we're back now with more of "today" on a wednesday morning. this sounds good -- it is the final day of march. i only say that because it's been the wettest march on record here in the northeast. it's just been raining cats and dogs. but as you can see, it stopped for the time being. we're looking forward to some warmer temperatures, maybe even a blue sky by the end of today. our thanks to these people for stopping by, as always. we're inside of course. i'm matt lauer, along with ann curry and amy robach. natalie an al are off today. coming up in a moment,

another round of drama for tiger woods as he gets ready to return to golf. now several women who claim to have had affairs with woods are speaking out with their stories of rendezvous and what his inner circle really knew about the affairs. details on that coming up. it is wednesday, that means it is time for our experts to take a crack at all of your financial emergencies. dat best saving plans for your kids, not only for college but k through 12. we'll also have advice from our cnbc panel on when you should close your credit card accounts. plus the long-term career consequences a lot of people don't think about when declaring bankruptcy. all of that on today's "money 911." also, we'll talk about how to be fabulous at 50 and beyond. some of our favorite celebrities, whether oprah or madonna, are living some of the best years of their lives, we understand, after the age of 50. this morning we'll have some advice on how to embrace mid life and improve everything from your style to your sex life as you move into your 50s and beyond. but first, since ann is

sitting right here, tamron hall of msnbc is over at the news desk with the headlines. good morning, everyone. president obama has issued an emergency declaration for rhode island following record setting rain and the worst flooding there in more than 100 years, the weather channel's mike seidel is in cranston, rhode island. mike, good morning. the rain is easing there but problems i understand are certainly not over. >> reporter: not by a long shot. rain has finally shut down. even some sunshine this morning but behind me, this is the pawtuxet river, here in cranston is across the river, the other side in -- in parts of rhode island where the river has come up now to 20.76 feet, an all-time crest now, 12 feet above flood stage. it is still coming up, coming up another inch in the past couple of hours. yesterday and monday, heavy rainfall, that's why we've had unprecedented flooding. historic totals in providence, nine inches of rain in two days. over 16 inches so far in march, now the wettest month on record,

forcing residents out of their homes, some for the second time in two weeks. the bad news is even though the sun is back out, the rain has stopped. it will take until at least early next week before these floodwaters come back down. this morning many roads and bridges are shut down, including a stretch of interstate 95. that's going to affect not only local traffic but also through traffic across parts of southern new england. tamron, back to you. >> mike, thank you. today president obama is saying the government will allow offshore oil drilling 50 miles off the coast of virginia reversing a long-standing ban on most offshore drilling. it is part of an effort to reduce reliance on foreign oil. new and surprising details about tiger woods' secret life have emerged this week in "vanity fair." nbc's peter alexander has more. peter, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the piece is titled "the temptation of tiger woods" and this one reads like an adult romance novel. the "vanity fair" writer, mark seal, spoke with several women who claim to have had affairs with tiger outlining his secret life of womanizing and an

entourage of enablers. these women posing provocatively for "vanity fair" magazine claim to have heated affairs with tiger woods. they tell similar tales of a voracious woods, always requesting sex, constantly asking the women to satisfy his seemingly unquenchable sexual needs. >> the sad thing about it is, they all seemed to think they were the only one. >> reporter: mindy lawton, a 34-year-old perkins restaurant hose host ess in tiger's hometown says they'd meet at cvs, then follow him home to have sex in the kitchen, the garage. but never in the bedroom. it was over in minute, a needy and uncontrol able release for a man who, lawton imagined, had a vor kashs appetite for sex and wasn't getting it at home. there were similar accounts of tiger's constant need for sex from jamie jungers who says she met tiger in a nightclub.

