back now with more of "today" on this wednesday morning, 24th day of march, 2010. we got a lot of young folks in the heart of midtown manhattan. always nice to see the young people. we love the young people. out here along with ann curry. now that you're back from vacation. this is really the serious story. i had no idea this was going on. consumer product safety commission has recalled more

than 1 million baby slings because the infants could suffocate. over the years, this has happened to more than 14 children. what you need to do if you own one coming up in a live report. also coming up, don't kill the messenger but there is a new study just out that says women need a full hour of exercise every day. talking seven days a week. in order to avoid gaining weight as they get older. for many women, that's just not enough time. we'll talk about the study and try and figure out how you can squeeze in extra exercise. women at about the age of 50. they studied 34,000 women. i think a lot of them will say this is really bad news. >> i'm with you. it is that time of the week where we gather our financial experts together and give you our "money 911." timely advice from paying down huge medical bills to how the new health insurance reform legislation can help you. and does this sound familiar? kids come home from school, they're hungry, they head right to the fridge or pantry looking

for a snack. be careful because more than a quarter of your children's calories they get every day from snacking. we want to make sure they've got healthy options. this morning, some ideas on how to be smarter about snacking. but first we get a check of the morning's headlines from natalie morales who's in for me at the news desk. good morning, everyone. today president obama plans to sign an executive order re-affirming long-standing restrictions on federal funding of abortion. that executive order is part of a deal with democratic abortion opponents that won their yes votes on health care reform. the president signed the almost-1 trillion bill tuesday. the senate is debating a number of so-called fixes. the consumer product safety commission this morning announced the recall of more than 1 million baby slings because of the risk babies can suffocate and die while being carried in them. nbc's tom costello has more. tom, good morning. >> reporter: hi, good morning. a lot of moms think this is a great way to bond with their child.

having the baby in the sling. experts agree. however, if the baby isn't positioned properly, it can literally suffocate and die in the fabric. ca kathleen ross was a happy, smiling 12 week old when she went with her mom to run errands. but when she went to take her out of the sling, something was terribly wrong. >> there was this mucus with blood in it, coming out of her nose, out of her right nostril. >> reporter: kathleen had suffocated. 1 of 14 such deaths over the past 20 years. in cities across the country, baby slings are as common as pacifiers and play dates. amanda schindler keeps her baby, calvin, in one. >> it is good for them. it comforts them. it's been shown to lower their blood pressure and calm them down and it is just nice to have them close. >> reporter: but after three

children died just last year, the consumer product safety commission says certain slings made by the company infantino are not safe. now infantino has issued a voluntary recall of a million slings in the u.s. the models involved are the slingrider and bellisimo slings. >> the sling creates a deep pouch and children in that pouch have the potential of suffocating. >> reporter: in a statement to nbc news, the company says "safety is our number one concern and today's announcement of a free replacement program reflects this commitment." with so many baby slings on the market, the cpsc is warning parents about improperly holding babies in any sling. the baby's face should never be covered. the baby should never be too low in the sling. the baby should never be hunched with its chin touching its chest. and the baby's face should never be pressed tight against whoever is wearing the sling. babies should always face up and use caution with babies under 4 months.

back in washington state, ann is a busy mom with two new children. but five years later, she can't forget how baby kathleen died in her arms. new babies are most at risk because their next muscles aren't strong enough to hold up their heads. if you have one of these infantino slings, you are asked to cut off the tag and mail this tag in for one of several replacement products. back to you, natalie. >> heartbreaking story. thank you, tom costello. a professor accused of killing three colleagues at the university of alabama huntsville remains behind bars without bail. amy bishop made her first court appearance tuesday and was denied bond. her attorney has said he will use an insanity defense. the judge sent the case to a grand jury. a spring storm is dumping deep snow in denver. forecasters say the area could get between one and two feet of snow. it is now five minutes past the hour. let's turn it back to ann.

