back now with more "today" on monday morning, august 2012. we've got a great crowd. starting the workweek with us. they have a treat this morning. the jonas brothers have been out here all morning signing autographs. >> i love that. fans out here when i left the "today" show yesterday. it's great. >> good morning again, everybody. i'm savannah guthrie alongside lester holt. coming up in the next hour, a serious problem, eating disorder, binge eating, something that affects men and women. we're going to meet a young man who suffered binge eating since he was young. he managed to overcome the disorder. now he's a psychotherapist

helping others. shifting to "hit-and-run." a romantic comedy. dax shepherd, bradley cooper, hollywood heart throbs here to tell us all about it. >> find out about the dreadlocks coming up. first we want to get the day's top stories from natalie morales over at the news desk. natalie, good morning again. >> good morning, savannah and lester. good morning, everyone. filmmaker tony scott has died after jumping electric a los angeles bridge sunday. witnesses say the 68-year-old "top gun" director leaped from a bridge. his body pulled from los angeles harbor by police several hours later. scott is the younger brother of fellow movie director ridley scott. he's survived by his wife and two children. the gop is fighting a backlash after politico.com revealed kansas congressman kevin yoder went skinny dipping in the sea of galilee on a fact finding trip to israel.

ed to akin sparked a firestorm by saying in an interview that conception is unlikely from, quote, a legitimate rape. the six-term republican congressman was defending his stance not to support abortions for rape victims. he has since said he misspoke. mitt romney's campaign has blasted the remark. one of the fiercest fire seasons in history is raging out west as residents of featherville, idaho have been forced to evacuate their homes. 35 blazes are now burning in 10 states across the west. so far this season some 6.7 million acres have been scorched. nasa's curiosity rover getting down to business on mars this morning as it zaps laser at a rock. scientists are analyzing to find out what elements in the rocks. embattled wikileaks owner julian assange accused the u.s. of a witch hunt from the

ecuadorian embassy in london where he's been granted asylum. mere feet away are british police who can only arrest him if he steps outside the embassy. u.s. officials are trying to extradite him to sweden where he's wanted for questioning on alleged sex crimes. old ironside sets sail again. u.s. constitution had her maiden voyage in 1798 and is the u.s. navy's oldest commissioned warship still afloat. for 17 minutes the ship cruised across boston harbor to commemorate its victory over a british warship during the war of 1812. expendibles 2 topped weekend box office. silver stallone and stars number one, the borne legacy number two. collegehumor.com teams up with the funniest people on tv to benefit malaria no more asking for a $1 donation for

silliness. >> the world split into two halves, the bacon and the bacon eaters. >> dorothy. >> there's no place like home. >> dorothy. >> there's no place like home. >> dorothy. >> what? >> includes the stars of nbc comedies, the office" and "parks and recreation" and the bearded lady. primrose looking pretty in pink. a donkey born prematurely and would have died without help from british veterinarians. poor primrose was becoming bow legged walking before her phones could develop. now she's rocking a hot pink cast to help protect her bones until she's ready to walk on her own. very cute. it is now four minutes after the hour. let's go back outside to stephanie for a check of the weather. >> i guess she got a memo about pink. >> you're rocking pink, too.

>> what are you doing from virginia. >> having a mom's weekend out. >> how many kids between the three of you. >> five kids. >> say hi to your kids at home. >> hi, guys. >> do you think they are watching or outside playing. >> outside playing. >> let's have a look at the forecast. maybe your kids want to head outside. still warm in the west, cool in the east. we have our jet stream doing a little wave for us there. our temperatures are going to stay chilly around portions of the great lakes. otherwise a few >> good morning. we're starting out with some cloud cover and some sprinkles. about a 30% chance for a rain shower.

>> savannah, the jonas brothers are still on the plaza. props to them for hanging out. >> are they good to their fans. thanks so much, stephanie. a new buddy film hitting theaters wednesday. "hit-and-run" starring with fiancee kristen bell and real life buddy who i just mentioned. let me talk about the movie. a road trip turns dangerous as they have a once in a lifetime opportunity. >> seat belt. seat belt.

