we're back now with more of "today" on a wednesday morning. it is the 5th day of october, 2011. it's a stunning day here in new york city. temperatures are going to be almost spring-like, even though we are in the first couple of weeks of fall. bright, sunny skies and a nice crowd gathered in rockefeller plaza. some of these people are still getting to say hi to joe jonas who came out. what a nice young man. >> very nice, yes. sweetheart. >> really, really good guy. anyway, i'm matt lauer along with ann curry and al roker. coming up, big night last night for amanda knox.

she returned to seattle for the first time in four years after having that murder conviction overturned. she got to the airport there, she made a brief statement, than thanking the people who believed in her, supported her and her family. we're going to find out more about what the future holds for amanda in just a little while. >> that's right. and is also how is she adjusting? a lot of people are asking, how do you adjust after four years? >> you can't just flip a switch from captivity to freedom and say okay, everything is normal. >> so we've got an expert in the house who is going to weigh in on that. and he's also going to have some thoughts about the trial of michael jackson's doctor, conrad murray, so he goes behind the headlines with us. and also behind the headlines, the unemployment rate at 9.1%. the fed chairman recently saying the economic recovery is, quote, close to faltering. millions of americans are worried about their savings, how they're going to support their families, whether they'll have enough money to retire. coming up, we're going to get you through your financial emergencies in today's "money

911. o of". >> all right. >> good. ann sold the olympic torch and now prayer beads given to her personally by the dalai lama. >> you know, she asked me to be generous and it's for charity. >> let's go inside to the news desk. >> giving me a hard time for donating -- how about a beaded head? >> thank you, matt, ann and al. good morning, everybody. amanda knox is back in the u.s. this morning after four years in an italian prison. nbc's stephanie gosk is in seattle with more. stephanie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, tamron. she spent 1,450 days in that prison. but it only took 30 hours to get her back here to seattle. she sat next to her mother on that british airways flight that landed here just after 5:00. the last time she was in seattle, she was just a young student with her bags packed, ready for a school year abroad. walking out into a sea of cameras, after an unimaginable four years. [ cheers and applause ]

cheers broke out for amanda knox, and the 24-year-old sobbed. after several deep breaths -- she spoke. >> they're reminding me to speak in english. because i'm having problems with that. i'm really overwhelmed right now. >> reporter: how could she not be? just over 24 hours before, she stood in front of an italian court, visibly shaking. her life in their hands. [ speaking in italian ] >> reporter: the murder verdict overturned, she was whisked away in cars, through airports, on to planes. at times during the journey, moments of relief were clearly visible on her face. her family wasted no time getting her home. >> i was looking down from the airplane, and it seemed like everything wasn't real. what's important for me to say is just thank you to everyone

who has believed in me, who has defended me, who has supported my family. >> reporter: amanda knox has been given her life back. the prosecutor says he will appeal to italy's supreme court, leaving open a small possibility that the italian government may try to extradite knox. but legal experts say the chances of that are slim. amanda's father described the moment just after they won the appeal when he first hugged his daughter. >> i mean, she pretty much squished the air out of us when we were hugging her. >> reporter: he would not say where amanda was going, only that she needed time to adjust. >> i just want -- my family is the most important thing to me right now and i just want to go and be with them. so -- thank you for being there for me. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: for the first time in four years, nothing is stopping her.

knox is in an undisclosed location with her family and friends. a local paper says that the 24-year-old is planning the 21st birthday party that she never had, and her father says that after four years in a concrete prison, what she really wants to do is lie on the grass. tamron? >> all right, stephanie, thank you. investigators are trying to find out what caused a deadly helicopter crash tuesday in new york. the helicopter went down in the east river shortly after it took off, killing one passenger and injuring three others. emergency crews were at the scene within seconds. this morning, i spoke with nypd detective, keith conley, one of the rescuers. >> seeing the people in the water struggling, and they just, you know, experienced the helicopter crash, and they're struggling in the water. so without hesitation, we just jumped in. >> and a british woman celebrating her 40th birthday was killed in the crash. the pilot survived. a new pugh research poll finds one out of three veterans