she told her story on "today." >> how would you describe the relationship? it went on for what? a year and a half? >> yes. every time we saw each other it was like we became more and more comfortable with each other. just became more of an actual relationship, boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. >> reporter: another common thread -- these women all say tiger was cheap. jamie jungers claimed tiger only flew her in coach. her mother thought she should demand first class. mindy lawton says tiger bought her dinner -- once. >> that is all me, i'm the one who did it, i'm the one who acted the way i acted. no one knew what was going on when it was going on. >> reporter: seal directly contradicts tiger's assertion that his grendz and managers had no idea about his extramarital affairs. women say the relationships were managed by tiger's entourage. nbc news reached out to tiger woods and his agent, mark steinberg, for comment. we did not hear back. tiger, by the way, will return to competitive golf next week,

tamron, at the masters. >> those are some details. peter, thank you. some dogs chase cars but there is a border collie in canada that can run circles around them. look at this dog! he's insane. he hides in a ditch near a highway, then he spins every time a car goes by. and, he's known in the area -- wait for it -- as the spinning dog. they couldn't think of anything more original. poor guy! it is six minutes past the hour. back to matt, ann and amy. >> actually, he reminds me have don nash every time a big story happens. that's one of our senior producers. right, don? anyway -- >> ouch. moving on. >> that's not going to be the last you hear of that. let's get a check of the weather now from meteorologist bill karins who is in for al. bill? >> well, good morning, everyone. we actually have a nice little 13th birthday here. who are these nice people next to you? >> my sister and my friend -- my

cousin. >> what's your birthday wish? you want your sister to sing? >> no. >> no singing there? >> yeah. >> show your sign off. i don't like to show signs -- what's the other side say? >> marry me, matt. but she crossed that off and someone named bill actually wrote on the sign. matt's very cute. but i don't want to start that argument today. weather wise, we had this horrible, horrible storm that moved up through new england. still seeing flooding problems. a lot of rivers crested last night. a few of the bigger ones will crest later today. amazing rainfall totals for the month of march. we've never seen a march with this much rainfall from new york city up through connecticut, providence and right into boston. hopefully april will be our reward with a lot of sunshine and warmth. we slowly warm up the next coex >> orders conditions by this afternoon. sunshine and mid 60's around the

baltimore area. it is only going to get milder through the rest of the week. >> that's a look at your wednesday forecast. in "today's "money 911,"" help for all of your financial dilemmas, from how to find best college savings account to the benefits of short selling your home. carmen wong ulrich is a cnbc personal finance expert. sharon epperson is cnbc's personal finance correspondent, and melissa lee is host of cnbc's "fast money" and "options action." tamron hall is fielding questions from our crowd. good morning to everyone.

we're going to start with a viewer e-mail. we have are michelle in tampa, florida. she writes this -- my husband and i are considering filing for bankruptcy as i was laid off last year and we fell behind on all payments, including our mortgage. i am planning to attend law school in the fall. will filing for bankruptcy affect my future career in law? also, will it affect my ability to get student loans? sharon, what does chapter 7 do to an individual? >> this is not a way you want to start your law career. of course it depends on what the employer will do when they hire you but this bankruptcy will be on your credit report and credit history. the other issue is what to do about the student loans. that's a big issue as well because some federal student loans you will be able to qualify for, but you may be denied a grad-plus loan. private loans, basically forget about getting those. in terms of actually being admitted to the bar, there is a review process there and there are some cases where they've rejected people from the bar

because after bankruptcy or because of other debts. >> what about credit history? if she doesn't file her bankruptcy she might be in just as much trouble. >> well, yes. that's a very difficult thing as well. she needs to seek advice from a non-profit credit counselor, go to debtadvice.org or aicca.org. look at all the unnecessary expenses she has and figure out how to reduce her budget, clean up her credit history so she can have a better credit history going into the workforce and decide if this is the right time to take on more debt by going to law school. >> more and more employers are looking at your credit report, whether you think it is fair or not. so if you are looking for a job -- a lot of folks are in financial trouble of course. be up front. they have to ask your permission first. be up front about why you're in trouble. >> next up, phone call from crystal in paducah, kentucky. >> good morning. we just paid off all of our credit card debt in february with our tax refund. i have heard that if we close