>> cute. >> they are making fun of me already, bradley cooper, dax, barely get the intros out. >> cute isn't what you're going for. >> a race car jumping over. for us cute. >> looks tough. >> sweet, radical, awesome. these are the words we're trying. >> the way she went, that looks cute. >> i'm sorry. okay. >> there is a guy shooting into a barn. >> yeah, it looks cute. >> you know what else cute in the focus shoot. >> the gun scene in the bar. >> i heard her say, it looks more like a christmas movie. >> all right. all right. this movie was inspired, dax by your unending love for "smokey and the bandit." >> i thought you were going to say kristen bell. >> "smokey and the bandit." >> my number one movie from childhood. i've seen it in excess of 100

times. i used to pretend i was the bandit. my brother was the snowman. i grew up and got to hire my best friend and fiancee and put everyone and all my cars in the movie. >> it says bradley cooper is in the movie but with all the dreadlocks i couldn't be sure it was him. >> my thought was let's get one of the biggest stars in the world and make it unrecognizable, great for the box office. >> i heard the dreads were you idea. >> god bless him for allowing me to do that. that's from limitless. the hair woman did an amazing job. we were on a shoestring budget. there's a guy around venice, california, i thought, let's play him. dax indulged it. >> how did you feel in the dreadlocks? did it help you become dmitry. >> this scene, for example -- i think alexander dmitry. >> any time you're in deep character, you can kind of take bigger leaps, the way johnny depp gets all in his thing in

his movies. >> we talked about it a lot, very depp like. >> you'll probably get compared to johnny depp. >> in case people at home can't tell, you two are friends. >> we love each other. >> that's why this is a bro mantic action comedy. >> if i had it my way, we would do every movie together. >> it was an incredible experience. there was one scene he wrote that was about the best time i ever had acting. >> why? >> it's a cute scene. >> something terrible happened to him in prison. it's very cute. you know, prison violations are cute. >> i'm trying to help you with the cute demographic. >> bring it. >> you kind of wrote this for all your friends and your fiancee. >> absolutely. i wrote it. cooper's role for him. >> i'm just looking at you. >> don't. >> okay. >> i'm going to reinterpret

this. i'm going to assume you thought we looked cute, which would be really good news. i always would rather hear i'm cute than talented. >> absolutely. >> you wrote this. i heard you wrote it pretty fast. >> i did. we did this on my entire hiatus from "parenthood," wrote in three weeks, shot six weeks, cooper was in and out in ten days. >> per his contract. >> every day over we had to pay him -- yeah. >> did you bring tea lights and gardenias he requested. >> what are tea lights. >> they float in water. you don't even know the name. typical star behavior. >> i need water to put them on. >> there's water everywhere. you've got to have water features around all the time. we had a whole semi related to his water feature. >> dax, we all love "parenthood." are you excited about the new season? >> very. we're four weeks into shooting. they debut september 11th, should be another great year.

>> bradley, what about you, other than your arenas sexiest man alive, what else are you up to? >> this movie called the words. >> silver line playbook. i predict he'll get nominated for something. brilliant. it's ridiculous. >> the movie is excellent and cute. >> so cute. >> adorable. >> the highest horsepower cute christmas comedy of all time. >> bradley cooper, dax shepherd, thanks so much. >> thanks. >> coming up, why binge eating is not just a woman's problem. one former binge eater speaks out right after this.

[ music playing ] [ music playing ]

delicious. angry satisfied customer... if this image robbed you of the great taste of untopped triscuit, register your complaint online [ screams ] for a free box. oh. [ male announcer ] 100% whole grain woven for an untoppable taste. [ crunch ] would they switch? notice a difference? it feels a bit tight. [ female announcer ] soap leaves behind soap residue that can cause a tight draggy feeling. with 1/4 moisturizing cream, dove cleansers rinse cleaner than soap. and these are the ones you'll love on a school night. pillsbury crescent dogs with just a few ingredients you have an easy dinner... pillsbury crescent dogs... school night ideas made easy.

a great clean doesn't have to take longer. i'm done... i'm going to read one of these. i'm going to read one of these! [ female announcer ] unlike sprays and dust rags, swiffer 360 dusters extender gets into hard to reach places so you can get unbelievable dust pick up in less time. i love that book! can you believe the twin did it? ♪ [ female announcer ] swiffer. great clean in less time. or your money back. ♪