>> natalie, thank you so much. now let's turn it over this way. al roker has the weather. >> got friends here from lebanon high school pioneers. you guys are going to be performing at carnegie hall today? >> lincoln. >> lincoln center. very nice. got whole thing planned out. someone over here, that's very nice. there is a rogue group that broke off over here. they don't want to be with the main group. i don't know what happened there. anyway, i don't know what that's about but i'm just going to keep moving forward. that big storm out in denver, still picking up about two to four inches of snow between denver and colorado springs. south of there, they're going to talk about still as much as a foot. and further east ahead of that storm, risk of strong storms from central texas into central oklahoma. possibilities of isolated tornadoes. you can see stuff starting to fire up now. rainfall amounts relatively light. however, we are going to be looking at the posat

>> looks like it is going to be a beautiful wednesday. mostly sunny skies. we will make it into the mid 60's. >> what's your name? >> mat from west virginia. >> and lovely family. >> emma and my wife elizabeth. >> very nice. thanks for being here. now inside to natalie. al, thank you. now to "today's health," and a new study published in the journal of the american medical association that finds hidel aged women need to get at least an hour of exercise every day to

avoid gaining weight as they age. dr. nancy snyderman is nbc's chief medical editor. good morning. we got a little taste earlier of how you felt about this study. what exactly are we talking about here and how is this study conduct sfd. >> the study looked at over 34,000 women, middle-aged, and looked at the amount of exercise that it takes to keep one from gaining weight. they found that with the kind of guidelines that we have now, which is about 30 minutes a day, women will gain five, six pounds. here's sort of the goal. assuming are you in good shape when you're a senior in high school, you want to keep close to that weight as you age. the problem is, americans put on about a pound and a half a year, every year. guess what? we get to be 40, 50 and 60, we're adding an extra 20 or 30 pounds. here's why i don't love this study. they talk about moderate to intense exercise, running,

hiking, being on a treadmill, even yoga. they leave out two very important things that women do. housework and gardening. so if you look at how our mothers conducted their lives, they didn't have gyms. they carried babies on their hips, they ate when they were hungry and they did labor. we've stepped away from that and whenever you set a bar so high to say to women, now it's got to be an hour or you're not going to take care of yourself, i think that's unattainable. what we do know happens as we get older is we don't need as many calories as we did in our 20s. there has to be a steady state of what you need. dial back the calories you need, increase the exercise, and then find that steady state for yourse yourself. >> were they also monitoring intake, food intake, calories? >> they were not. >> that i think is a huge indicator. >> it is. in fact what happens a lot of times is the more women exercise, and men, too, the hungrier you get.

now there is no excuse these days for people not knowing a couple of things. you can figure out that body mass index formula. it is on every website. it's on an app for an iphone. you can plug in your weight, how much you think you need to weigh, and every little gizmo is going to give you how many calories you should eat. then keep track of that. >> but here's the thing. the government recommendation now is 30 minutes of exercise five days a week. are we saying then that that is simply not enough? >> i think we're saying that's the bare minimum. if the government's saying 30 minutes a day, five days a week, and this new study says an hour a day, seven days a week, women are going to glaze over and say, give me a break. what my concern is always, if you say this is where it has to be, there will be people say forget it then, i quit. and we don't want people to quit. you have to find that steady state. >> but don't you have to set the bar high, too, so men and women

know that in order -- if you do -- dsht reality is if you do want to maintain that weight, you are going to have to work harder at it? >> you have to work hard, there's no doubt about it. one thing we aren't so good about, we're lazy in that we don't take the stairs, we take an elevator. we park, we circle, circle, circle until we can find the parking space as close to the mall front door as we can. park further away and walk. use common sense things that work exercise into your daily life and here's the hard part -- push yourself away from the table. >> that's the big key. >> it's the big key. >> it is really moderating what you eat. >> you and i know by the time you get to 35, then 40, then 45, you don't need as many calories as when you're 20. so if you start to increase the exercise a little and you decrease the caloric needs, you'll find that steady state. you don't have to be perfect. the goal is not to be perfect. >> not to be a swimsuit model. >> it is a race to the moderate.