survived believes the wars in iraq and afghanistan were not worth fighting. almost half of post 9/11 veterans say their deployments strained their relationships with their spouses. 96% say they were proud of their military service. and a difficult rescue tuesday in chile after a young bull squeezed through the opening of a water pit and got trapped for almost two days. the bull even had fans on twitter, urging rescuers to save it. finally, engineers opened up a larger hole, and used a crane to hoist the bull -- there you see it there -- to safety. it is now 6 past the hour. quite the sight there. now here is al with a check of the weather. >> okey-dokey. thank you, tamron. we show you what's happening for today. out west, it is a mess. we have a system moving on shore that is bringing a lot of heavy rain to northern and central california. sierra nevada seeing a lot of snow, winter storm warning, winter storm watches and advisories in effect, all the way into the plains. we're looking at up to a foot or more in the upper elevations of

the sierra. also around salt lake, the wasatch mountain ranges, as well and heavier rain in northern and central california, on into parts of northwestern -- the pacific northwest. record highs in the plains, plenty of sunshine in the southeast. in the mid atlantic states. >> good morning. l little on the cool side. it will be a fantastic ever do. sunshine in the forecast. ♪ somebody call 911 shorty fire on the dance floor ♪ now our panel of experts

answers your financial questions. gene chatzky is the author of "money 911." david backe is author of "debt free for life" and sharon epperson is a personal correspondent for cnbc and nbc.com. let's get started. we go to the phones. roger is on the phone calling from bryceville, florida. good morning, roger. >> caller: good morning. >> what's your question? >> caller: i have a conventional i.r.a. that i have to start taking distributions from in about a year. now, i won't need the money for current living expenses, so i've got to find a place to reinvest the distribution. and so i'm curious as to what your thoughts are on converting to a roth now. >> jean? >> do you have the money to pay the taxes on the roth outside of that account? >> caller: no, i don't. >> then don't do it. >> doctor, it hurts when i do that. >> it will cost you 30 to 40% of that money to pay the taxes to just eat into your principle. you're better off pulling the money out and investing it in a

taxable account, or if you're thinking about this as money for your kids down the road, because you don't need it to live on, you may want to look at buying a life insurance policy with some of the money, if you are thinking that you want to do it to leave an inheritance. >> all right. roger, thank you so much for calling in. now we're going to go to a viewer video. this one is from michelle in birmingham, alabama. let's take a look. >> caller: in 2008, i had a 401(k) that was 100% invested in the stock market. after the crash, everyone said to ride it out. in six months, i had lost a third of its value. so i moved everything into 60% stocks and 40% bonds. >> it's taken me all this time just to get back to where i was. in this volatile market, i'm really afraid. should i be more conservative in my mix? i'm 15 years from retirement, and i've recently lost my job. thanks. >> okay, david. a lot of folks in that position. >> yeah. >> here's -- there's so much good news. first of all, she has been paying herself first, so she has over $300,000 in retirement account at 47, which is three times the average for retirees. so she is doing everything right

in that regard. the fact that she didn't panic out of the market, that was a really good thing. that's why she is back up to where she was. people who didn't panic saw their accounts get right back to where they were before the crash. so 47 years old, 60% stock, 40% bonds. if she is nervous, pull it back a little bit. i would go to about a 50% stock, 40% bonds, 10% cash. and then rebalance that every six months. so the market dips a little bit, take from that cash, put it in the stock market. if the market goes up, take it off and put it in the bonds. >> but be active about it. >> and diversify a lot. maybe add alternative investments, real estate or commodities or something like that. because just stocks and bonds these days may not be the asset mix that you really want to get the true diversification that you need to see the up side. >> all right. we're going to go to an e-mail from scott in springfield, missouri. his e-mail says, what are the potential repercussions of opting out on a rate increase from a lender? the letter i received stated that by opting out, the account would be closed to further advances, overdraft protection

would be discontinued and access checks would no longer be honored. i can live with this, but what about my credit rating? >> that's a valid concern. the thing we talk about on money 911, what to do that could raise your credit ratio. that could be a negative thing for your credit score. also, you know, if you get another credit inquiry that, could also be a ding on your report. the thing he wants to do, actually, is look for a new car before opting out, before perhaps having that account closed. make sure that that card has the credit limit that is the same amount, if not higher, than what's on the existing card. and that way, he won't see that drop in his credit ratio. and if it's a higher credit limit, he may see it decrease. that would be a great thing that would improve his score. >> he doesn't have to opt out. just keep the card. >> but you don't want the higher rate. >> but he may just pay the debt down and not worry about the interest rate. >> right. >> don't have to do anything. >> couple ideas. now let's go to eileen coming in