"today's" health brought to you by prevacid 24 hours, prevents the acid that causes frequent heartburn. >> this morning on "today's" health, binge eating, eating disorders have long been stereo typed as a woman's disease. new research finds binge eating is a problem for both men and women. abbey ellen wrote a "new york times" article called binge eating among men, steps out of the shadows in which she profiles andrew who didn't realize he had an eating disorder until he was in his 30s. today he's a psychotherapist and runs a treatment center in maryland. abbey and andrew are here along with chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman. good morning to all of you. good to have you here. andrew, let me start with you, with this struggle you had with binge eating. this was a couple of years ago. tell me about how you evolved

from recognizing what eventually ended up being an eating disorder. >> i think where it all started, my sense of being an emotional eater even dates back to age five where that was a period when my parents divorced and i was looking for comfort and looking for it in the kitchen cabinet. that pattern continued until i was actually obese around age 10. by 12, i was on weight watchers. it just started that diet mentality that led to restriction and weight gain until i was 17 and over 200 pounds and put on a medically supervised weight loss program. that slipped my eating disorder into an anorexic period. even though i did lose a lot of weight very quickly, i certainly was not any happier. >> your relationship with food, then, was clearly all based on emotion. >> clearly it was. also body image concerns. it was soothing the fact that i

never was happy with myself. >> dr. nancy, so much we often hear about eating disorders as a woman's problem. we're learning binge disorders actually affect men and women equally, right? >> they do. we just hit on the most important thing. i think that is sort of self-loathing, depression. when you don't like yourself you release these stress chemicals, cortisol which makes you feel hungry. it's not unusual for a man to sit down and consume 5 to 1500 calories at a time. makes you feel full, calms you. you feel isolated because you've done it alone, you gain weight. it's a very, very dangerous thing. it does not have the bulimia, purging aspect many people think overeating does that increasingly stigmatizes and thin isolates men. a lot of these eating disorders seen as women's problem, it's

one more hurdle for men to step forward. >> andrew were you consuming 5 to 15,000 calories in these binge eating scenarios and how often were you doing that? >> what i really want people to remember, it's not so much about the quantity of food that you're eating, it's the psychological impact, the damage of eating that large amount of food. that really is what people need to be concerned about. for me personally, i can certainly, you know, say that my binges would include things like going to mcdonald's drive-through in the morning and having several breakfasts and staying in my car and eating it in secret or going to a lunch buffet and eating a large number of plates of food or having a chinese dinner delivered to the house, enough for a family but just eating it by myself. >> abbey you write about this disorder in "the new york times" article. what struck you. you talked to other men besides andrew. what struck you about them. >> what struck me about andrew,

he's also a psychotherapist. he went through the disease, he suffered from im and helping people. he can caulk about it from both perspectives. what struck me most about the men, most of them didn't want to talk about it. they felt like it was a woman's disease and a woman's problem and they didn't want to talk about it and that got in the way of their getting healthy. >> increasingly these are psychiatric illness that manifest themselves with food, depression, isolation, aagoraphobia, et cetera. i'm sure you as a specialist, we would agree you can't just treat the food, you have to treat -- >> people try and figure if i can just diet, if i can just get ahold of the food, if i can just control it i'm going to be better but that's never the case. >> andrew, you now work with people as a psychotherapist at a treatment center in maryland. what are some of the signs or symptoms people should recognize to get help. >> a lot of binge eaters don't recognize again these are about emotional triggers.

i'll be asking them things about how is your mood. do you feel like you're happy at work, being productive, your social relationships. are you feeling connected to people? how do you handle disappointments in life? do you think that food plays any role in that? i'll be look for any of those. >> really great you're raising attention and awareness to this. thanks for being here and sharing your personal story. andrew, abbey, dr. nancy snyder man. ahead we'll show you go to styles to help you pack light on your trip but first these messages. 2 or more days a week, why use temporary treatments when you can prevent the acid that's causing it with prevacid24hr. with one pill prevacid24hr works at the source to prevent the acid that causes frequent heartburn all day and all night. and with new prevacid24hr perks, you can earn rewards from dinner deals to music downloads for purchasing prevacid24hr.

