e in voting for question 6. we're back now with more of "today" on a tuesday morning. it's the 23rd day of october, 2012. so nice here in the northeast. hopefully it's nice where you're getting up as well. nice people out on the plaza. i'm matt lauer along with savannah guthrie and mr. al roker. eight days to go until our halloween extravaganza here on the plaza. this morning we're revealing the three finalists in our quest for the best hand crafted halloween costume. we asked you to send us your entries. boy, did you guys deliver. >> that's a good one. >> we got some great entries, and this morning the finalists will be announced by none other, someone who knows a little bit

about hand crafting miss martha stewart. >> oh, yeah. >> the queen of crafting, and then speaking of craftiness, if you've ever had a fashion emergency, maybe you've had a button pop off or you've ripped your tight. >> that's an emergency. >> if it happened to you you would understand. we're going to get some quick and easy solutions to help you keep looking your best on the go. >> where are you in birth order? >> the second of two. >> the middle child. >> second of two. that would be the youngest. >> sorry. i'm blaming it on sleep deprevation. i'm the youngest, too you? >> i'm the oldest. >> embarrassing. rewind. >> birth order will actually play a big role -- what's the color of washington's white horse? >> what time does the 9:00 bus leave. >> we'll tell you the five things you need to know about family birth order in today's five facts. man, could i see that one coming down the track. >> i know, i know. he'll enjoy that for years. >> we'll keep playing that over

and over. >> let's go inside. >> natalie has a check of the headlines. >> no worries, savannah. we all fall for it. >> the final presidential face-off in florida had both candidates taking strong stances on foreign policy. republican challenger myth romney went on the offensive saying president obama should have done more to halt iran's nuclear weapons program. the two did manage to find some common ground, both expressing support for israel and opposing direct u.s. military intervention in syria. meantime today, president obama campaigns in florida and ohio while romney heads west to nevada and colorado. good news for commuters as gas prices are tumbling. on monday the week-over-week price made its biggest drop in nearly four years, and while the average driver will pay 3.66 a gallon at the pump today, aaa expects that that price will drop to as low as 3.25 by thanksgiving. the san francisco giants are head together world series after clinching the national league title in a rainy game seven on

monday night. the giants set out defending world series champs the st. louis cardinals 9-0 battling it out throughout a downpour. the giants kick off the series against the detroit tigers tomorrow night in san francisco. the fda is investigating reports of five deaths and one non-fatal heart attack possibly linked to caffeine-rich monster energy drinks. last week the parents of a 14-year-old maryland girl filed a wrongful death suit claiming their daughter died after consuming two 24-ounce monster drinks in 24 hours. the girl did have an inherited disorder that can weaken blood vessels. monster says it doesn't believe its products caused any deaths. more nurses are expected to testify today at the trial of douglas kennedy, son of the late robert f. kennedy. he's accused of scuffling with nurses in january when they tried to stop him from taking his two-day-old sound out of mount kisko, new york hospital without permission. kennedy has pleaded not guilty to physical harassment and endangering the welfare of a

child. on monday one nurse describes how kennedy allegedly twisted her arm away from the doorknob she was guarding. under cross-examination she acknowledged hiring a personal injury attorney shortly after that confrontation. well, it's no longer pom-poms and side kicks. the nation's pediatricians are calling for stronger safety rules as cheerleading becomes increasingly dangerous. here's nbc's janet shamlian. >> you never think that something like what happened to me could happen to someone from cheerleading, and i never thought that going into. >> reporter: on the day laura jackson tried out for her high school cheerleading squad she did a flack flip and landed on her neck. she was paralyzed from the neck down. for nine years she's been breathing with the aid of a ventilator and need around-the-clock care. >> had this been a sport where i broke my neck and had to have stricter guide lins and regulations this might have been prevented. >> reporter: with big lifts and tall pyramids cheerleading has