all of our credit cards at once, it will hurt our credit score. however, if we leave them all open, with the available lines of credit, it may also hurt our credit score. we currently have about nine credit cards. we would like to only keep two open credit cards with low lines of credit. my question is, what is the best route for us to take? >> melissa,messa, what is cryst best solution here? >> well, crystal, first, congratulations for payining do at your debt but don't celebrate by cutting up those credit cards yet. your credit history will follow you around. you close those accounts and that information will still be on your credit report for about ten years. that's not going to solve that problem. second, the thing to keep in mind is that your credit score, a big portion of it, about 30% is what's made up of credit utilization. what is that? simple thing -- just take all your credit cards, add up all the limits and balances, divide balances by the limits. it is basically a measure of how much you are using your limits

across your credit card. let's just say just as an example, you've got $1,000 in limits total across your credit cards. you've got $600 in balances, simple math, that's 60% utilization. the lower the number, the better. say you close some of those credit cards and you eliminate some of those limits. say you eliminate $400 worth of limits. that brings that utilization up to 100%. not a good thing. actually, keeping those cards open can help you keep up your credit score. assuming that you can control your spending and you can pay down your balances in a timely fashion, keeping those cards open may be your best bet at this point. >> why does she have such a big, giant refund? we're talking $9,000 to $10,000? crystal, you are letting the government hold on to all that money that's yours so instead if you're using this as like an automated savings account, sign up for an automated savings account and adjust your withholding. irs.gov, a withholding

calculator is there and adjust it so the government is not taking too much money. that's way too big of a tax refund to get. >> the average is about $3,000. the other thing to think about is the length of time you've held some of these credit cards. if you've held them a long time, don't cancel the ones that you've held for a long time. >> heading across the street where tamron is standing by with a viewer question. >> i am with kim and tony from washington, d.c. you can see here they're celebrating their first wedding anniversary. woo-hoo is right. you got a big question. >> we're wondering if someone applying for a second home mortgage can qualify for an faa loan? >> good question. >> interesting question. congratulations, you guys. happy anniversary. i'm assuming -- i want to ask why you're looking for the second mortgage. but basically no. fha loans are your primary mortgages. when you can do, however, if you have equity in your home, do you own some of your home? >> we own a home currently and are trying to upgrade to a bigger home. >> apply for an fha refinance. that's something you can apply for. if you have equity.

only if you have equity. you can apply for another refinance loan which is going to be a primary mortgage but not secondary. >> good question. everyone stand by. we still have much more to come. like whether dipping into your 401(k) will hurt your credit score. and later, giada de laurentiis at home sharoning so some of her favorite recipes. just to get out of bed. ing some of her favorite recipes. to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest, the trouble concentrating, the lack of energy. if depression is taking so much out of you, ask your doctor about pristiq. (announcer) pristiq is a prescription medicine proven to treat depression. pristiq is thought to work by affecting the levels of two chemicals in the brain, serotonin and norepinephrine. tell your doctor right away if your depression worsens or you have unusual changes in mood, behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children, teens and young adults. pristiq is not approved for children under 18.

do not take pristiq with maois. taking pristiq with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. tell your doctor about all your medications, including those for migraine, to avoid a potentially life-threatening condition. pristiq may cause or worsen high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or glaucoma. telling your doctor if you have heart disease... or before you reduce or stop taking pristiq. side effects may include nausea, dizziness and sweating. (woman) for me, pristiq is a key in helping to treat my depression. (announcer) ask your doctor about pristiq. to treat my depression. why do women like you love activia light? sometimes i have no choice but to eat on the run... and to eat whatever happens to be around. heavy greasy food that's hard on my diet... and my digestive system. so i eat activia light every day. activia light, with bifidus regularis is clinically proven to help regulate your digestive system. mmmm. the new taste is better than ever. and with only 70 calories activia light helps make it easier to watch my weight. it helps me feel good and look good too!