that moderation is abe cheefach by almost every woman in this country. just know your numbers. don't pay so much attention to today's study. it is going to make you nuts. >> even those of us who exercise, it will make us crazy. next, what to do if you're saddled with medical bills or how to put money aside for a rainy day, even if money is tight. our financial experts are here for today's "money 911." a little bit later, a snack attack. tips on how to keep your child's snacks healthy but still kid-approved. but first these messages. (announcer) it's time to raise the bar

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♪ now today's "money 911" where we try to help viewers with their financial emergencies. david chatzky and david bach, and melissa lee making an appearance. this morning, let's start with first a live question here, live video question from elizabeth in new york city. good morning, elizabeth. what's your question? >> good morning.

i recently signed up for credit monitoring with fr freecreditreport.com. since january, according to the service, my credit score has jumped from 764 to 774, 768, to 748, though nothing on my report has changed. i paid everything on time. more than the minimum. haven't really charged anything out of the norm so i wanted to know why is my credit score jumping around so much and what can i do to get it back up to where it was. >> this is why trying to micromanage your credit score is a really bad idea. it will drive you nuts. you want to see over time a trajectory upward but the reason this is happening is because you're checking it at different times during the billing cycle. when you are using more of your available lines of credit, more of that utilization, it is taking your score down by just a little bit. do not worry about this. your credit score is fine. check it once a month at the most and just go on and do something else that's more important. >> okay. >> okay, thanks a lot,

elizabeth. now we got an e-mail from liz and josh in denver. they write we're in our mid 20s, we have three young kids, no credit card debt but medical expenses because we had no health insurance when our children were born. we own $15,000, liz currently stays at home because child care is $2,800 a month. josh brings in 23,000 a year. our rent is 85% of our income, how should we handle the medical debt? they want $800 a month and we can't afford it. david? >> first, i think they're doing an amazing job. i don't know how you don't have any credit card debt right now with such a low income and high expenses. first, you can't make it on -- 85% of your money can't go to overhead. it is way too much. because your income is so low. on this hospital debt, go to the hospital and be honest with them. show them your financial situation and share with them, here's how much money i'm making. we make $23,000 a year with three kids. we can't possibly make an $800 a month payment. here's what to be careful about -- the hospital will try and get you in some cases to

sign up, believe it or not, for a credit card, a hospital credit card, where they will take the debt that you have, sell it to someone else and start charging you interest on it. do not let them do that to you. negotiate with them, make a $100 or $200 a month payment. if they won't work with you, get a legal advocate for you. lea believe it or not, legal services around the country -- the website is lsc.gov. this is a legal service corporation. you go to their website, click on your state, look for legal advocates in your area. many of them have actually been given grants to help these attorneys work with you. >> what about the job situation? three kids. but with child care being so expensive, is she working just to cover child care? >> look for a job or less expensive child care scenario so you can bring in a little more or look for an opportunity to work from home. there are a lot of scams but good ones do exist.

>> a live video question from brandi in idaho. what's your question? >> hey, good morning. my husband just started a new job with a pay increase. as a result of that we have more disposable income. a mortgage, two vehicle loans, one of which will be paid off in the next three months. two student loans with fairly low interest rates and about $12,000 in unsecured debt. we only have a few thousand dollars in savings and retirement. do we work on paying our debts off first and save later or do we pay our debts off -- or do we save first, pay our debts off later or do we pay our debts off first and save later? >> melissa, i know you understand what brandi was saying. >> brandi, you don't have to choose. you can do it all at the same time. first, develop a cash cushion for emergency purposes. six, eight months is great. that's a holy grail but right now focus on one month of expenses and salary. that way you are covered for

short-term emergencies, your car breaks down, the roof caves in. life happens. get that under your belt. second, congratulations to your husband. have him first off the bat first day there ask the company if they have a 401(k) program and, more importantly, if tlef's got a match. that's free money essentially. the employer saying we'll match you dollar for dollar for every dollar that you put into the 401(k) up to a certain amount. make sure you take advantage of that. in terms of attacking that debt, make a list of all the amounts of money that you owe, whether it be to your car loan or to your mortgage, to your credit card. rank them by interest rate. what you want to do is pay off the debt that's doing the most damage to your pocketbook. if your credit card is charging you 20% for that balance and your auto loan is 3%, pay off that credit card first. if you think your mortgage loans are maybe a little bit high in terms of the interest rates, now might be a time to consider refinancing. rates are historically low right now so you want to check into that especially if you're going to stay in your home for the next few years or so. >> brandi, can you live with