become more dangerous. according to the american academy of pediatrics, which on monday called for it to be classified as a sport. that designation would mandate trainers and physicals and more qualified coaches, just like other high school sports. >> because these cheerleaders are now falling from heights of up to 15 to 18 feet, a fall from that height can have terrible consequences, including skull fractures, broken next, in addition to broken bones. >> with more difficult routines have come severe injuries. cheerleading now accounts for two-thirds of all catastrophic accidents among high school girls. >> i definitely think that this has been needed for a while. this -- it really is a sport. >> reporter: cheering for safety. doctors push for more regulations for america's 3 million cheerleaders. for "today," janet shamlian, nbc news, houston. and this video is so cute it hurts. a visitor to the southwest coast of australia made friends with

an unusually curious koala bear and while meeting face-to-face was nice came a little too close for comfort when the little guy decided to climb her like a tree. may look like furry little teddy bears but they do have sharp claws. six minutes after the hour, still adorable. let's go over to al for a check of the weather. >> oh, yeah, yeah, real adorable. thank you very much. let's see what we've got for you. let's take a look right now. this is the latest on tropical storm sandy, 325 miles south southwest of kingston, jamaica. 45-mile-per-hour winds. it's moving slowly to the north at 3 miles per hour. it will come across jamaica sometimes early thursday. right now we've got hurricane watches up for james camp we've got tropical storm watches up for hate, and they do not need a lot more rain there. that's for sure. can you see all that comes across, intensifies to a category one storm early thursday morning, and then once it gets out in the atlantic, still anybody's guess where

that's going to go. >> good morning.eye on that the mild weather will continue. high temperatures all the way into the upper 70's. today's "t" where the three of us give our take on the stories that have caught our attention and yours, too. adding her two cents is host of the new nbc lifestyle show "first look" alifedotenski. >> tell us about your show. >> we travel around the country and do cool fun things from night life to food.

>> sounds great. >> let's get to our takes. weigh in on this, all right. first it was the controversy that the latina princess at disney turns out she's not latin after all. that's settled, but disney now facing a controversy along with barney's over the new mini minnie mouse. this is the new holiday display. >> what? >> that's not minnie mouse. wearing haute couture fashion. the idea is, as -- as disney -- >> that's just goofy. >> this is a light-hearted holiday project. apparently it's a whimsical. minnie steps into the high paris fashion world. >> and she's a twig. >> and she's a twig. over 125,000 people have weighed in on the controversy, signing a petition on change.org saying this is sending the wrong message to kids. what do you think? >> the studio says it's meant to be light hearted. it's a fantasy world. >> i'm 125,000 and 1, i'll sign

that petition. that's crazy. that just looks dark to me. it looks dark and they look sick. i would never want my kids to do something like that. t we'd love to you weigh n.send us on our wednesdayite today.com, your thought and opinions or tweet any of us. let us know what you think about that. >> pays to be popular. there's a study that finds popular kids in high school actually earn more later in life. 40 years after graduation those who were said to be in the 80th percentile of popularity, how do they measure that, i have no idea, earned 10% more than their peers in the bottom 20th. i guess the theory is popular teens know what they need to succeed later in life. i always thought it was bad to peak in high school. like you don't want to be the most popular person in high school and then you peak too soon and then everything falls apart, but maybe that's just what i told myself >> i think it depends on where you live honestly. like, for instance, i've talked to a girlfriend about this last night and she said that in l.a. she thinks that might be the case, like if you rule the school, you rule the world later, but in san francisco,

let's say silicon valley, i don't think that's the case. i think the kids that sat in the back with the books are the ones that are creating facebook. >> that's true. >> i was on the a.v. squad, not that popular. >> again. >> a.v. >> that's how nerdy we were. >> i do think there's something to be said that the popular kids develop more social skills and that's the point. this is a study by the national bureau of economic research. basically saying maybe there's leadership skills involved here. these are kids who know how to make friends and know how to make peace and know how to bring people together and perhaps those skills should be applied later on in life. >> the popular kids drive people apart. >> good managerial part. >> they drive people apart because if you're not with the popular group because then you're with the not so popular group. >> i think there's always the in-between group. i was always the in-between group >> i always knew where the party was. people would call me on friday night and say where's the party are and i would say, okay, well there's one here and one there.