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carmen wong ulrich, sharon epperson, and melissa lee. tamron hall has our questions from our crowd as well. let's get back to it. starting with a viewer e-mail, this comes from pam in ft. lauderdale, florida. she writes, my ex and i are trying to sell what we planned to be our retirement home that we purchased several years ago. we now owe more on the home than it's worth and it needs repairs to sell. we've reduced the asking price more than 30% over the past ten months on the market. we have not missed mortgage payments yet but it is getting difficult for us to keep three households. are there any options available when the property in question isn't our primary residence but still draining our financial security. sharon, does the fact that this is not their primary residence affect their situation or their options? >> there are not a lot of options under the federal programs. these people are probably wondering if they qualify for the home affordable mortgage program and they don't really for most of what's in there. what they need to do is try to sell this house. it's been on the market for ten months. that's something that really is

detrimental in this kind of environment. keep it off the market as long as possible and really just price it to sell. one of the things they may want to consider is try to market this home with a special fha mortgage that allows you to get the mortgage and get money for repair. try to encourage the home buyer to look for this fha 203k type of loan. the other thing to maybe think about is try and talk to their lender about whether or not they'll reduce the monthly payment to the rental income. try to rent it out for as long as they can because they may paf it's in the florida market. the last resort is probably a short sale or a deed in lieu of foreclosure. they want to avoid foreclosure. these are two ways to do it, though they are very detrimental to your credit history. definitely as a lart resort. first thing, try to sell that home as quickly as possible. >> dennis in michigan writes -- i've lost my job due to a plant

closure so i went on retirement. i'm only 59. my wife still works. i collect severance pay for a year, then my income will be limited to my pension. tapping my 401(k) since social security is a couple of years away. our credit score is 835. is it going to drop much and what can i do with anything to keep that from happening? we have some debt but not much. melissa, what can dennis do? >> the first thing -- short answer, no, it wouldn't affect your credit score. your 401(k) is your own personal savings account. you tapping your own money doesn't show up, it is not like taking out a loan or using a credit card limit. but keep in mind if you want to borrow money, say you need a new car, that lender will ask for your pay stubs as a method to verify your income and that can show up. tapping in your 401(k) will show up on your pay stub so that could count against new that sense. no, it won't hurt your credit score. but these, do me a favor because you are you a tapping into your 401(k) early, you could be hit with a 10% penalty.

check with your plan, with your employer, to see if there are exemptions out there to pay that penalty. some exemptions may include if you're terminated, which is dennis' case, or if you take early retirement in the year that you turn 55 or later which is also your case, dennis. see if can you get that exemption if you haven't already done so. >> at 59, is he really ready to stop working completely? is there something else that he can be doing so he doesn't happen to tap that 401(k) or take that retirement money early? there is probably something out there he still wants to do. try an get more income. >> hopefully you're healthy and you could be living another 30 years. >> we have a viewer on the phone. kelly from ft. wayne, indiana. go ahead with your question. >> yes, my husband and i have a credit card with about a $20,000 balance on it. i was paying about $350 a month until a recent interest rate change. i'm now paying about $530 a month. i've called to get an interest rate decrease and they said i'm at the lowest available which is

18.99%. i talked to consumer credit counseling and they said that my credit, my payments and my interest rates are all too good to use their services. i also called the credit card hardship department and they say because of my excellent credit history, they could not help me unless i missed a payment or don't make a full payment. we stopped using the credit card about six months ago. i'm wondering if there is anything else i can do to get a lower payment or lower interest rate. >> it sounds like kelly's done almost everything -- >> not. kelly, you still got places to go. i'm going to send you to a couple places. i love that you said you have great credit. you guys have income. you're paying. it is hard to pay but you are paying it. you want to keep paying it but get those interest rates down. head to very popular place right now, your local community banks or a credit union. go and shop around. just go to bankrate.com, shop around in your local area for a community bank or credit union because they will work with you. their rates are usually 20%

lower, interest rates, on average. they have much more less fees for you to have. it is a great place to go to get a loan to consolidate all of these credit cards so you pay less a month. you also have less interest. be very careful. i know you said you stopped using the card six months ago but i wonder why did you use the cards, how did you rack up so much debt? make sure you don't get into debt again. >> carmen wong ulrich and sharon epperson, melissa lee, thank you so much. if you have financial questions, go to todayshow.com and we'll get to as many as we can next week. still to come on "today," traveling solo. some great vacation destinations if you're planning to hit the road alone. but first, these messages. is ready to see you!