that? >> i think so. thank you so much. >> now we got a phone call from lori ann in holly, pennsylvania. good morning. what's your question? >> good morning, everybody. well, basically we were paying off our credit cards until november when our money situation changed. in december i was diagnosed with a rare bowel cancer. my husband's disabled and we have two children that are disabled. one goes down to children's hospital quite often. most of the medical expenditures are covered under insurance. we have one credit card for me. we're only about $5,000 in debt and we're just wondering how we can do the fix since we haven't been really able to pay. >> jean, quickly? >> first, i'm really, really sorry. this is a very tough scenario. you want to talk to your lenders across the board, plain explain them what's going on. they do have relief programs for people who are in situations like you and i hope that they'll be willing to find them for you.

>> best of luck, lori ann. we hope everything works out. jean chatzky, david bach, and of course melissa lee, thank you so much for joining us. she's juggling duties as a host, correspondent, entrepreneur, blogger and mother of four. brooke burke stops by to chat with kathie lee and hoda. brooke burke stops by to chat with kathie lee and hoda. but first, these messages. to let your immune system become a statistic. so take every precaution. wash your hands frequently. maintain a well-balanced diet, get plenty of rest... and support your immune system... for a full 24 hours with patented ester-c. taken daily, ester-c gets into your system quickly... and stays all day to provide... up to 24 hours of immune support. now more than ever, trust your immune health... to clinically tested ester-c. the better vitamin c. to clinically tested ester-c. can you believe how fast kids grow these days? and since 90% of bone strength is developed before adulthood... it's so important that they get enough calcium every day. that's why there's new danonino. danonino! unlike leading kids yogurts, danonino has twice the calcium of milk,

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coming up, snacking strategies. how to change your kids' habits and get them to eat healthier. we're making a tasty treat. beano prevents gas before it starts.

you take these gas relievers once you have gas, bloating, and you have to find a new yoga class. [ clears throat ] you only need these if you forgot to take beano. never again, never again. take beano before, and there will be no gas. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. here's a look at some of our top stories this morning. police continue to look for clues in a late-night shooting in northeast baltimore. a man was shot multiple times in an alleyway at rosemont ave. he was taken to hospital. no word on his condition. homicide detectives are said to be handling the case. baltimore county police are looking into a stabbing that sent one man to a hospital. it occurred about 10:15 at a shopping center at loch raven

boulevard. the victim is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. no word on a suspect. after getting a few hints about it over the last few days, we now see how drastic cuts to the baltimore city budget are to date what is officially presented we're told that at $2.2 billion spending plan plans to close the budget gap without raising property taxes. it includes merging city agencies, eliminating positions, possibly requiring nonprofit institutions and hospitals and schools to contribute more taxes. it aims to close the $120 million deficit. the city will not be paying extra money to pat the mayor's salary. mayor stephanie rawlings-blake, city council president jack young, and the comptroller are slated to give back the raises they were going to receive this year.

city council members are receiving a $1,400-a-year salary increase, but it is not known if any of them plan to return their races. >> the weather should be quiet this morning. we will make it to the 60's this afternoon. a little breezy, but not bad. it to the weekend, clouds thickening up tomorrow. rain thursday night and friday. temperatures will fall into the fifties over the stretch. >> thank you for joining us. another update at 9:55.

