we're back now with more of "today" on a wednesday morning, the 7th day of december, 2011. just a crummy morning weatherwise here in new york city. it's been raining. we've got some rain that will turn into a little snow for the people north and west of us later on. the temperatures, what, 20 degrees? >> 20 to 30 degrees from where they are right now to tomorrow morning. >> i'm matt lauer along with ann curry, al roker and willie geist joins us this morning. >> they brought me in to hold the umbrella. >> anyway, coming up we'll talk more about alec baldwin, what happened. he apparently got kicked off a

flight. willie, you've gotten kicked off a lot of flights, what happened? >> not for this, though, matt. not such a funny situation for the "30 rock" actor. it's all because he wouldn't turn off his ipad. other passengers witnessed the whole thing. we'll hear what they are saying happened in a live report. >> they didn't care what was in his wallet. it's time for us, of course, to check in with our today's money 911 folks. they are going to be helping us with everything from why closing a credit card might be a bad idea even if it has an annual advice and also advice on how much homeowners insurance you really need and whether it's better to buy your car or to lease it. also coming up, the stress of the holidays. number one we'll talk about how stress sparks some arguments in your marriage, from everything on how much to spend on presents to sort of which family members you're going to invite to your christmas table. so we'll get some advice on the five most common couple fights. and then we'll switch gears and talk about part of the holiday stress being about the parties

you're invited to, how many there are and we're sort of basically going to try to make it a little bit easier for you when you go to people's homes and what to bring the hostess. >> a lot to get to. let us head inside. savannah guthrie has a look at all the headlines. good morning. we'll start with politics today. it is not easy being the front runner as newt gingrich is finding out, coming under increasing attack from his fellow candidates. with a large national lead according to a new gallup poll, he is also the subject of the first major attack ad campaign of the season, courtesy of ron paul. meanwhile mitt romney says he will not participate in donald trump's upcoming debate. ron paul and jon huntsman have also declined to participate. gingrich will attend the december 27th forum. in a campaign preview, president obama portrayed himself tuesday as the defender of the middle class. speaking in a small kansas town, the president said this is a make-or-break moment for the middle class and all those fighting to join it.

michael huerta is the new head at the federal aviation administration after the former top person stepped down. randy babbitt resigned after being arrested over the weekend on drunk driving charges in virginia. local officials refuse to disclose the results of his blood alcohol test. police officers in riot dpegear raided an occupy wall street protest. officers took down 100 tents and arrested 50 people. "30 rock" star alec baldwin was booted from a los angeles to new york flight tuesday in a dispute over playing on his ipad. jeff rossen is here to explain. >> you've been guilty of that too, savannah, i know. alec said he was just playing a game called words with friends, pretty addictive, i hear. the flight attendant asked him tohut it off again and again but he didn't. suddenly one of the funniest actors on tv was escorted right off the plane. >> so what happened? >> reporter: alec baldwin,

arriving back in new york overnight, wearing sunglasses, and not thrilled with the media crush there to greet him. on tv he loves to fly. >> after all, isn't traveling hard enough? >> reporter: boy was it ever tuesday. >> what happened with the flight attendant and american airlines, man? do you want to give your side of the story? >> reporter: baldwin says he got the boot after settling into his seat aboard american flight 4 at l.a.x. headed to new york. the plane parked, he had his ipad out, playing words with friends, a popular app. it's a lot like scrabble. you play against other people online. baldwin says the flight attendant demanded he shut off his ipad multiple times. he immediately took to twitter, alerting more than half a million followers flight attendant on american reamed me out for playing words with friends while we sat at the gate, not moving. #no wonder america air is bankrupt. witnesses say baldwin slammed the bathroom door out of anger, those his people deny it.

fellow passengers say the pilot came out and security kicked baldwin off the plane. >> we just kept seeing him get up. everybody was sort of -- their heads were popping up celebrity spotting and then we realized it was a big thing going on. >> security came in and just -- he just was like, yep, fair enough. it's like it was inevitable. he sort of went off. >> reporter: also sitting in first class, a man who knows a fight when he sees one, boxing champ oscar de la hoya who says he didn't see one. >> i didn't think there was no problem. i actually felt alex baldwin was turning off his devices. he just got a little angry. that's about it. >> reporter: baldwin was rebooked on a later flight, but he took to twitter again. now on the 3:00 american flight. the flight attendants already look smarter. my words with friends user name is now #there is always united.