>> is that still the case? >> no, i go to bed at 8:00. >> savannah in high school, heard stories. for another day, entirely. >> do we have video of you in high school? >> i hope not. it was pre-video. just sketches. >> all right. take three. we have seen the cute and adorable babies all the time, but it's halloween, so we want to talk evil babies. parenting blogger alana wiles created an evil baby glaroff on mommy.com. take a look. ♪ >> oh, my goodness. >> from 0 to 5 were selected from 300 entries and created a bracket and pared up kids against each other. ultimately it came down to lil d

versus kadence. >> i think lil d gets this one. >> she's like crawling. >> kadence by 59.3 percent. >> liking that starbucks too much. >> don't you take that away from me. >> she's got her own go-go juice. >> don't you mess with the go-go juice. >> finally we do have a bonus take, and this one is certainly a bonus. probably one of the best halloween costumes you'll ever see on a dog. take a look. >> oh, wow. oh, my. if he sneezes, back away. >> oh, my god. >> that is just plain wrong. >> that is wrong. >> take it away. >> i know. >> he doesn't like it either. >> you don't know whether he's coming or going. >> meanwhile, the dog is like what? what did i do? what? there's something on my tail.

ali, aren't you so glad you joined us? >> come back any time. >> nice having you. >> yeah. we look forward to the show on nbc. >> "first look." >> thank you. >> coming up next, the three finalists in our quest for the best halloween costumes, although i've got to say that dog costume will give a run for the money. the judge of this is none other than the queen of craftiness herself in martha stewart right after this. that was me... the day i learned i had to start insulin for my type 2 diabetes. me... thinking my only option was the vial and syringe dad used. and me... discovering once-daily levemir® flexpen. flexpen® is prefilled. doesn't need refrigeration for up to 42 days. no drawing from a vial. dial the exact dose. inject by pushing a button. flexpen® is insulin delivery... my way. levemir® (insulin detemir [rdna origin] injection) is a long-acting insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes and is not recommended to treat diabetic ketoacidosis. do not use levemir® if you are allergic

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getups the one and only queen of crafty herself martha stewart. >> they don't look so ghoulish to me. they look like halloween costumes. >> there you go. >> what are you going to be looking for? >> i'm looking for creativity, originality, do-it-yourselfness. >> do-it-yourselfness, lie take. >> and fun. >> and fun, okay. >> yeah. >> let's see who has got some do-it-yourselfness. mike briggs from brookline, massachusetts. his version of the cookie monster. >> hey, mike. >> hi, how are you? >> good to see you. >> how do you do? >> how does your back look? >> oh, wow, very nice. >> how many -- what did you use to make your costume? >> mostly newspaper, cardboard and tape. >> duct tape. >> masking tape. >> and then i covered it with duct tape and paineded it. >> i think you have oreos on your wrists. >> paper plates there. >> fortune cookie on top of your head? >> that's a fortune cooky. >> and what are the little eyeballs on the fortune cooky in. >> some powdered cookies with a

thing i saw online. on a big tray. >> is it true you spent 180 bucks on tape alone? >> trying to go cheap on this costume by using newspaper and cardboard. >> and it cost $1850. >> i kept taping and taping. >> how much does it weigh? >> it's light. on like lacrosse pads. >> you wore this last halloween i understand? >> yeah. >> good -- great response? >> yeah. it was fantastic response. a lot of fun. >> you just got back from your honeymoon two days ago. >> i did. >> and got the call. >> with your koss talk? >> yeah, no, i didn't have it on there. >> must have been quite a honeymo honeymoon, mike. >> let's bring in katherine smith from marietta, georgia. talking a walk on the wild side. >> very lion kingesque. >> very charming. >> they nice a. >> very cute face on the giraffe. what's the whole neck made out of? >> a garden copilotio cage. >> oh, clever. >> and everything is covered in