via twitter. reads, i have a 401(k) account from two previous jobs and an unrelated regular and roth i.r.a. account. should i merge into one? >> we have been getting this question a lot. the thing people need to understand about moving the money out of their 401(k)s is when you've got a 401(k) with a smaller company, generally the fees tend to be higher and the options for investments tend to be smaller. the reverse is true of larger companies. the fees tend to be lower, the options tend to be better. so look at what you're paying. and see if it makes sense on that basis to move the money. and then if it does, again, the same rules apply for the roth. if you have to pull money out of the account to pay the taxes, don't do it. >> okay. we've got one more call coming in. this is from brenda from can k a kenosha, which was on the line. good morning. >> caller: good morning. my husband has a traditional i.r.a. and i have a roth i.r.a. we have self-employed so we can take a tax break on my husband's i.r.a. because of this, his is a will the larger than mine.

should we keep adding to his first and then mine or split it 50/50 in each account yearly? >> if he's putting money in his account, it's still half yours. if you were to get separated, half the money is yours at the time of divorce. so don't worry about that. tax deduction stand point, it's the same. i would make sure you're using a accept i.r.a. or solo plan. if do you that for him or both of you, you can get up to $15,000 put away. >> that's a great way. >> so make sure you're maxing out on a retirement account. >> brenda, thank you so much and jean chatzky, david backe and sharon epperson, thank you so much. sharon is hanging around, answering more of your questions during a live web chat. that starts at 9:30 a.m. eastern. coming up next, dr. drew pinsky takes on the amanda knox verdict and the trial of michael jackson's doctor. later, too much of a good thing? we'll tell you why may be wasting your money when it comes to your beauty routine. that's after these messages. [ female announcer ] starbucks via® is planted the same... ♪

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♪ so fresh my knees grow weak ♪ ♪ inspired by fine chefs in rome ♪ ♪ gourmet soups you make at home ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing new bertolli frozen meal soup for two. like chicken minestrone with crisp vegetables, white meat chicken, al dente pasta. [ chef ] ♪ fresh tasting restaurant style ♪ [ both ] ♪ bertolli soup's in the freezer aisle ♪ [ male announcer ] new bertolli meal soup. dr. drew pinsky is best known for helping celebrities with their addictions on ""celebrity rehab"" but now the busy doctor has two shows, "life changers" where he takes on the headlines, trying to understand why people do what they do. a heck of a job. and dr. drew pinsky is with me. good morning. >> good morning, tamron. >> i want to talk about "life changers." i know it's very important to you. but i want to get your thoughts first on amanda knox. we saw that video. >> yeah. >> she spoke out. her father says she needs time to adjust. but how do you adjust after four years in prison, and still have

unsettled feeling. >> right. i've been watching the story very carefully. and i was convinced she would speak. >> why were you convinced? >> this girl is going to be angry, no doubt in my mind. and is she has a story to tell. and i think she wants people to hear it. so what i expect is, one of the ways she is going to deal with this trauma is by being of service to other people, by telling her story. she was a naive young girl that went into an environment without really understanding that she wasn't under the protection of the american system, she got involved with people she shouldn't have been involved with. and it's a cautionary tale for other parents, sending their kids overseas. but she needs to make this experience a cohesive narrative. she needs to incorporate who she is in her life. and i think when she does that, she'll start to be of service to others by telling her story in a way that may help other young people. >> matt spoke with one of the attorneys and asked is it a good idea to hide her from the press? you can pretty much make her a prisoner within her own home. >> that's right. and her dad said she just wants to lie on the grass.