citing privacy concerns, american airlines wouldn't comment to nbc news but did tweet baldwin back. mr. baldwin, we are looking into this. please direct message us contact information. the flight drama all ended okay. baldwin tweeted this picture from his new flight and the words "let alec play" speak for themselves. >> like double word score. this morning it appears the faa is not investigating. baldwin's pr team is having some fun with it, though, saying in a statement alec is so in love with words with friends that he would risk getting thrown off a flight to play. by the way, we're told the gaming company has already reached out to him. i'm smelling endorsements here. >> jeff rossen, thank you. it's now six past the hour. back to al with a check of the weather. >> thanks, savannah. let's check out what's going on. we've got some rough stuff up and down the east coast. you can see back to the west some pink, that's some freezing precip, heavy rain making its way through the ohio river valley up into the northeast. we've got flood watches from

roanoke, virginia, all the way to teterboro, new jersey, and on into west virginia. rainfall amounts from 2 to 4 inches causing possibly more flooding. snowfall amounts are going to be anywhere from 6 to 9 inches in interior new york state on into new england. and big changes temperaturewise. current temperatures in the mid-60s. tomorrow this time, boom, down 20 to 30 degrees, back down into the 30s just about where they >> good morning. we have some batches of heavy rain. that will continue off and on through the day. the temperatures are going to drop. drop.

time for "today's money 911." that's where we take on your financial emergencies. from when to close out a credit card. our panel of experts, jean chats ski, sharon epperson, a personal finance correspondent for cnbc and c nnbcnbc.com and courtney reagan, also a cnbc correspondent. >> nice to see you. >> we've got connie from michigan. connie, good morning. what's your question? >> good morning to you. i'm wondering if there's any correlation between lower appraised values these days and the amount of homeowners insurance you should carry on the building? i have currently $375,000 insurance on my home that was established years ago but recently houses that have sold in my area are in the 150,000 to $160,000 range on appraisals.

do you ever reduce insurance or how do you know what's enough? >> that's a great question. >> that's a really good question and it's happening to so many people. here's the deal. you're insuring the cost to rebuild that home, not the cost to buy the home. so if the cost of building has actually dropped in your area, then, yes, you should see a reduction in your premium but it's not going to come automatically. you'll have to ask to be reassessed and then see what you should get. it's probably a good time to do it because homeowners insurance prices because of all the natural disasters that you tell us about are expected to prize. >> connie, thanks for that. great question. appreciate it. >> thank you very much. let's head to skype. we've got megan checking in from newark, delaware. megan, good morning. >> hello. i'm a 22-year-old college student and had a question about credit cards. i have two credit cards and just finished paying off one and wanted to close it out due to the fact that the credit card carries an annual fee of $59 and has a much higher apr than the

one i got from my bank. i was wondering if there were any negative effects with closing the credit card, especially on my credit score. >> sharon, what do you think? >> well, first of all, megan, you're right, $59 is way too much for the annual fee. you definitely want to find a card with no fee and you should find a student card like that. here's the problem with cancelling that card before you have another one. we always talk about the credit utilization ratio. you don't want that to be too high and that's the amount of credit across all of your cards so by doing that you'll raise that ratio and hurt your credit score. wait, get a new card with no annual fee. once you have that card with a credit limit that is the same or higher than what you currently have, then you can cancel that card with the $59 annual fee with a little note saying what are you doing to me, this is way too high. >> megan, thank you so much. now we'll head to sue. she's calling in on the phone from columbia, maryland. good morning, sue. >> good morning. how are you? >> we're doing great. what's your question? >> i'm retired and i have a time

share that i do not use and can't afford the monthly payments and the fees. how can i get rid of it or should i just stop paying it and will it hurt my credit? >> a lot of folks are in this situation. >> many, many people deal with this. when you buy into a time share nobody tells you how hard it is to get rid of it. it depreciates in value almost as soon as you buy it. don't default. don't stop paying those payments because that will definitely hurt your credit score, which is even harder to get back. you have a couple of options. the first thing is call the resort or developer and see if they have any kind of a buyback program. a first right of refusal clause to resell that right back to them. if they don't, then you want to ask them if they can recommend for you a time share resale broker, someone they use that's licensed and reputable. never, ever pay an up front fee. no reputable broker will charge you an upfront fee.