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italian cooking. giada shows us some of her all-time favorite recipes. 50 doesn't look like it used to. we have advice so when you hit the big 5-0 you look like 30. so kate you were stressed, a lot of junk food on the go and you were... a little irregular, sluggish. my daughter needed activia! so i gave it a try and wow. it works. now she has a spring on her step. i'm loving it, every morning. mmmm. avo: help get your system back on track. activia with bifidus regularis helps regulate your digestive system would you recommend activia?

i already have. she recommends it. what are you waiting for? singer: activia. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in all of >> from forming. i am mindy basara. baltimore city police have made an arrest in the five-year-old murder case freed very douglas, jr. was picked up by police last night. his victim was found stabbed to death on the 59 blog of monthly ave. -- block of one clear ave. does jack young actually live in baltimore city? the i-team has learned that amount billed to this brith home

listed as his address and this is just over $65, the same as that of a house on the same street. the bills at other alms -- other homes and in a broad range from $95 to $150. neighbors said they have not seen him. he refused to talk to jayne miller about his residence. you can see the report on the i- team page of our website, wbaltv.com. its official -- former gov. bob ehrlich is throwing his hat in the ring for rematch with gov. martin o'malley. he says he is excited about the opportunity to reclaim the state's top spot. he kicks off next week in montgomery county. gov. o'malley says he welcomes the rematch. >> we are exiting march today and turning the corner into nice spring weather. it will last for quite awhile.

into the middle part of next week, if you can believe that. tomorrow, we have abundant sunshine, mid-70's. by friday and saturday, 80's. 80 on friday and 80 on saturday. sunday, 75 and partly cloudy. >> thank you for joining us. another update at 9:55.

you know, you start all of my arguments. >> me? >> yes. >> why? >> your book? "he cheated so now what?" >> okay. >> because i can quote you. >> please! >> in relationships -- >> i do not talk like that. i don't sound like that, do i? >> yes, you do! >> that's janet jackson and some girlfriends talking about guys over a cocktail in a new movie called "why did i get married, too?" coming up, we'll catch up with tyler perry, the man behind the movie, a little later on "today." he's so friggin' talented. coming up, 50 is the new

30 -- did i say the wrong thing? >> no. we were looking at that guy without his shirt. >> whoa. "we"? >> girlfriends doing what we do. so macho. coming up in this half-hour, 50 is the new 30. hitting the mid life doesn't have to send you into crisis. successful women from madonna, to oprah, to jamie lee curtis have all entered the decade with style. you don't need their money or their designers or trainers. we'll tell you how to turn your 50s into your best decade over. today giada's showing us her favorite recipes. she's making a baked pasta and espresso caramel bars.

giada always looks so beautiful when she's in the kitchen as well. and later, if you just need to get away from it all and take a vacation alone, we'll tell you about great destinations for solo travelers. it is interesting, people talk about working up the courage to do something like that. we're used to being in groups just naturally as humans. but you can take a solo trip -- >> i've done it! i did it in paris after i ditched my friend. but that's another segment on friends. but first, let's get a check on the forecast. meteorologist bill karins. >> we can do a whole scene where we reunite you, get you all together. let's talk about this horrible march we're getting rid of and enjoyable stuff we'll deal with in the future. april is looking really nice in much of the eastern half of the country. today perfect in the middle of the nation. 80s and 70s. 72 today in minneapolis. on the last day of march. that just doesn't happen that often. northeast is getting rid of the

pesky storm still lingering there off the coast. tomorrow, sunshine galore from new england southward, temperatures jump into the 60s, 70s which nice temperatures on this last day of march. breezy today. winds dying out tomorrow. 10 >> that's a look at your forecast. from your love life to your style to your house, how to live it up like a celebrity after the

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big 5-0 can be scary. but there are ways to make your 50s absolutely fabulous. the author of the book called "the best of everything after 50, the expert's guide to style, sex, health, money and more" is with us. also dr. dale atkins joins us this morning, she's a psychologist. you actually talked to physicians, nutritionists, skin and hair experts, fashion and fitness gurus. all of this trying to look at what are some of the best things that women moving into their 50s can think about to make their lives better. what an opportunity. >> it was a great opportunity for me. i was very nervous when i turned 50. i was really scared, i didn't know what i was getting myself into. i really wanted to be prepared. i think i'm a bit of a girl scout in that respect. so i started to get a lot of information from books and the web side and the like and i was overwhelmed. i think that that happens to a lot of women when they reach this age. i was overwhelmed by this much