prevent acid all day and all night for 24 hours with prevacid24hr. -oh, that's just my buds. -bacon. -my taste buds. -[ taste buds ] donuts. how about we try this new kind of fiber one cereal? you think you're going to slip some fiber by us? okay. ♪ fiber one is gonna make you smile. ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing new fiber one nutty clusters and almonds. one pharmacist started it all: charles walgreen had a mission to help people be happy and healthy. from inventing the first chocolate malt... to creating a nonprofit pharmacy for our troops... to the first child safety caps. walgreens has been innovating for over a hundred years. and we're just getting started. with more and more ways to be well every day.

here at the corner of happy and healthy. with more and more ways to be well every day. if you think occasional irregulathink twice.ig deal, it may be a sign that your digestive system could be working better. listen to this. with occasional irregularity, things your body doesn't use could be lingering in your system, causing discomfort. but activia has been shown in clinical studies to help with slow intestinal transit when consumed 3 times per day. 7 out of 10 doctors recommend activia. and the great taste is recommended by me! ♪ activia smoky eyes look amazing. but creating them? that's a whole different story. almay intense i-color smoky-i kit. first, sweep the smoky eye color across your lid. then add the crease accentuating shade and a highlight under your brow. only from almay. only for me. what are you lookin' at? i wasn't... not looking at anything... we're not good enough for you. must be supermodels? what do you model gloves? brad, eat a snickers. why? 'cause you get a little angry when you're hungry. better?

[ male announcer ] you're not you when you're hungry™. better. [ male announcer ] snickers satisfies. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. no annual fee. that's 1% back on... wow! 2% on my homemade lasagna. 3% back on [ friends ] road trip!!!!!!!!!!!! [ male announcer ] get 1-2-3 percent cash back. apply online or at a bank of america near you. ♪ still ahead how to handle uncomfortable social situations. >> and less is more when it comes to packing for your summer getaway. >> something uncomfortable here? >> no. >> my kind of cooking in "today's" kitchen. three recipes using beer. first your local news. [ mini ] ah, the first day of school.

new pencils, new books... new backpack...looks good. just trying to look our best. gonna take more than looks. from what i hear, ms. haskins is a toughy. oh we had a good breakfast, so we're ready. gonna be another great year, huh guys?! you bet your 8 layers! yeah! long distance high 5. whoa! oh, careful. hey, watch it. [ female announcer ] packed with fiber and nearly a day's worth of whole grains, kellogg's frosted mini-wheats cereal helps keep your kids full and focused all morning long. now available in touch of fruit raspberry. keeps 'em full. keeps 'em focused. mom, we're dying. no you're not, you're just hungry. make some totino's pizza rolls. we don't have any! front...

left, totino's. [ male announcer ] well done mom! less drama, more fun! totino's pizza rolls. ♪ i'm teaching performance. here's what they'll need. ♪ get your backpack, your hoodies, harajuku, ♪ ♪ turquoise kinda purple orangish sorta blue. ♪ ♪ backpacks, yeow, ♪ to put their stuff in. ♪ graphic tees and denim, denim, denim, denim. ♪ ♪ backpacks. school takes a lot, target has is all.

>> this is wbal in baltimore. >> we are off to a cloudy start. not too much rain so far, but a slight chance we could get a few rainshowers. best chance will be across the eastern shore counties in southern maryland. high temperatures in the upper seventies to around 80 degrees. quiet all the way through the weekend. partly sunny on tuesday and wednesday.

♪ >> now that song will be in your head all day. that's carly rae jepsen singing her infectious single "call me maybe." this thursday on "today," carly will be here taking center stage with owl city for our summer concert series. this friday the grammy winning band train will be here. we want you to get in on the act by voting for one of the songs he'll sing live. >> your choices are "drive by," "if it's love" or "save me san francisco." head to today.com to cast your

votes. >> meantime we all find ourselves in awkward social situations from time to time. social expert philip galanos is here to help answer what to do with uncomfortable moments, etiquette. >> awkward things, you talking about how cute bradley cooper is. >> i said the movie is cute. >> he's cute, too, but you're very cute. if you're planning an end of summer vacation -- i'm going to move it along, if you are thinking about a summer vacation, everything from clothes to shoes to makeup all in one bag. we promise you can do it. you just have to get back to the basics. >> and it's 5:00 somewhere, so we're doing a little cooking and maybe a little drinking beer. three delicious recipes you can easily whip up with your favorite brew. >> we've had ice cream, move right onto beer. >> start with the weather channel stephanie abrams in for

alda. >> have you guys enjoyed this nice, cool weather up here. isn't it fantastic? >> amazing. how much longer will it last? >> we'll continue to stay cool throughout a big chunk of the northeast and also into the midwest. we have our jet stream for all my weather geeks out there, dipping a little south. that's why we have the cooler air in place. still warm in the west as there is a ridge there. that is not good news for the fires. as we head into tomorrow, you >> good morning. we're starting out with a little bit of cloud cover. we will keep a chance going into the afternoon.