two colors of duct tape. >> it's duct tape. >> how much did you spend making your costume? >> around $50. >> that's not bad. >> i understand you can actually dance in this thing. >> it's not impossible, no. >> it's not impossible. >> can you bust a move for us. >> i can always bust a move, al. >> there's a little music. a little bust a move music for you. >> graceful giraffe, wouldn't you say? >> yeah. >> and it's not too heavy. it's manageable. >> can't get into a taxi no. >> but this is very easy just to come on and off. this is just a -- >> what are the front feet? >> swim into theles. >> cool. >> swim noodles. >> very lightweight, very nice. >> okay. katherine, thank you so much. john mulgrew from new york, dressed as a winning nfl coach. >> wow. >> nobody we've seen in new york. >> oh, well. >> that's not true.

>> just kidding. >> oh, my gosh, and look at his ring. >> wow. >> oh, that's a big diamond you've got there. >> so who is your favorite team? >> the jets, but i don't really look too much like rex ryan so i figured i'd go generic sportscoat. >> i like the idea. getting dunked with gatorade after winning the championship, a pipe run up my back which i bent and have it all supported. >> and what's holding it on? >> a weight belt and a series of belt going up which i screwed into the pipe. >> but not -- >> not in your rib cage? >> no, no. >> it's a little tight, but i don't care about comfort or practicality. i just like the silly costume. >> all righty. >> gatorade, not champagne. >> they throw gatorade on the coaches. >> oh, gatorade, wow. >> you'd rather champagne. >> of course. >> martha, you've got mike briggs, katherine smith and john mulgrew, who is your "today's" best homemade costume. >> having just seen the costumes

without too much ado, it's hard, hard, hard. they are all creative. they are all clever, but only one really gets me. >> and that would be? >> the giraffe. >> katherine smith. >> congratulations. >> i like the giraffe. the face is so cute. look at it. lack at the long eyelashes. >> oh, we've got the flag. >> uh-oh. >> unbelievable. >> i throw the flag on that one. >> personal foul, martha stewart. >> i don't know if a giraffe can carry a trophy. >> mike, katherine, john, thank you. >> congratulations. >> congratulations to all of you. >> katherine, we'll see you next week. >> to see more costume contest submissions, don't forget. go to our website today.com. holding our annual halloween costume halloween morning on the plaza. we'll be back. >> cuteness wins. [ ding dong ]

hey -- little m&m's! wow! great costumes. what are you guys -- like four or five? forty-six. alright, yeah ok. here you go. you don't understand, slick. we're here for the party. whoo! yeah, that's cute! [ laughing ] put your hand down.

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coming up, we have quick fixes for fashion emergencies. >> that's right, and, of course, we're also -- one of our favorite shows, of course, "guys with kids." >> yes. >> and one of the stars of the joe jamie-lynn sigler is going to be here. we've got that, and, of course, we're going to be up in "today's" kitchen. all that coming up. >> a very different role for her. nobody gets whacked. >> that's right. she's a mom for god sakes. >> we like that, exactly. >> all coming up after your local news. >> and weather. if you think occasional irregularity is no big deal, think twice. with occasional irregularity, things your body doesn't use could be lingering in your system. 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 and try new activia light. 60 calories and the only leading light yogurt with no added sugar.

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mayor: casino owners in wests and virginia are spending, millions against question seven. that upsets me. and that upsets jonathan ogden. you don't want to upset jonathan ogden. ogden: no you don't. mayor: question seven means thousands of jobs and millions for our schools. but these west virginia casinos want to keep it all for themselves. we're not happy about that. ogden: no we aren't. mayor: so join us and vote for question seven. and west virginia, don't make me send jonathan ogden over there. mayor: vote for question seven. ogden: for baltimore. >> this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> looks like it will be overall a nice day. passing rainshowers in the northern suburbs. for most of us, partly cloudy and mild. we will hit 80 on wednesday. it will turn cooler but state dry on thursday and friday.