information. i wanted to distill the best of the best information out there. i took it upon myself, went to some of the best experts in all of these fields. >> you got all this great information. >> wonderful information. >> we'll get to that information in just a second. dale, i think that i was looking, everywhere you look, everywhere, and what everybody says is always negative about getting older. it is just constant, whether it is in commercials, whatever, magazines, everyone that's the message. and so it is kind of a psychological turn that we have to make. >> it is. one of the things that we have to do as women is to really embrace the fact that we are fabulous and what we need to do is understand that there is a piece of getting older that has to do with mourning. you mourn for that which is no longer. you mourn for that which is lost. and then you embrace that which you still have and you maximize that which you have. it is all about health and it is all about embracing love and friendships and barbara talks about so many issues that have to do with style and really being well and healthy. but again, you have to fight

that which has been given to us subliminally, as well as overtly. we have to say this is not appropriate for us. it's not healthy for us and it doesn't matter! >> think about this as a rebirth. we've lived the first century. now we're babies again and we're learning how to live these great years. >> it hearkens back to the other change that we went through -- puberty. we put a different changes that we had to deal with. >> we want to help women understand. you have five life changing things that you learned. they're fundamental. you talk about, you say go for regular medical checkups and screens. that's just a given. >> absolutely. if you don't have good health you really don't have a full life. we want to live a very long, active life. not just be alive. that's a very important point. >> have a basic fitness program. what's the best for women? >> you don't need to spend a lot of money. this is really important in this economy -- on staying fit, buy a

simple pedometer and walk a simple 10,000 steps, do it throughout the day or do a nice five-mile run and get it in all in one shot. >> commit to exercise. you eat differently. >> i do indeed. instead of starving myself to lose the 15 pounds that i had slowly but surely gained recently, i started to eat every two or three hours throughout the day. it kept my metabolism steady and sugar level steady and i'm never hungry and i've lost 15 pounds and kept it off. very easy and simple. >> you've thrown away your blow dryer. >> this is probably the most surprising tip of all. when i went to an expert on hair, i had been for decades blow drying my hair, highlighting it. it looked like road kill by the time i turned 50. what do i do? she said throw away your hair dryer and only shampoo your hair once a week. use conditioner and water. we both found that very surprising. but i have to say it works. my hair feels better, it looks

better. i've let it be what it was meant to be. i no longer fight it. which is another aspect of being 50. don't fight who you are. don't fight being 50. be the best 50 you can be. you're not 30. don't try to look 30. >> the idea is to really embrace who you are and understand that as we get older, there's so much that we incorporate from our life experience. what we know about women who get older and who age well, men and women but particularly women, is that they are wiser and they understand that their life experience is that which they can share and they find an internal happiness if they not only run -- because not everybody can run, but they do cardio and they do the stretching, they do a mindful practice of going inside and they keep weights in their life. they have to keep -- they don't want to weigh themselves down with people who are not good for them but they lift weights -- >> absolutely. >> what they need to do is more curious, they are passionate about something, they have relationships of meaning and they do something that you talk

about in your book, about shedding -- you let go of that which you no longer need. when you do that, you go to your essence and you go forward looking towards a life that is filled with love and with passion and with excitement and energy. >> and connection. to that point, one of the most important points i learned was engage with other women, engage with other women, join facebook. join me on facebook. >> you heard it here, barbara. >> and don't wait until you're 65 to become a member of aarp. i have to point that out. you can get wonderful benefits and engage in that whole community. 40 million members. >> you talk about friendship. the issue of connection and friendship, people who age well are connected with other people. of all ages. it's not just your peers. >> i'm so sorry that we've run out of time because obviously we've just gotten started. you're saying basically it is time for us to take care of ourselves. thank you. coming up next, a pasta

party with giada de laurentiis at home preparing her favorites. right after this. what do you mean? this is it? why?! oh, don't do that to me! dove creamoil body wash. now with nutriummoisture. nutriummoisture. i'm a believer. the nourishment in dove creamoil goes somehow deeper. i'm happy about the change. change is good. dove creamoil body wash. i'm our chefs learn secrets cookinof italian cooking., like how to blend four artisanal cheeses to create our new creamy fonduta sauce. in our new steak fonduta and grilled chicken fonduta. at olive garden.