if you're a do-it-yourselfer you can try to rent it or sell it yourself online. >> it's going to be tough. >> it is. and your last option is that you can try to donate the ownership of the time share to charity and you want to start with donating for a cause.org. >> time for one more. going back to skype. chris is calling in from north carolina. good morning, chris. >> good morning. we are in the market for a new car. is it better for our credit rating or overall financially to pay cash or take advantage of 0% financing? >> jean? >> if you've got a limited amount of cash in the bank, and most people do, i'd take advantage of that 0% financing because then you can just invest your other money, allow it to grow and make something for you. it's pretty much a no-brainer. >> all right. thanks so much. thank you for joining us. jean chats ski, sharon epperson and courtney reagan. for those of you on the east coast, jean will stick around. she's got a live chat answering your questions on the web. just go to today.com.

and coming up ahead, how to avoid some of the most common holiday fights with your significant other. then later, what to get the hostess or host with the most. affordable holiday gift ideas after these messages. two medium cappuccinos!

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this morning on "today's relationships" holiday bickering. it really is the most wonderful time of the year but all of the hustle and bustle puts a lot of stress on relationships. here on avoiding five common fights, good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> jill, you asked your readers to send in what their most common holiday fights with their spouse or significant others were and these are our responses, right? >> yes, our facebook was flooded with responses. this was what came to the top because it really seems like you pull out that box of holiday decorations and with it comes this big bag of holiday arguments. it's time to settle them. >> there are some stresses and also a lot of demands on time. let's get to our first one. situation one, a reader wrote

his family comes over but i end up doing all the work. this has got to be a common one, how would you handle it? >> i think jill and i were talking about this, that couples have very prescribed roles and very often it's the woman who's taking care of all the homemaking, entertaining type of roles and efforts for the family. and so you really need to tell your guy what you want if you need some help because it's going to be -- >> it's a two-person job. he's not going to read your mind. >> be direct about it. >> be direct. ask him for what you need. compliment him when he does a good job in listening to you. >> and don't be a crazy perfectionist about this. if you're going to get his help, you have to say he does it his way, i do it my way. >> okay. our next one i love, it's inevitable when it comes to shopping during the holidays, we can never agree on how much to spend on the kids. i want to shell out more than he does. this is really tough. >> this is tough and this is the argument that we have in our

house because i'm a little bit more of a splurger. where we came to on this is it works out best if you figure out gifts that are somewhat practical and educational. like my tweenager is ready to get a cell phone. we put it off until christmas but i feel like i'm splurging a little bit to get her the cell phone she wants. or if your kid is a wonderful guitarist, get him the guitar that he needs. it feels generous. >> this goes to the heart of financial fights, which is a big one in any context, but also the kids and people's traditions on whether to go big on christmas. >> you may want to find out what your partner's history is in terms of the holidays and spending money and sometimes you have to defer to the person who's better with money in the family and the person who's the voice of reason. >> let's pick up the pace and get to the next one. i always put a lot of thoughts into his gifts and he always gives me some stupid perfume. >> that came up with so many women and really you just have

to hint and hint loudly. >> i say be direct. cut out pictures, say what you want, go shopping together on a date and say let's pick out our gifts together. but i think the bottom line is not to get too caught up in the gift and think about who's your partner. is he really thoughtful in general. >> the next one the in-laws. we argue about having to go to his parents' house because they live far away. we have to spend the night and there are a lot of people staying there. so many people have this scenario. >> yes. when you get married, you're doubling your family. so to a certain extent you've got to expect there are new scenarios you find yourself in. the really important thing is to get yourself a break. if it's an overcrowded house, be the person to run and get the eggnog. >> and i like the holiday decorations to be down by new year's day but he likes to keep them up longer. >> see who cares about it the most. if it's up until valentine's day, you're barking up the wrong

tree. if the tree becomes a fire hazard, it has to come down. >> jill and robbie, thank you. coming up, high-end hostess gifts at low-end prices. but first, these messages. traditions are not for keeping. they're for keeping us together. ♪ [ boy ] to dad, love sam. [ mom ] say "merry christmas." [ boy ] merry christmas. [ female announcer ] hallmark recordable storybooks. [ boy ] charlie brown spotted a small, scraggly pine tree. ♪ [ gasp ] [ mom ] my husband -- he thinks it's a 3-sheeter. i say 1-sheeter. bounty can clean the mess with less. [ female announcer ] in this lab demo, 1 sheet of bounty leaves this surface as clean as 2 sheets of the bargain brand. ♪

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yay! [ female announcer ] storytime is not for reading. this is a story about jingle the husky pup. and jingle was a good dog. [ jingle ] ruff! ruff! jingle loved to bark hello. ruff! ruff! ruff! ruff! [ mom ] jingle even loved to sing. ruff! ruff! ruff! ruff! jingle!