i'm the last person in the house, and it's really lonely about everybody. i mean, i don't even know what to do right now. why not. cheer, party house. to you. next summer. >> kind of like a time machine. honey boo boo grown up. snooki will have less time for bar crawls and beach lucking come next summer. "the jersey shore" star is a new

mom, and she'll be here tomorrow on "today" for her first live interview since the birth of her son. and thursday on "today" adam lavigne will be here with his band maroon 5 and the latest song with a live performance. so come on by if you're in this area. >> i like that song. >> that's going to be good. >> i'm al roker along with savannah guthrie and natalie morales. now we know that you're the youngest. >> that's right. >> and i'm oldest. so where are you in the birth order? >> the middlest. >> could you guess? >> the middlest. i'm the one that you thought was, you know, when matt said i'm the middle child. >> thanks for bringing that up, yes. >> i'm a little brain dead today. >> i'm the middle child, yes, if you had any doubts. >> well, just ahead, we're going to have the five facts that you may not have known about birth order and what impact it may have had on your personality. >> and also how you become as a parent, apparently, because it does translate. also ahead, we're rescuing you from some fashion emergencies, whether it's a

blister from new shoes, maybe a little bit of that deodorant that leaves a mark on your black dress, well, we've got some fast fixes when you're on the run. >> all right. in the kitchen we'll let you make an easy french pastry, making anything from cheese puffs to an eclaire. looks good. but first, you know her as the mob princess meadow soprano on the award-winning series "the sopranos" but jamie-lynn sigler says forget about it to mob life and today she's playing a new parent on the nbc comedy "guys with kids." good morning. >> good morning. >> this is a role reversal, in the only are you not doing the dramatic thing anymore, but you're a funny girl in this new sitcom. how do you like it? >> thanks, i'm trying to be. it's a lot of fun. definitely a new chapter being a mom. i grew up always being the kid, and i think no matter how long "the sopranos" went on, i always would have been the daughter, so it seemed like the only way to sort of have a departure from that and move on was to play a

mom. >> are you the funny girl in real life? >> i do like to make people laugh, and i think that i sort of took it as a personal challenge to always be known, you know, for something so heavy and dramatic. i wanted to do something light and fun and sort of stretch myself with my range a little bit. >> you say comedy is actually harder than drama. >> comedy is a lot harder. everybody has a very specific sense of humor, and it's hard to make people laugh, and you always have to be willing to make a fool of yourself, and, fortunately, i'm willing to do that in my normal life. >> called timing. >> called "guys with kids," but you are obviously not a guy. what is like? what is the cast chemistry like when you guys are on camera? >> from day one we had a ton of chemistry. i mean, obviously the guys need the laid toys have the kids. >> really? >> we definitely serve a purpose, but i love my castmates so much and temp et bledsoe who plays anthony anderson's life, her and i have a similar history

because we're both from the iconic tv shows and played the daughter, and so we both feel like together this is sort of a new journey for the two of us, and i was such a fan of hers and she was such a fan of my show, so it's a fun thing. >> and the executive producer is jimmy fallon. >> who we're all fans of. >> not a bad boss. >> you're really into halloween, right? going to have a big barb. >> my best friend lance bass, transforming his house into a haunted house and every area is going to be a theme, and we're just going to scare a lot of kids. >> i want to go. >> let's all go. >> we love halloween, too. >> thank you so much. >> thank you so much, and "guys with kids" airs wednesday night at 8:30, 7:30 central right >> good morning. it will turn out to be a nice day. high temperatures into the upper

70's. just a 20% chance for and that's your latest weather. >> all right, al. thanks. coming up next, five facts about birth order right after this. ♪ 99 bushels of wheat on the farm...99 bushels of wheat! ♪