>> coming up next, how to handle awkward situations, social cues expert philip galanos puts us to the test right after this. with a .386 average. you sure? i'm 99.9% positive. so you don't know. made with 100% angus beef, to make guys 100% happy. ball park angus beef franks. i'm 99.99999% sure. if you don't know, you don't know...it's fine. the moisturizer in other body washes sits on top of skin. only dove has nutriummoisture, which can nourish deep down. dove body wash with nutriummoisture. superior natural nourishment for your skin.

that's value sense. introducing the scott shared values program. get free movie rentals, access to family attractions and more. use your value sense. sign up at scottbrand.com.

[ music playing ] [ music playing ] john. loo. latrine. head. bog. the oval office. the porcelain throne. the toilet. no matter what you call it, clorox has been trusted to keep it clean for nearly 100 years. turn to senokot-s tablets. senokot-s has a natural vegetable laxative ingredient plus the comfort of a stool softener for gentle, overnight relief of occasional constipation. go to senokot-s.com for savings.

. well, we've all been, talking politics with co-workers, turning down a wedding invitation. finding the right thing to say can be sticky. tackles that issue in "new york times" column "social cues." >> good morning to you. >> good morning to you three. >> you're going to put us to a test. you've got scenarios to put us through. >> i've got tricky situations

for the three of you. >> number whop my 9-year-old son was hit in the face at baseball during pee-wee league. he's okay but his coach never said a word about it. the last time i saw him i blurted, "thanks for caring boutd my son's face." now what do i do, hide every time i see him. >> well, the coach should have said something. >> i think most teacher/coaches do say something. i find it odd that they didn't. >> i think what i would do, i would go up to him now and say, listen, i didn't mean to sound as crass, but i was a little concerned, you know. next time if you wouldn't mind calling me, i appreciate it. >> to lester. >> i'm a first timer. >> tempers flair. then -- that's with life. then we have to go clean up the mess. >> address it. >> it's only going to get more awkward. >> she might have a small car and be very hard to hide in.

>> number two, my bff decided to have a destination wedding in hawaii. she invited me. duh. they are bffs. but i barely make ends meet as it is, and this wedding would cost me $1,000 at least. should i accept and go into debt or say no and risk hurting my friend's feelings. >> that's terrible. >> bffs. >> bffs. >> but she's going to go into debt. >> i would say, you missouri what, if you talk to your friend and give her the reasons why you can't make it, i think she will be completely understandf she's your bff. >> natalie said the best thing at all. this is not an e-mail or text, this is in person or on the telephone so she knows how much you want to do it. you guys are right. if somebody chooses a far away thing, savannah is totally not there yet. >> thinking i was going to that

destination. >> suze or man, call savannah. >> three, my co-worker is a vocal advocate of one presidential candidate. i support the other. lately he started talking loudly about his candidate every day. it's really bugging me. should i speak with our supervisor? >> no. i think you should speak with the co-worker. i think you should say, look, we disagree and probably won't agree. let's make this a mutual zone where we don't talk about politics. >> out of the park home run. lester. >> i think you're going to spark a fight. >> telling the supervisor then he's doubly mad about your politics and you've told on him. >> how about starting savannah's way. if it doesn't get results, then you go to -- >> put up bumper stickers, whatever you want. >> put them on their side, the bumper stickers. >> okay. number four, the ultimate faux

pas, i congratulated a neighbor on her pregnancy, when, in fact, she'd just put on a few pounds. >> move away. >> i was so tongue-tied when she corrected me, i didn't say anything. what should i do now, if anything. >> leave it alone. >> move away. find a new neighborhood. >> anything you do, you get deeper. >> this neighbor is not forgetting. she is not forgetting. >> you go over there. >> you apologize and say, sorry, i feel like a fool. the rule here is if the lady is on the delivery table and she hasn't said i'm pregnant, you keep your mouth closed. >> until you get the birth announcement. >> disagree with you. if you go over there and try to apologize, at the end you're going to have to come up with, i'm sorry, i saw your stomach pushing out. >> you've got a bump. >> there's no way around it. what are you going to say, i imagined it. >> you look thinner today.