[ female announcer ] it's for bringing stories to life in a whole new way. jingle, stay. and jingle did. [ female announcer ] hallmark interactive story buddies. when you read key words, jingle responds. well, the brave crowd got quite a thrill this morning meeting michelle pfeiffer and zac efron out here on the plaza while donating toys, books and other gifts for underprivileged children. that's part of our annual toy drive. we want to thank everyone for standing out in the rain and for their generosity. >> one of our generous contributors, big contributors, laura wallace, general manager of microsoft new york metro district. nice to see you. >> nice to see you as well. >> you guys are always so nice. what are you doing this year? >> thank you for having us. we're really excited to be here on this beautiful new york day. but as you know, holidays are a great time to give back. in the past we've given up to $1.4 million to qualified "today" show agencies.

this year we're expanding that donation to cover the full need regardless of size of any of the qualified "today" show organizations. >> so this is basically like tech support for some of the people that do hard work all year round. >> absolutely. we give them the tools to get the job done and tools for the kids to be productive with their school work an also a little fun. we also have a couple of xbox systems and some of the new games. >> and it's so critical in this down economy to chip in and contribute whenever you can. >> absolutely it is, there's so much need out there. >> laura, thank you so much and thank you everybody at micros t microsoft. only two more weeks to give and donate gifts. you can do it on the plaza or yop line at today.com. coming up, we, the three of us, are going back to school, cooking school, coming up. >> coming up, your local news and weather. [ female announcer ] why do your holiday shopping at walgreens?

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>> live, local, late breaking. this is a wbal update. >> if we start with temperatures very mild this morning. they will be dropping off all day. rain will be with us all day as well. some of it could be heavy. it will change to snow tonight. there will

ann and natalie, look at roker. now look back at me. now back at roker. sadly, he is not me. but if he were me, he might be a lumber jack somewhere in the canadian rockies. but al roker is not me. >> that's a little fun on his "where in the world" this year. you know he actually wears clothes like that, breakaway clothing. >> that's his travel mustache. >> his own version of that popular old spice ad campaign. guess what, the old spice guy was watching. tomorrow we're going to have -- hold on, wait for it. >> roker, but he's not here.

as a matter of fact, he's nowhere to be seen. but if roker was me, he might be in a tropical paradise and throwing a beach party. >> anyway, coming up, it's one of those dilemma that say come up every year. what do you get your hostess or host when you're invited to a party. >> that's right. i don't have this problem, but i'm told when you're invited to multiple holiday parties, the cost really starts to add up. i'm here to learn today. we'll play the high-low game with sbreabrina soto. she'll show us some gifts for $25 or less. >> willie, we're going to make you popular. also a staple of holiday decor, we're talking about wreaths, but it's not all about evergreen and pine cones. there are new rules, and the rules are there are no rules. they can be made of candy, feathers, christmas cards. we'll show you some creative and

affordable options. >> a lovely wreath made of cheese. and a delicious centerpiece for your holiday table, a juicy roast. oh, mama! chef michael la monico is here and has three easy recipes for your next family feast. you had me at roast. >> that looks good. first you have to earn that roast. the weather, we need the weather forecast. >> man, let's just look at that roast. anyway -- oh, yeah. hands off, that's mine! let's show you what's going on. for today, heavy rain mid-atlantic states into the northeast. windy conditions. snow back through the -- parts of new england and western new york. plenty of sunshine out west. air stagnation alerts in the pacific northwest. more windy weather in the northeast. colder but sunny, although we'll have some snow in northern new england. snow also around the great

lakes. lake-effect snow kicking in late tomorrow on into friday as we move into the eastern great lakes. >> good morning. we will start out nice and mild but the temperatures will drop as we go through the day. >> and that's your latest weather. coming up, stylish gifts for the roast -- i mean the host, for 25 bucks or less. it's just on our minds of the coming up right after this. i love the holidays.