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but what about your wrinkles? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair visibly reduces fine lines and wrinkles in just one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. >> this morning on "today's 5 facts," the truth about your birth order. is your older brother a perfectist, those traits could be due to where you fall in the lineup. good morning. >> good morning. >> it does make a difference. >> it does make a difference. research has shown it makes a difference. not the kind of difference that says the temperament that you're born with or the parenting that you get are all kinds of environmental factors and all kinds of things request switch it up. are there stepchildren, adopted children, big spacing between children? research shows this definitely makes a difference. >> okay. so, let's start at the top, the

best. >> okay. >> the oldest child. so does being a leader among your siblings transileana ros-lehtinener in life? >> it seems to, absolutely. apparently over half of all of u.s. presidents were first born. first borns are definitely -- feel like the leaders, their parents look to them to be leaders, so it absolutely enhances that. it actually also makes some potentially more reliable and more conscientious on the upside. on the downside, perfectionistic, a little more rigid and more difficult to move on things. so they can be aggressive. they tend to be people pleasers at the same time. so you see, you know, newscasters and anchors are often first borns. >> walter cronkite, peter jennings, dan rather,ed to coppel. >> phil donahue. >> hirldo rivoira. >> al roker. >> they are leaders and assert themselves looking to please. >> that's our al. >> go to take care of the others.

meanwhile, the middle child, not sure i'm liking this description. how do they differ from the older siblings? >> they tend to be more secretive. doesn't mean they are totally underground, but because they are not the leaders and because they are not the babies, they often feel kind of stuck in the middle. >> that's me. >> and in that they may keep their feelings to themselves, and they may in fact not turn to parents as much but turn to peers which actually makes them very engaged with their peers potentially. they often have strong friendships, and they often read people well because they are very focused on what's going on. >> pretty good at reading people. >> you think? >> i think so. >> peacekeeper, i'll take that. >> you're flexible. >> independent, inventive. >> inventive. >> independent. >> those are all good things. >> some of the other things, my older sister. my little sister is somewhere in there, too. >> but as the research shows, the youngest child is pure joy and a delight? >> and a delight. >> to themselves. >> you are a delight, but maybe

babies are babies, and that makes them usually the most financially irresponsible. i am not saying that you are a spendthrift and you are bankrupting your home. >> no. >> but i am saying that babies do tend to be a little more on the spoiled side because they keep being treated as the baby. >> let's focus on the positive. >> the positive is they are also very social, also very outgoing, and they are often the big entertainers of the family. >> strong sense of humor. >> big entertainers, so we see a lot of comedians end up being -- >> does it affect how you parent? >> actually it does. it carries through all the way so the parent -- the person that you were in your family, you tend to see that child in your own family the same way you see yourself, so it does affect how you parent very much so. >> really interesting. >> fascinating. >> i like that. >> thank you, people-pleasers. coming up next, fashion fixes for your next style emergency. but first, this is "today" on nbc. [ male announcer ] connoisseurs of flavor.

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this morning on "today's style," fast fashion fixes, whether it's a run in your pantyhose or a loose button, some easy solutions when you're on the go. camille, good morning. >> a lot to get to. let's get right to t.starting off if you have a wrinkled shirt and you have a flat iron you've got a cure. how do you do this in. >>ipe it down, you might not have an iron handy. many girls have their flat irons on hand so use that in a pinch. >> okay. meanwhile, if you do have an iron, some baby powder on hand, wearing a white shirt and need to get the stains under the shirt, this is a good way to remedy that. >> it's a good way to preserve

the shirt so you don't have to get rid of it. sprinkle it under the collar, under the arm, anywhere where there's stains. it creates a barrier so the sweat doesn't get into the threads of the shirt and you'll look out stains. >> and you'll smell like a baby. >> over here, every woman has the terrible blisters from a new pair of shoes. >> absolutely. >> here's a way to take that clear deodorant and prevent blisters. >> so many products out there to prevent blisters, don't need them if you have some clear roll-on gels. apply them to the inside of your shoe, wherever you get blisters. put them on your feet and it will create a barrier so there's no friction between your feet and your shoe. >> and your feet will smell good. >> hairspray has multiple uses along with protecting your hair. good with static, but other things you can do. >> one of the most annoying things when you get laundry, getting lint on your close out of the dryer. don't need a lint roller, take