>> i'm so sorry i was such a fool. i apologize. >> just say i'm such an idiot. i've been feeling really sad about it this whole time. >> time to take the foot out of the mouth. >> what she said sounded good. >> time for another. one more? >> let's do one more. >> okay. i resem gel a certain celebrity who is considered a knockout. every day somebody says, "has anyone ever told you?" well, of course they have, but does it make me seem conceited if i say yes? >> yeah, i wish i had that problem. >> i was sort of thinking this guy would be a cross between lester and me. >> thank you. >> say thank you and move on. no need -- >> i like that. modest. >> we didn't do too bad today. >> i think you guys are rock stars. >> with lester here. >> still feeling bad about the woman with the pregnancy. >> why did you do that.

>> thank you. we'll see you next time. coming up next, one bag for all the basics. how to be a fashion minimalist when you travel right after this. of new light & fit greek? morning donut cookies chips, chips,...! silence those tempting thoughts with new light & fit greek. its creamy thick texture helps satisfy you. it has twice the protein of regular lowfat yogurt. and at 80 calories it's the lightest greek yogurt with fruit. cupcake! it's not gonna happen. new light & fit greek. be light and fit and satisfied.

[ annoyed ] i'm pure milk chocolate on the inside. and i love that about you. and here i thought you loved me for my brain.

is that made of chocolate too?!!! ♪ would they switch? notice a difference? it feels a bit tight. [ female announcer ] soap leaves behind soap residue that can cause a tight draggy feeling. with 1/4 moisturizing cream, dove cleansers rinse cleaner than soap. [ john ] no. were you just... no. are you supposed to be driving that in here? no! did mom say we could eat all that? [ john ] yes. [ male announcer ] it's nice to finally say "yes." new oscar mayer selects. it's yes food. this morning on "today's" style, how to be a fashion minimalist. if you're planning one final getaway before summer ends, we'll show you how to fit all your style essentials into one bag. the editor-at-large of "shape"

magazine. good morning. >> good morning. >> a challenge. oftentimes we overpack or pack too little. you'll help us meet matt middle. >> at shape we found multi-purpose pieces. >> let's start off with the multi-purpose dress. >> this is a multi-silhouette dress from calypso st. bart. you can wear it several different styles. wear it as a tube top, tie it as a halter dress and you can even wear this as a skirt. >> fantastic. any shape. >> any shape and silhouette. you might want to get creative. >> next if you want to take your casual look to the streets, you've got -- this is an outfit as well you can use if you're going to yoga class. >> at shape we recommend everyone bring workout clothing and gym shoes on vacation. you want to stay active all the time. this is a great way to

incorporate your workout pants from lululemon, they look like denim legs. built-in bra. finish with a cardigan. wear this for sightseeing, go back to the hotel, get rid of the cardigan, and go for a run. >> comfortable but workout worthy. over here dressed up casual look, too. this is spot on for any occasion. >> you want to make sure when you're traveling you're not too casual but not too dressed up. skinny jeans from not your daughter's jeans. button up shirt, wrinkle free, don't have to iron. so perfect when ironing. a fashion blazer from h & m. head to toe, go from a museum tour to -- >> going out to dinner. let's move over here. shores the biggest challenge. savannah and i were talking about going to london, we need a suitcase just for our shoes. you never know what to take or what you'll need. different options. >> going on a short trip,

basics. flats are a must. these fold up so they are not going to takep too much space in your bag. i like wedges versus heels because the platform heel i guess a little more comfortable. you can wear these traveling if you want to save space in the bag. gym shoes, from new balance, under six ounces not too much weight to your bag. cross-trainers. >> they look cute, too. over here for accessories, something you want to pack as well. go light on accessories, too. what did you park. >> this is a scarf from american apparel. not just a scarf. tithe tie it into a tube type, skirt, skort, options go on and on. >> there's a theme here. >> multi-purpose. >> sunglasses. >> don't forts those. >> make everyone instantly cooler. >> the makeup, forget the big old makeup kit. go small. this comes with everything in it. >> multi-compact from sephora, lots of shades of lip gloss, eye

shadow and blush as well. again, saving space. >> now, you're going to fit all of this really into this one bag. >> one bag does it all. this is from sports sack. you want to make sure you're packing compactly. those shoes if they are too heavy, wear them to the airport, saving more space. >> some good stuff here. good idea. >> thank you. >> coming up next, the beer sinks. how to cook with your favorite brew. but first this is "today" on nbc. [ male announcer ] the emotional burden of debt.