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so i mix together a packet of hidden valley ranch, 1 box of spinach, and 16 ounces of sour cream, and tonight everyone gets a taste of something special... ranch spinach dip. [ male announcer ] hidden valley ranch. mix it up. [ aj ] i'm an expert on every single one of these jackets. i know the tests they've been through. i know the temperatures they can withstand. i even know why this little mesh pocket is mesh. the way we make gear, it's not just guaranteed to last. it's guaranteed to make a whole lot of sense. we hear from a lot of customers that this is the best place for a cell phone. ♪ [ aj ] my name is aj curran. i'm the director of outerwear and accessories. and the holidays are made here. at l.l.bean, where your order ships for free. at l.l.bean, do you often experience the feeling of a dry mouth? it can be the side effect of many medications. dry mouth can be frustrating... and ignoring it can lead to...

sipping water can help, but dentists recommend biotene. biotene moisturizes and helps supplement some of saliva's enzymes, providing soothing relief when you need it most. don't ignore dry mouth... look for biotene in your oral care section today. this has been medifacts for biotene. this morning on "today's holiday gift guide" a special edition of the high-low game. if you're wondering what to get your host as you make the holiday party rounds this month, look no further. sabrina soto is here with a beautiful selection of gifts and all the items under 25 bucks. sabrina, good morning. >> are you ready? >> two items, which one is high and which one is low. this looks like the more expensive to me. and i was completely wrong. >> this is the high candle, $90. the low candle is only $18. >> $18? >> and this high candle is $90 because it's hand poured,

beautiful. >> i'm not paying $90 for a candle, i'm sorry. >> you don't have to. $18 option. >> always a popular gift to bring to a holiday party. i'm going with this one. >> you are wrong. that is the low. >> okay. >> this is $8. $40, it has a little crystal on the inside. but again, they have the same beautiful look. >> spare me the crystal. this i never thought of, stationary. popular? >> very popular. people should start writing letters and notes. >> i'm going with this one. >> that is the high. >> this is $4.48 a card and this is $1.40 per card. this has a chevron pattern on the inside but this is just printed on the outside. >> i like bringing booze to a party. you say that's tired and cliche, leave the bottle at home and bring martini glasses. >> yes. >> i'm going with this one. >> this is the high. $185 for the pair. >> come on! >> can you believe it? >> why would you do something like that?

>> well, if you have a lot of money. >> and these are $8? >> $8 for the pair. >> can i go into a store, can i find both of these and shop for myself? >> you can find the high at the ke department store and this would be at a discount store. >> this comes with all of the knives and these signs. >> you're leading me that way so i'm going this way. >> that's the high. this comes with two handles and all the different knives. >> so go with this one. a couple of beautiful vases here. >> if you picked them up you can somewhat see the difference. >> that's heavy so that's the high. >> that is the high. this is 100% crystal and this is 26% crystal. >> almost 400 bucks? >> and $25. everything here is less than $25. >> easy call. cake platters, trays. >> cake stands. you are great with this.

>> i'm not handy in the kitchen, am i. this is riegt a little higher, i'm going with this one. >> that is the high. people are doing cupcakes and cakes more than ever. >> the price difference is outrageous, $200 difference. these we are looking at a standard platter kind of thing? >> yes. nice ceramic platter. >> i'm going this way. >> you are right. this is $155 and this is $15. >> $15? >> that's a huge price difference. >> this one i love because whenever i go to the holiday party i like to bring the hostess a dress. >> it's an apron. >> oh, i'm sorry. oh, yeah, they don't have a back. i don't know about either of these so i like this one. >> actually this is the low, $20. this is $85 because it's reversible. but isn't that gorgeous? >> you don't need a reversible apron. >> in case it gets dirty. and my favorite, this is all year round i think a perfect

gift. throws. you can put them on the bed, on a sofa. >> that one is a little sofa. i'm going to go -- yeah, that's the high. >> that's cashmere. this is $200 and the low is only $18. this is acrylic and this is cashmere. but acrylic, you can throw it in the wash and don't have to dry clean it. >> you've sold me completely. leave the red wine at home. >> you did good. >> sabrina soto, thanks so much. you can catch it saturday nights at 8:30. dressing up the home for the holidays with unique wreaths. that's after this. also make beautiful center pieces. you're a miracle worker sabrina soto. [sfx: doorbell rings] and you can mix your seasonal pieces with your everyday china. [sfx: knocking on door] and now you need to hide. oh, i love the mercury glass pieces on the mantel, we could put some evergreen pieces... you know a simple touch like adding. oh, i think we should quickly decorate the hallway, wouldn't that be fun? maybe just put some...oh thank you so much, i'm going to bring you a snack later.