♪ who let the dogs out ♪ who let the dogs out >> whether your dog is a fearless downhill sledder like lola, or simply has a winning heartfelt story, we want to hear from you. >> send us a one-minute video showing us why he or she deserves to be crowned "today's top dog." all the info is at todayshow.com. we're taking submissions through the end of april. >> the end of april. we got to watch the animation.

makes me giggle. in this half-hour, getting your kids on the right track regarding snacks because childhood obesity is a growing concern for many parents. what your kids put in their mouth between meals has a lot to do with that. this morning joy bauer has healthy alternatives that she says our kids are going to devour and i don't think they're oreo cookies. we're snacking in "today's kitchen." we'll learn how to make a south american favorite, corn cakes. so versatile, you can fill them with brie, even mango. we'll look forward to that. my grandmother used to make them. also ahead, best-selling author harlan cobin tells us about his latest thriller "cost." in book stores today. you'll want to o catch it after you see this interview. >> let's talk about the weather. it is cool and kind of sunny. >> out west we have a lot of snow to talk about. snow showers anywhere from parts

of colorado, on into parts of the northern new mexico. we have heavy thunderstorms possible today. texas on into oklahoma. rain moves in to the pacific northwest today. sunny but windy in the northeast. for tomorrow, rains moves into the upper >> it looks like the weather is going to be nice and quiet this wednesday. a few high, then clouds drifting around but generally sunny skies. >> and that's your latest weather. coming up next, are pretzels

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also the mother of three, by the way. joy, good morning. so why are kids snacking so much? >> because snack food is everywhere. ann, we're not talking about non-fat yogurts and fresh fruit. we're talking about the carbs, starches, sugary snacks at schools and at the vending machines, they're at the sports field. sometimes they're in our cars, they're in our homes. we just keep offering kids snacks and they're programmed to chronically graze all day long. >> 27%. that's a pretty high percentage. what's that doing to our kids? >> it's obviously setting them up for weight gain. it is causing havoc on their mood and their energy. but i think most importantly, it's making them less interested in real food when meal time rolls around. >> it is the reason why they don't want to eat when they sit down with us. >> we don't let them get hungry. >> let's take a look at a graphic of a 9-year-old boy. let's call him joey. >> i want to show you the amount of snacks that he eats. now remember, this is up and beyond his three meals. he's eaten breakfast, now in the

a.m. he has some pretzels. then he has lunch. and then at some point before he gets home, he has a few cookies. okay? then he comes home and maybe he has a play date and we offer o him a fruit drink and some chips. then with dinner, after dinner he has a popsicle. before he goes to bed he wants another snack. he has a sugary bowl of cereal with some milk. this is 1,130 calories just coming from snacks. if you look at the amount in sugar equivalent, it is about xxiv pack29 packets of added sugar and that looks like an extraordinary amount of snacks but there are so many viewers out there that can relate to exactly what joey was eating. >> this really actually can be one of the reasons why we have such a childhood obesity problem in this country. >> absolutely. and you're not getting any nutrition from these snack foods. >> so parents need some advice when it comes to this. what's your best advice in terms of you have some tips, what

parents should do. >> when it comes to snacks, specifically for parents with younger kids, try to stick to somewhat of a consistent snack schedule. the other thing is you want to leave at least two hours between snacks and meals. ultimately you want to offer up some type of nutrition along with that snack. you also want to try to cap them at about 150 calories or less and no more than two or three per day. and vegetables are unlimited at any point. >> when you say that you want to cap them at 150 calories, you mean per snack or per day? >> no, no, per snack. so two to three snacks per day. if you're looking for a calorie amount so that you have portion control, suggestions about 150 calories or less. but vegetables, again, in unlimited quantities at any point. then when you have a kid that finishes a snack, say baked chips or pretzels and they say i want more, show them the vegetables and you see if they truly are hungry.