hair spree and a clean cloth. spray the hair spray on the cloth and rub it over the lint and comes right off like a charm. the stickiness of the hair spray works like a charm. >> and also helps to reinforce pantyhose. >> all dealt with annoying rips and runs. before you put them on in the morning, spray up and down the leg. put the pantyhose, you won't get rips or runs every day. the hairspray for thefies the elasticity in the pantyhose so they don't tear. >> and then use them for another purpose. >> if you've got, it why not flaunt it so who hasn't dealt with a white deodorant mark on a dark top. take the pantyhose applied to the deodorant and see how easily it comes off if it rubs away and it's like an eraser. >> running out of time. a loose button. what's the fix? >> grab a trip tie, strip off

the paper and thread it through the button. thread the button and wire through the shirt so it couldn't poke you and you have a button fix. >> great tips. learned a lot. coming up next, a simple pa pastry dough that you can make now and save for the holidays. but first, this is "today" on nbc. [ male announcer ] connoisseurs of flavor.

experts in aroma. they're the world championship cheese judges. [ air horn blowing ] and while they might seem kind of odd to you -- like this guy -- we just love them. and at the 2012 championship, they awarded cracker barrel gold for cheddar for its rich, full flavor. thanks cheese geniuses. cracker barrel. it's cheddar, perfected. thanks cheese geniuses. as a pastor, my support for question 6 is rooted in my belief that the government should treat everyone equally. i would not want someone

denying my rights based upon their religious views, therefore i should not deny others based upon mine. it's about fairness. this law does not force any church to perform a same sex marriage if it's against their beliefs. and that's what this is about. protecting religious freedom and protecting all marylanders equally under the law. join me in voting for question 6. this morning in "tape of's kitchen" it's easy as 1, 2, 3, pastry chef reveals the secrets to classic pastries. nothing better than walking into the kitchen and smelling something baking. you're demystifying, people are intimidated by it. >> it's absolutely right. we get intimidated by baking because baking is really about

equations and exact measurements. >> precise. >> more so than savory we need to use exact measurements. here in our book we really emphasize weight, weight by grams, because it's precise. >> and we're making a pastry concoction that basically you can use for different sweet and savory. >> exactly. >> it's pretty simple. >> very simple. this is cream puff dough so water and sugar and flour and got it in here. want to cook it until it scrapes away from the sides of the pan. you see how simple that is. >> boom, just like that. >> and then we have it in our mixer, and we're just going to turn the mixture on and go ahead and add the eggs, a little bit at a time and let them incorporate, perfect, and you can see how simple this is. >> that's it. >> and here we have it already done. >> this is kind of the texture we're looking for, kind of that stickiness to it. >> okay. >> so you're going to put that in a pastry. >> we're going to make eclaires, of course, which is a very famous french dessert so

sebastian is our expert piper so he'll show us how to pipe it using a star tip because we want to get that edge on it. that edge will help us when we dip it in chocolate, kind of like the rigatoni, the same thing. >> right. >> there we go. nice and straight. >> that's pretty simple. >> very simple. >> and it's portable teflon. >> they are great. >> what you want to do is take a little bit of water. see the tip on there, just knock it down. put water on your finger prevents it from sticking. >> and how long do these bake? >> they will bake for about 45 minutes in a 380-degree oven. >> really get it so it hollows out. >> so it expands. >> expands. >> and then the little cream puffs. >> we have a trick for them. >> a little bit of a cheat. >> for people who are really good at piping or who wasn't the

precise size each time. again, they will bake depending on the size of them. >> like a silicone mold. >> yes. >> smart. >> same philosophy. >> once they bake how do you fill everything up? >> okay. we're going to do an eclaire here which is a little different than a classic eclaire, and sebastian has made some cream. >> and we're going to pipe in the bottom of it. >> just pastry cream, flavored and then he'll put whipped cream on top of that, candied pecans and then we'll finish with nuts. >> this is the savory said, guyere cheese in it, mix it with the dough, a little more pepper and salt, piped them out like that and piped it and have this

that goes wonderfully with champagne. >> very simple. >> these can always be filled. a classic cream puff may be bigger, have some over here. >> oh, we are going to sample. >> thomas geller and sebastian wasell, thanks so much. coming up next, kathie lee and hoda after your local news and weather. what makes the sleep number store different?

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