not everyone can understand it. the worry. the endless collection calls. we know what it's like... to be in your shoes. we're the providers of careone debt relief services. bernie dancel, who created careone, has been in your shoes. he once had his own battle with debt, which motivated him to start what is now the nation's largest brand of debt relief services. so call right now to speak to someone who understands -- and get your free customized plan. our certified personal finance counselors have helped over 5 million people just like you. it's not a loan. it's not bankruptcy. it's debt consolidation with a payment you can afford. and we stand by our service with a 6-month money back guarantee, so there's no risk to you. we've been there. and we can help. call us right now for your free customized plan. or, visit us online.

careone. we know what it's like to be in your shoes. this morning in "today's" kitchen, what's for dinner. chicken and gravy and one chef that thinks it's never too early to have a beer. sunny anderson. i don't know if we're drinking,

cooking or staging an intervention here. gee, where do we start? >> we start with beer obviously. a lot of people cooking with beer. i grew up in germany, my formative years there. didn't partake, obviously, i was too young. i've been to many oktoberfest with my family and i grew up loving the idea of beer for everything. >> i kid you. i love a good beer, too. you know, what i've cooked with beer on a few occasions but what's the best one for variety. >> it's just like wine. if you like the way it tastes, chances are you're going to like the way it tastes when you cook with it. >> the alcohol gets burned out. >> the alcohol gets burned out. just like cooking with wine. >> we're going to do a chicken dish here. >> chicken braised -- beer-braised chicken. brown chicken parts without the skin on. take them out. not trying to cook them, just get color on them, carmelization.

>> don't want to cook them through. >> not all the way through. a nice, slow cook, everything fall off the bon yummy. >> we have celery, onions, carrots. carrots kbood for switness, helps o sweetness, helps out with the bitter of the beer, thyme, hab naro for heat and garlic. >> i like where this is going. >> you've got to try this. i love cooking with beer. what you have to do is get it all nice and tender. then it looks like this. that's okay. >> i'll put that in the sink. >> i make a mess all the time in my kitchen. just get the chicken right in there. then add in the beer. >> okay. how much beer are we putting in there? >> a cup and a half, two cups. you want to make sure the cup goes up halfway. >> the chef should take a swig. >> go ahead, lester. you know you want a beer. i poured one for you.

>> thanks. i'm much better. >> cover it up. >> gibblets in there. >> they are in there, might as well use it. onions in here, sprinkle flour. this is really, really good. strain it at the end. a little bit of chicken stock to glaze a bit. it's going to thicken up. you add in some beer again. >> are we going to taste this beer in the final product. >> you do taste a hint of it. you're going to be able to taste a hint of it. it's hopy. this one we have here is nice and dark. that's going to thicken up. what you do, sieve it out, pours over the top of everything else when it's done. >> how long is the chicken going to be cooking. >> you want to leave it in the pot an hour and 45 minutes. >> it's going to go a while. >> thirty minutes before it's done, take the lid off and let it reduce. >> put it over a bed of rice.

>> yes, white rice. it's great with that. i've also made some quick pickled beer peppers. >> yeah? >> yes. what you do is take some pickles, some beer, some garlic, a little bit of red and yellow, green. >> got the gravy going on over there. >> yes. >> a little gravy here. hey, ladies. >> couldn't help notice down at the end. >> these are beer battered peach fritters. very easy to make. just beer, flour, peaches, pumpkin pie spice. >> oh my god, that is unbelievable. >> oh my gosh. really good. >> it doesn't have to be just drinking beer. you can't taste it at all. it's sweet, easy to machlt can you do it with your eyes shut like i do at midnight. seriously, just cook with beer. it's easy. beer braised chicken, beer pickled peppers and onions and

fritters. >> and beer to wash it down. >> thank you. up ahead kathie lee and hoda talk to joe jonas and all your latest news from hollywood after your local news and weather.