>> to meet these guidelines you have other suggestions in terms of what we should be feeding our kids. >> so vegetables with all kinds of interesting dips are terrific, whether it's salsa or humm hummus. reduced-fat spring cheese, light popcorn, granola bars. make healthy smoodi smoothies. think you the of the box. a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread, a bowl of soup with whole-grain crackers. these are all great snack ideas. >> i used to give my kids sliced apples with peanut butter an honey and they still love it day. >> i love it. that's a great snack. >> let's find out what your revised snack plan did to joey. >> now we have yoey again. he's had breakfast. in the morning, instead of pretzels, a reduced-fat spring cheese. then after lunch, he's had some red peppers and hummus when he comes home. then what i did with dinner,

instead of giving him dessert directly after dinner, space it out and kill two birds with one stone, two chocolate chip cookies with a glass of skim milk. that's dessert and his bedtime snack because it wasn't directly after dinner. >> you didn't have a lot before dinner, you just had a little bit before dinner. >> this was in the afternoon when he came home from school because we don't know what he had at school. as parents at least we have control over what we serve when he comes home. ann, that slashed the calories by more than 50%. it was only 420 calories from the snacks. look how little sugar and extra fat he got from this sort of new and improved snack day. >> bottom line is we don't have to eliminate snacking, just change what we feed them and how much we feed them. >> snacking is great. just limit to no more than two or three per day. if you can, pick snacks that offer nutrition. snacks are great. >> i'll vouch for that, joy bauer. thanks so much this morning. next, best-selling author harlan coben on his new thriller

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a suburban teenage girl is missing, a sexual predator gets away and a female reporter is try toung cover the truth. that's the set-up from harlan coben's best-selling thrill ir, "caught," it is out today and already a new york city "times" best-seller. in fact, wendy is a reporter, she does live stuff. why did you decide to go with a female lead in this who's a single mom, she's obviously very smart, doesn't take a lot of guff and she gets caught up in the middle of this whole

problem. >> i always hate the way sometimes women are portrayed in the women in jeopardy novels where they're naive to the point of a learning disability, always doing something beyond stupid. i will go to a seclude house, not tell anyone where i'm going. i wanted to write about a real woman caught up in this situation. that's how she came about. >> the thing about your books, you always seem to be just ahead of the curve of things that are going on, that's in the headlines. how do you pick these topics? >> it is just my daily life. i have four kids. i look at pressures they're under with the new facebook stuff, getting into the right colleges, the drinking stuff. i sort of imagine, ask what-ifs. it is one of those catch a predator type shows on tv i was watching, i thought what would i dofy saw someone i really loved and cared for deeply told me he was innocent. that was sort of those two things coming together with a lot of surprises. >> you always say write what you know. a lot of your stuff is set in suburban new jersey which is where you live.

do your neighbors worry about the fact that they may make it into your novels? >> yes. think they probably do. they're worried about a lot of things living next door to me. but i look at the american suburbs. this will sound corny, it is the great bastion of the american dream, where we live our life with the picket fence and life's supposed to be great and perfect. where those dreams come true is also where they can wither and die. >> in "caught," seems lik people have these perfect lives, and not quite. >> my job is to keep you up and night. i want you to pick this book up at 9:00, say i'll read until 9:30, next thing you know it's 4:00 in the morning. the first line in the book is "i knew opening that red door would destroy my life." >> a lot of your protagonists and people who are victims in the book. you have two kids.

your seventh and eighth grade boys just won basketball championships. >> my seventh-grader did, yeah. i sponsor these teams, the harlan coben spinners. i think this year we won because i didn't coach. >> you do coach. >> but record normally rivals the nets. there they are! >> good looking group. how about your girls? >> that's my wife and my daughter's team. harlan coben thrillers in pink. >> that's a good looking group. >> little championship team right there. notice i'm not in the picture. that's why we won. >> you went to high school with the current governor of new jersey. >> we went to -- i've known him since we were 11 years old. played little league together. >> do you give him any advice? >> he doesn't listen to it. but, yeah. we do talk every once in a while. i do -- we disagree and agree on things. it's kind of fun. >> one thing i'm sure he agrees, this is a terrific book. >> he's at all my book signings.

we'll see if he comes tonight. >> offer him free hors d'oeuvres. . we all show up for free hors d'oeuvres. . come on! the book is "caught" by harlan coben. good to see you. coming up next, a modern twist on a classic dish. we're making a south american favorite. but first, this is "today" on nbc. hi. i'm jim perdue.

in case of everyday emergencies... guys, go get changed! ...or soccer practice, it's important to be prepared for dinner.