she needs to be left alone for a while. but no, i don't think this is someone that can avoid the press. i don't think it's someone -- as i said, when she got off that plane, i knew she was going to speak. >> so she needs that. >> it's going to help her get there. not everyone would do that. but i've watched this story very carefully. and i tell that's who this young woman is. and the whole story is -- listen, i get angry when i hear the story, because the way the prosecutor painted her is not the way anybody behaves who doesn't have a preexisting history of all kinds of funny stuff. >> she still has to deal with the loss of her friend. >> absolutely. that was her roommate who was murdered and her boyfriend incarcerated. and the horrible things this girl has been through. she looks to me as a strong girl, family behind her. family was divorced, got together on her behalf. she'll get through this. >> let's transition to conrad murray. a lot coming up from his personal life to some of the questionable behaviors, a doctor. first, you've got conrad murray sending propofol, the drug that killed michael jackson, to his girlfriend's home. >> right. i think i heard you say an astroid just landed in the ice

rink. that's about as normal as an astroid landing here at 30 rock. it's biz sgharrbizarre. >> bizarre or negligent? >> bizarre to the point where physicians haven't heard of such a thing, propofol being used outside a hospital. then to do it without nursing, without a team, without the proper monitoring equipment. you're getting negligence. and what they're showing with the young ladies -- >> his series of girlfriends. he had a girlfriend and a mistre mistress. >> seven babies with six women. assaulting his character. but on the other hand, establishing a time line, so they can show that he really was absent for quite a period of time. and that's where they're going to establish the negligence. >> is this assault as you referred to of his character fair game, and the jury is trying to know who this guy is? >> it is -- it's the stuff that normally probably would not have been admitted that into the court of law, but because there is a time line, it got in. there is a lot of smoke and mirrors by the prosecution where they assail this man. what they're doing is tearing

down his character and showing consciousness of guilt. that's going to cause -- the jury to think, hey, this guy is maybe not just a good guy and could be negligent. >> you don't hold back on your thoughts so far from what you've heard. >> yeah. >> is it this a case of negligence? >> i think he's in big, big trouble. >> let me talk to you about your show "life changers." >> please, fantastic. >> it's so inspiring, taking on perm stories. >> it's a great show, 3:00 on the cw, where we take people, sometimes we do small changes like today you can see a young girl -- you'll see in a minute, she is going to lose her vision, we restore her eyesight. we have found a new surgery. >> and we have a clip. >> it's airing right there. >> it makes me feel scared that i'm going to go blind and i'm not even going to be able to see anything. >> when i heard your story, i mean, it's obviously deeply moving. and i really felt like me and this program could make a difference for you. and i want to tell you, we're going to do this. we're going to fix her eyes.

restore her vision, and she has no progression. and people at home can understand if they have this problem, there is a restorative procedure. not only is there a change -- we follow up on people. >> i know you're a doctor, but you're a dad, to see that girl. >> it was a big deal. there is more of me than -- my kids get involved, my wife is involved. it's all about things you can use to change your life by showing the stories of change that we follow in this program. >> congratulations on the new show. >> appreciate it. >> can't wait to see it. thank you very much, dr. drew pinsky. and you can catch "life changers" weekdays. check your local listings. coming up, how to look younger in ten minutes, in how you dress. before and afters. but first, these messages. [ male announcer ] 20,000 btus produce a delicate sear. double-oven range makes dinner and dessert -- at the same time. turbo-charged advantium oven cooks more than twice as fast,

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coming up, from moisturizer to styling wax, why portion control is poshts in your beauty products. >> but no portion control in today's kitchen. we're talking classic desserts after your local news and weather. play with some trucks ? younger boy: yeah. yeah ? okay. show mommy how to do it. ♪ you are exactly one of a kind ♪ mom: nice driving, very good ! mom: yaaay ! older boy: see that ? mommy, watch- he's gonna get some gas. mom: okay. dad: hi bud ! hi ! mom: nice ! ♪ we were made for each other ♪ more... ♪ for always more... stop ! like many chefs today, i feel the best approach to food is to keep it whole for better nutrition. and that's what they do with great grains cereal. see the seam on the wheat grain? same as on the flake. because great grains steams and bakes the actual whole grain. now check out the other guy's flake.

