbrella drinks. were here for the people, were a service here. if we do really good can we get a drink at the end of the day? yes. yes you can. now they have a little island drink here, we've had a couple already, don't let us fool you. what was your favorite of beverages. bush wacker. the one with the most alcohol was angies favorite. for the crew in the back we found it was best just not to look down on the road or think about what was coming around the next corner. at this point in ever trip in this rig on these roads was crap shoot. as we claimed on center line drive awesome views of coral bay and surrounding hill side make great places to pull over roll some video and mentally prepare for the next portion of the drive. the reef bay trail head starts at the top and

leads down to a sugar mill on the shores of reef bay. were on mile five of center line road and this is where the reef bay tail begins. how you feeling. feeling good. yeah? yeah ready to hike. yeah we've been swimming and sitting around enough lets do some hiking. watch out for these roads you will be killed here. there is a place to park on the other side of the road, not a lot, were a little over 900 feet and were going to start the decent down to reef bay. our plan was to hike the top down two miles to the ocean at the edge of the bay where john and the boat we chartered would pick us up for the short run back to cruise bay. this is a popular way to experience the hike with an easy walk down the hill. the reef bay trail twists throw dense rainforest, once home to sugar plantations and trees and plants, some you defiantly don't want to touch. okay justin our guide from yesterday did talk about

some trees that were really worth avoiding, one is the death apple. do you see it? i don't see it. and you know when you're in a canapé like this everything looks the same. when you're used to living around pine trees they really look all the same. maybe the best bet is doing touch anything. that's how i would do it. especially if something looks like an apple, don't eat it. the park service does a pretty good job of maintaining this trail which is made with large stones and steep at the top. the heat and humidity here can be brutal so extra water is a must as is proper foot ware. about mid way into the hike we started to see signs of the somewhat dark past. st. john was officially colonized by the dutch in 1718 and sugar became a cash crop here for over 100 years. but to work these plantations and bring the

sugar in slaves were used and had to endure incredible rough conditions. a revolt by the slaves in 1733 resulted in a bloody conflict. with the slave population of the island taking over control of st. john for six months before dutch and french forces retook the island. really interesting they made, they used what they had and you can see pieces of coral, different pieces of coral and stone they used to make these walls. really interesting look into the past. pretty kind of tragic past, but interesting none the less. and um, and just to mix with this jungle the overgrowth on the structures its very indiana jones like. like i'm probably should be worried about like a blow dark hitting me in

the neck or something. the lower portions of the trip even out as you approach the coast and it didn't take long for us to find something else we wanted to stay away from, something that stopped us dead in our tracks. so walking the trail make sure you're not running, and if you do make sure someone is in front of you. because, ya, right about head height there seems to be a ton of st. john coral spiders to set up shop. we saw one sucking the life out of a small bird. not really it was a moth but a bird sized moth. woe. .. oh wait. this is how we roll. okay, alright. ill run full blast. put your tripod in front of you. ill be first so when he drops it will be on you.

ill distract it, ill do a distraction. actually called a giant golden orb weaver, or locally known as a banana spider these guys covered a good part of the tail, their webs about head high so when you travel the lower parts of reef bay hike make sure you look up as you walk. although totally harmless and beautiful in a terrifying way having one of these guys drop down and do the mockerena on your forehead would not be fun. (beep, beep, beep), i'm 42 man i don't need to blast the ticker like that. what do we have going on here bro. i have to compose myself. all the blood when to my head. that's just terrifying, the spider it's frightening. it's big. and it's got huge fangs.

and he's, and something freaked him out and he can move when its time you. oh my god look at the size of that thing. holy crap. at trails end we walked into the ruins of the old reef bay sugar factory. where the cain that was harvested was crushed boiled and sent back as sugar. these ruins date back to the late 1700 and are in great condition today. this is actually one of the best preserved ruins of the sugar mills on the island. so interesting. reef bay sugar mill. this is really interesting look at this. a lot of the actual machinery this huge wheel. gears. i mean wow.

being able to see arch sites like this and get a sense of the islands past is what makes the reef bay hike a motion must do. the juggle is beautiful on its own but seeing these ruins gives you a deeper appreciation of what life was like here long ago. with the sound of pounding surf near we knew dave and the charter boat were near. so angela and i made it down to reef bay, now your choices are, you can either walk back up the trail which wouldn't be all that bad. but the spiders though. so were going to op to take a boat, we chartered a boat to pick up here, they're not allowed to come all the way to the shore so we have a little swim. you up for it? you're a good swimmer right? i'm a swimmer. alright ill follow you, or you follow me. alright. okay. did you bring the water wings.

they're on the boat. great. up next we get back in the water to get a look at the life under the waters at st. john. then we take you inside the secluded the concordia echo resort when motion returns.

were exploring virgin island national park with motion guest hiker angela.

we've discovered why this is such a popular tropical destination with perfect beaches, warm waters and lush jungles. after finishing the reef bay hike we climbed aboard with captain jason with ocean runner one of the top charters on st. john and headed to a near by key to do a little snorkeling. capitan jason tied us up just off shore where the water was incredibly clear. there is this beautiful purple fan that sets up along the coral and there is the fire coral which if you even brush up against it you'll have irritations, brain coral, other finger corals, very beautiful and then the fish hang out with all the coral its really quite lovely. the snorkeling through the us virgin island is world class.

by using a boat captain like jason from ocean runner is a great way to get on really good water and learn about life below the surface. after getting dropped off in cruise bay we drove around the north shore of st. john where some of the best beaches in the world were found. the best was in trunk bay where sugar white sand meets water in a protected cove. a short drive to the east we decided to jump out of the car for a short walk on the stunning beach. aside from being a beautiful beach, cinnamon bay is also a place you can camp, there are camp grounds and tent cabins you can rent. it's of the most inexpensive ways to stay on the islands and steps steps from one of the most beautiful beaches here on st. johns so something to think about. ♪ music n0úú@@@

♪ music vacationing in tropical locations like st. john is nothing new but having the protected lands of a national park which is usually overrun with resorts and large crowds is what makes a trip to virgin islands national park so specia. while on st. john we stayed at the concordia echo resort locatd on the far east of the island near coral bay. the resort was developed so guests can come and visit and really become intimate with nature and interact with the

environment so many of our units are designed to kind of bring that experience together. it's a camping experience, its we call it glamping, glamorous camping. the echo resort is completely surrounded by national park land if you look around its wide open. so this is really for outdoors person not for looking for party and cruise bay. this place is still growing. we have a light footprint but it's wonderful to get our guest involved in what were doing and get feedback along the way. we had an amazing time exploring virgin island national park on st. john. for more in formation on planning your trip to virgin islands national park go to livewellnetwork.com and click or search motion. and remember if you want to join the motion crew on the road like angela did

make sure you check out our facebook fan page, well see you next time.