that's why i've prepared my perdue perfect portions fresh chicken breasts. they're individually wrapped, so you can cook what you need and store what you don't. we're not playing helicopter now. ready when you are, they're trimmed of fat and consistently sized to cook in just 10 minutes. life's not perfect. that's why there's perdue perfect portions. [ male announcer ] perdue perfect portions. ready when you are. this morning in "today's kitchen," we're taking a trip to latin america and cooking up arapes. if you like them plain or stuffed with cheese, these corn cakes are delicious and easy to make. d "today's" hot chef" is from norwalk, connecticut. my grandmother used to make these with cheese. what are they? >> corn cakes from south america. >> like little pancakes. >> you stuff them after they're cooked. >> you'll show us how to make it

first. you start off with a different -- you have to know the cornmeal that you're buying first. >> it should be from venezuela because it is nice and fine. >> you've got the white and then the regular cornmeal. >> yes. yellow i think is a little bit more sweeter. >> for people who can't find them, you're not going to go to venezuela to get them, you can find them at a latin market. >> we have a little warm water, salt, olive oil. >> why did you start with the warm weather? does it help kind of dissolve easier? >> yeah. water -- the dough doesn't fail. then you use the hand tongs, put the hand in there. work it. >> it is going to resemble like a cereal, wet cereal, when you're done. then let it proof for about ten minutes. it gets a little bit more firmer. >> is there a difference in the taste at all between the white and the yellow? >> just a little residual sugar. sweeter. >> the white one is sweeter. >> that's about where you stop. let it set up.

>> you need to clean? there you go. and then it forms a dough sort of like this? >> yes. it gets firm. then we'll have portion them in balls. want to make one with me? >> my hands are clean. washed them right before. >> just pat it. >> i'll do it yellow. just like making a little hamburger patty. >> they'll crack a little. smooth out the edges. >> okay. what's great about these is you can fill it with just about anything. right? we'll show you in a minute. now you can do did in the oil or also you have a griddle here. >> venezuelans eat them more on the griddle, americans like them fried. >> really just want that golden crispiness to it. right? >> yes. >> you were actually an irishman. what are you doing cooking arapes? >> just to make some money.

i'm also a capitalist. >> there you go! it's working for you. let's show what you it looks like. is this one okay to pull out already? >> yep. >> look how gorgeous that is when it comes up. i should probably keep an eye on mine here. there we go. it's nice. okay. let's show you what we're going to fill them up with back here. those look beautiful. once you take them off the stovetop here, these look amazing. ann, these are incredible. you can fill it with anything. we have pulled chicken, pork. >> pulled chicken? >> that looks great. to do that you really just kind of work the chicken off the bone. >> bell peppers. >> ooh, avocados. amazing. that looks perfect. >> try some with the green sauce. >> that's your specialty sauce. >> cilantro, not spicy.

>> i'd love it with chickenfy could. >> like a little hot pocket. michael young, thank you. i'm going to have to come visit you guys in norwalk. you're not that far from us. >> this is a great idea. i like how you fill them. coming up, we've got busy mom brooke burke talking about her new hosting gig. plus the 25 most common cooking mistakes but first your local news and weather. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. the cuts to the baltimore city budget will be presented today. we are told that the $2.2 billion spending plan this

closes the budget gap with deep cuts without raising the property tax. eliminate positions and possibly requires nonprofit institutions like hospitals and schools to co - are you chronically ill and can't work? are you mentally ill and can't work? are you physically disabled and can't work? then the law firm of disability associates should be working for you. for years, disability associates has been working with our clients to get them the social security benefits that they deserve. don't be just another client at another law firm. - depend on disability associates because social security disability law is all that we do. men don't merge. the woman will sit there and wait. this is what men do.

you see where i am over here? and, ka-blam, and then we're all an hour late. depend brand. for women and men. >> it will be a quiet day

today. mostly sunny skies into the afternoon. kind of mild. high temperatures in the mid- 60's. we will be closer to the mark as we head into the weekend. chance for rain thursday night and friday. to produce into the mid-60's by saturday. >> s