hello, no seam. because it's more processed. now, which do you suppose has better nutrition for you? mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal. >> live, local, late-breaking -

this is a wbal-tv 11 news update. >> good morning, it will be a beautiful day to day but we are off to a cool start. we will see plenty of sunshine as we go into this afternoon and that will help warm things up. we will hit 75 degrees later today which is above average. it will cool down a little on thursday and friday but we will bounce back close to

never a dull moment in the makeup room. actually, that does look like a dull moment. >> listen -- >> but not so much -- wow, what the heck? >> i came here. she asked me to come. she said there would be wine and alcohol. and i am left with an empty glass. >> she needs to wait until 10:00. >> you promised me the wine. you promised me the wine. okay? there better be wine. >> hey, now -- >> what is going on? >> chris jenner -- >> yes, indeed. >> doing the show with hoda. chris filling in for kathie lee today. are you showing her the ropes? >> i'm trying. i'm getting a real similar vibe

from kathie lee, feeling something very similar if you know what i mean. >> we haven't been friends for 30 years for nothing. you know what i'm saying? >> i gotcha. drink up. >> fill this up. >> you got it, sister. you got it. >> spectacular. and they're still going. i don't want to go home. i just want to watch them. from that to the makeup room, to makeup and moisturizers, we're going to tell you why portion control is important to your beauty routine. so if you like to use too little of the product, it may not work. use too much, you're probably wasting money. i love this. so we're going to tell you what types of products and the amount to use. so like shampoo, for example. >> yeah. >> you probably use a lot. >> sure, i use a lot of shampoo. what was that. >> it was a -- it was a joke. it was mean, but it was funny. >> why would you hurt me like that? beautiful dessert's in today's kitchen. from a classic upside down cake to a berry crumble, we're going to satisfy your sweet tooth with some traditional american treats. >> very nice. but first, my friend, my

beloved friend, al is here with a check of the forecast. >> all right. eastern half of the country gorgeous, few showers left over northern new english slammed. a lot of wet weather out west with heavy mountain snows in the wasatch and sierra nevada. tomorrow, the mess moves into the central and northern rockies. we've got beautiful weather in the eastern third of the country. mild to warm conditions down to the southeast. sunny and cool in northern new england. some showers along the southern coast of alaska. that's what's going on around >> good morning. a nice stretch of weather on tap. up to 74 this afternoon.

and that's your latest weather. >> up next, portion distortion. when it comes to beauty products, we're going to show you what you can -- you can be wasting your money. right after this i'm tired of shopping around. [ sigh ] too bad you're not buying car insurance. like that's easy. oh, it is. progressive direct showed me their rates and the rates of their competitors. i saved hundreds when switching. we could use hundreds. yeah. wake up and smell the savings. out there with a better way. now, that's progressive.

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executive editor of "simple" magazine is here. good to see you. i love this, because we believe or we're trained to believe more is better, especially when it comes to creams and things like that. but certainly that's not the case. >> yeah. you can have too much of a good thing when it comes to skin and hair products and too little of a good thing. so you want to use the right amount to ensure they do the right job for you. >> how did you come up with this formula? >> we talked to dermatologists mostly to see -- and hairstylists to see how much you really need to use. and then we have used some guidelines, some eyes guidelines to help you along. >> let's get to it. first up, the moisturizer. this with spf. how much should we use? >> a quarter size. moisturizers with spf, about a quarter size, because you want to make sure you're covering your face, ears and neck. >> so this about the area you're covering. >> absolutely. but here's another tip, tamron. go straight from fingertips to face. >> most people rub it in -- >> if you rub it into your palms, you're using half the product on your palms. so fingertips to face is the way to go. >> very nice.

and end up saving more of the product. >> absolutely. >> so now to the eye cream, which can be expensive. you don't want to use too much. >> a little goes a long way here. a half a pea per eye. >> oh. >> okay? >> and what you want to do is use your ring finger, because that is one of your weakest fingers, you won't stretch the delicate skin. work from the outer edges in. >> out in. and what does that do for your under eye? >> if you have got the right amount, it's not going to settle into your fine lines and won't irritate your eyes. sometimes if you use too much, it goes into your eye. >> is that enough to cover the whole eye area? >> absolutely. a little goes a long way. >> okay. because i've been slathering it on. okay, next is night cream. >> speaking of slathering on, you want to be generous with this. at night your skin is receptive to the active ingredients like retinol and sal sillic acid. so you can be generous and cover your face. >> at night is when your skin really soaks it up. now to the foaming cleanser. this is the largest portion we have seen so far. >> you're combining cleansers