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contributor is here with her favorite things. your most favorite of them all -- in surprise, a pasta dish. >> pa za ponza. >> it is an island off the coast of italy, a place i've visited a few times with my aunt. a friend of ours made this fantastic pasta dish. yes, obviously i like pasta. i think it is because of the simple ingredients that are in this dish and also the memories that it brings back. that's why we love the food that we love. we're going to start with some cherry tomatoes. i'm doing two different colors. >> do they taste different? >> i think that the yellow ones are a little bit milder. reds are a little bit sweeter. a little bit of capers. nice and tangy. a little bit of salt. or a so the of salt. whatever. a little bit of olive oil. a little pepper, too. basically, you mix this all

together. very simple. >> it looks so pretty already. >> see? that's what i think makes people fall in love with food. i top with some store-bought italian-seasons breadcrumbs. you don't have to make these yourselves. >> i like the store-bought variety. >> i do as well for this, because they are nice and dry. it is perfect. a little olive oil on top, bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. >> wow, that is easy enough. >> then it looks like that. it's nice and golden brown on top, really yummy. what happens is, at this point it is cooled. i put it all into a bowl. this is how easy this is. okay? put this whole thing into a bowl. amy? >> yes. >> you are going to toss. >> okay. >> with the pasta. i like a short pasta for this. i think it is much easier to eat. and just go ahead and toss it all together. then we add a little bit of

peccarino cheese. >> what's the difference between this kind of cheese and parmesan? >> this is spicier. it is not aged as long so it has more of a bite. then i'll add some parsley. add little olive oil. >> always add more olive oil. >> but see how colorful it is? >> wow! was that fresh parsley or dried? >> no, that was fresh. that's it. that's the whole dish. >> the cheese wafting through there is amazing! >> the heat of the pasta just warms up the cheese. you can come with us. now i've got this bays. smoothie which i know tamron -- >> i've been trying to try this. >> this is what happens. about a cup of fresh basil. i like this in the morning for breakfast if i'm on the run. or you can have it as a brunch item for easter, with eggs, whatever. then we have a little bit of simple syrup. lemon simple syrup.

>> lemon, sugar and -- >> lemon, sugar, water and lemon zest. yogurt and ice. tamron, you mix this all together. okay? put the lid on and go for it. >> i'll be the taster. >> you be the taster right here. >> this is a fancy brand. >> that is great. that would be great as an after-dinner drink, too. add a little something-something there. just sayin'. >> giada, you may want to help with this. sorry about that. >> here we go. >> that's really good. >> that's it. >> we want o quickly get to the dessert we've all been eyeing. all morning long. >> now this is a very decadent dessert. as tamron knows, she's already tasted it. so have many people on the crew. it is a layer of cinnamon graham cracker crust, caramel and chocolate. >> sometimes calories are just

worth it. >> thank you. the new cookbook is "giada at home" and the recipe's on todayshow.com. this is one of the most amazing things i've ever tasted in my life.

around giada, we always have our priorities. food first. but we also have to say that -- >> wine! >> we're looking for today's top dog. if your pooch is a canine with character, send us a video for the chance as "today's top dog." check out todayshow.com. >> hoda and kathie lee are here. you guys aren't eating. >> well, we don't want to be bloated. tyler perry is coming on our show. we are excited! >> tyler perry.

you guys had him on earlier. he's in the movie "why did i get married 2." we'll also talk about a sober topic, going on vacation solo. >> sad. >> and easter brunch. we're very busy. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. state employees might face another two weeks of furloughs and the coming year. it is among the recommendations to the state house yesterday.

the proposal also calls for state workers to skip a cost-of- living increases, merit pay, and

>> sunshine is making a comeback today. mid-60's, someone breezy. much milder as we head into the latter half of the week. mild air will be in coming. 80s on friday and saturday. mid-70's for easter sunday. >> see you back here for 11 news

at noon.