with water. so if you're using a foaming cleanser, you want to use a golf ball size amount. >> okay. >> if you do a milky cleanser, a quarter amount. the key is not how much, but how long you use it. you need to use it for 30 seconds. that will get the impurities out. i'm usually a ten second girl. 30 seconds. >> okay. moving on to our hair and shampoo and conditioner. starting out with these. >> these are the two most overused products. talking about the old rinse and repeat. >> they used to tell us you need to shampoo twice. >> right. in fact, you only need a quarter size amount of each. if you use too much shampoo your hair gets dull and dry and too much conditioner, greasy. a quarter size is all you need. >> and moving on to mouse. which again, this is a nice economize portion. >> this is a golf ball size. you want to work it through your hands to liquify it and make sure it can go through your hair. >> gives you a nice spiky look there. okay. this is again very popular.

the hair serums, give yourself a little bit of gloss. that's a lot, i think. how much is that? >> that's two peas. for medium length hair, especially if it's thick -- if you have fine hair, be careful. this is great for defrizzing and shine but can backfire and you need to go back to the shower. two pea sizes for medium length hair. >> the last product, very popular we know from watching "jersey shore" people can use too much wax. >> might use too much. a pea size amount of styling wax, liquify in your palm. it spreads better that way. and that's just for the ends. and, again, you know, use judgment. but about a pea size. >> this is what i use. i like that. now i look like pauly d. great tips there. can save money and use the right amount. this smells delicious, too. thank you, sarah. great list of things. up next, helping inner city kids spark their potential with help from the pros. and later, this week, a taste of americana in today's kitchen. you know what, this looks just like

the tree house i built with my dad. (girl) really? yeah.

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contributing correspondent, jenna bush hager. >> reporter: each day they board the train, head into the city, show up at their offices, prepared ready to work. just like millions of americans do every day. but these workers are different. they're in the seventh and eighth grades. >> architect. >> they are apprentices with big plans, dreamers of the next generation. these middle schoolers at chicago's dodge renaissance academy are part of a ground-breaking program called spark. it links up volunteer professionals with inner city students and apprenticeships to spark their potential. >> great idea. >> reporter: jamari shadows once a week at chicago's school of the arts institute. she is helping this future architect design his first masterpiece. he calls it launch. >> it's an object that can hold football, water bottles and that can keep your hands warm and first aid. >> reporter: do you feel like it's more rewarding for you

than -- >> actually, it is. you know, any time you are working with students and you're helping them and you're seeing the light bulb go off in their head, that's the reward. >> reporter: educator chris bomb started spark eight years ago, hoping to inspire kids to stay in school. >> i was training to be a teacher and kids were asking me, why are we learning this? i realized that for so many kids, they don't see the connection between school and the real world. and for a lot of kids, that relevance gap is the difference between staying in school or dropping out. >> reporter: carolyn colter is an apprentice chef at chicago's atwood cafe. tell me what you thought about this restaurant the first time you walked in. >> fancy. very fancy. >> fingers back. knife down. >> reporter: executive chef derek teaches carolyn how to work magic in the kitchen. >> there you go. >> reporter: today's lesson? tomato soup. >> yeah, that's good? >> yep. >> reporter: she also learns how to run a restaurant and device a marketing strategy. carolyn says she was surprised

to learn one of her favorite subjects plays a role. tell me how you use path here in the workplace. >> marketing and estimating the amount of ingredients you put in the food. so, yeah, it was a lot, actually. >> reporter: and the mentors say it's a chance for them to give back. why do you think this is so important? >> people like us need to step in and give back and be there for them to show them, like, stick through it, the outcome will be there. >> reporter: and spark's strategy works. 98% of their apprentices have gone on to college. including 20-year-old shown sonia, who was inspired by social work years ago and is studying that very thing at stanford university. >> the best part of the spark program was just that i could have the opportunity to experience a certain job that i wanted to do. but in a hands-on way. and it wasn't learning through a class or it wasn't through a book, but it was learning with someone who was doing it. and i felt like that was the only real way for me to learn whether or not i wanted to do that type of job.

>> reporter: beyond mentors, these pairs have become friends. a spark ignited. >> you can line up next. >> a chance to see past school walls, into futures filled with possibility. has this shown you that when you have a job you really want, it's actually a lot of fun? >> yes. it's -- he says -- like he tells us every day, that we actually have become a family as you work with someone. so, yeah. >> reporter: so do you feel like you have become a family? >> yeah. so far, yeah. >> so far. >> yeah. >> reporter: so far, yes. you never know what could happen. >> are you disowning me? >> or, we can become closer. >> reporter: more of a family. >> right. >> what a terrific program. that was jenna bush hager reporting. coming up next, a quick lesson on some classic american desserts. somebody is going to mentor us. but first, this is "today" on nbc. [ male announcer ] at the safeway pharmacy you can get a flu shot with no hassle at all.

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this morning in "today's kitchen," hot chef, executive chef and owner of bayou bakery in washington, d.c. >> that's right. this is national dessert month and he is showing us an all-american dessert. good to see you. >> thank you for having me. good to see you. >> everybody is going apple picking. >> we've got to know what tooed to do with them. we're going to talk about this bunt cake. we have ground pecans in our flour. throw these ingredients in, butter the last. we have unique spices, salt, black pepper and a pinch of cinnamon. >> salt and pepper. >> why not? just enough to get you questioning, like, what is that? a hint of heat? but without using cayenne or hot sauce or anything like that. >> nice. >> and then beautiful apples, using honey crisp, sort of the first varieties you see in the fall.

>> can you use more than one apple? >> you can. if you like the tart of the granny smith and want the sweetness, you can blend. >> the ying and yang. >> i like that, the ying and yang. >> we have our diced apples ready to go. and we'll add our spices. spices again are something you can swap out if you're more of a cinnamon girl or if you like a nutmeg guy. so i'm a big fan of nutmeg. we're going to add corn starch. toss that in there for me. mix it up with our apples, a nice hot pan with melted butter. we now render down, made a pie filling here. an apple pie filling. >> that looks good enough to eat by itself. >> the smell alone. >> forget about the batter. we are going to make this bunt cake. we add the apples into this, very unique. and we make an upside down bunt cake, okay? so we're adding these beautiful fall apples to this already pre-floured and pre-buttered okay? then our batter goes into here. we go right into the oven with it. when it comes out of the oven, very unique. remember the stuff we were making over there, the crumble? this goes right on top while

it's still hot. >> is it easy to transition over? >> it is very easy. you've got to use the teflon. if your teflon is beat up and you have pockets because you used the scrub brush too much, might want to get a new one. this is fall. this screams fall. >> fall! >> come over here, we're going to do the lemon icebox pie. again, a classic item you can store in the ice -- literall the refrigerator. our egg yolks here, adding our zest. we can add this beautiful condensed milk to this. at any speed. oh, yeah, come on now. >> don't you insult us. >> so we're going to make this filling. it literally is this quick and easy. al, hit me with that lemon juice right there, please. >> all of it? >> yes, all of it. >> is this fresh lemon juice? >> are yes, don't use the lemon hand grenade. >> the lemon an hand grenade? >> we're not doing that. it doesn't take that long. let me help you out there. we're going to end that. the batter comes in here, we put that into a pre-made filling

crust, spring form to make it easy to come out. we're going to put that in the oven for 15, 20 minutes, just until it sets lightly. and then we've got actually a finish right here. in our freezer. >> oh, you've got it? >> we've got it here. >> assist at least that part of it. >> it takes a few hours to set. this is the beautiful thing about this. you store it in the freezer. >> fantastic. >> you come home from work, school, the kids, get a hot knife, slice a wedge. you can see we have done that right here and it's that easy, okay? take a sliver, put it back in the icebox, in the freezer, and you can put as much or as little as you want. the condensed milk does not allow it to freeze rock-hard. >> oh, nice. >> sugar being an anti freeze, the perfect amount to pull the wedge out. crisps, this is all-american. fruit crisps are very popular. you don't have to struggle with the dough. it's put it in the pan, toss it with sugar. we've got -- >> what are you using here? >> these are our bid to farewell to summer. this is blueberries and back builder res black we are re. hello to the apples. >> hello, apple!

>> wants to say hi to something new. hurry, david. >> look how beautiful this is right here. >> did you make that? >> you are ready to go right here. >> what is the point in doing it if i can't eat it? thank you. >> we have -- this is the bunt cake, apple crumble, happen >> we have -- this is the bunt cake, apple crumble, happen apple on top. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com