wait, i still need to talk to you about led candles. happy holiday's. hey! hi! please come in. you know ornaments, they make a great centerpiece. no, i wouldn't use that single miles credit card. nice ring. knock it off. ignore him. with the capital one venture card you earn... double miles on every purchase. [ sharon ] 3d is so real larry. i'm right here larry. if you're not earning double miles... you're settling for half. really? a plaid tie? what, are we in prep school? [ male announcer ] get the venture card at capitalone.com and earn double miles on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? i was gonna say that. uh huh... 'sat's in your wallet? new baked pasta romanas. ruffled pasta, layered with creamy fontina and asiago cheeses, and oven-baked just for you. try it with pan seared chicken with toscano tomatoes. or, try it with braised beef. for a limited time, only at olive garden. [ younger brother ] oh, do you want it? yeah. ok, we'll split it. [ female announcer ] made fresh, so light...

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this morning on "today's home decorating" decorating with holiday wreaths. who says they have to be round and green? these days there are no rules when it comes to sophisticated holiday decor.

cassie post, good morning to you. >> hi, savannah. >> so think out of the box? >> don't be afraid to take a well calculated risk this year. wreaths are an affordable option for decorating for the holidays and you can use them again and again. >> some people say it could be an alternative to a christmas tree. >> absolutely. >> let's start with this one. not a circle, a square. >> starting out big. this is a square boxwood wreath from christmas farms.com. it's only $49 and we love sort of this great sort of modern take on the round wreath. people are loving boxwood this year. it's hugely popular. the great thing about it is you can keep it for a couple of seasons if you just spritz it and keep it out of the direct sunlight. >> it's a little change because it's square but keeps the classic colors. >> traditional with a twist. >> here's not traditional, feathers. >> glamorous feathers. >> it's alive. >> and we love the feather trend. it was huge all over the runways this season. now this trend is jumping off the runways and walking into your home.

>> there are wreath runways? >> well, the fashion runways. >> i'm with you. >> and walking into your home. so we love the glamour of a feather wreath. so this one is from jamale, it's just $25 so really affordable. again, you can use a feather wreath again and again. they stay forever. >> not just for christmas. what do we have over here? >> this is a beautiful red feather wreath from garnett hill. this is a great idea for displaying your wreaths. we're actually using a wreath stand. so no nails. and this will go on any surface. you can also use a wreath as a centerpiece, just pop a bowl inside. >> now moving to something you might be able to eat. are these peppermint candies? >> yes. this is fun and cheery. the great news is you can buy these ready made so if you're crafty, you can make them, it's a great idea to do with the kids but you don't have to. they start at $29.

>> that's a ribbon you could put on any wreath, like jazz up your old wreaths. >> that's a styling trick. look for ribbon with wire in the edges and that will help you get a big, beautiful, glamorous bow. >> we've got polka dot here. >> adding some polka dots. >> this is a really cool idea. >> this was inspired by martha stewart. we love her. and this is a christmas card wreath or holiday card wreath. this is a do-it-yourself. all we did is took an embroidery hoop, and put on some little old-fashioned safety -- clothes pins and you just clip on your cards as you get them. >> less than a minute so let's show these. these are shells. >> yes, and this glamour shell wreath is from b's tropical design. it's $198 so it's a little bit of a splurge, but you can use shells all year round. >> metallic, this is perfect for new year's. >> absolutely. the huge trend again in home decor is metallics.

they act as a neutral so go with everything. $60. >> this isn't wreathy but it's cool. >> yes, anything can be a wreath, savannah. this is from southern proper monograms. this starts at just $10 for a small monogram but this is $48 and they come plain. you can glitter them, do anything you want. >> cassie post, thank you so much. coming up next, dressing up your holiday table with a delicious roast. we'll show you how to make it, three ways in today's cooking school. first, this is "today" on nbc.is

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there are over 20 affordable safeway select appetizers ♪ to make all of your gatherings just as merry as can be. ♪ only at safeway. ingredients for life. "today's cooking school" is brought to you by bertolli premium meal soup for two. a fresh take on soup. it's frozen. >> this morning on "today's cooking school" roast three ways. >> is there any more impressive centerpiece for your holiday feast? but cooking a big piece of beef

can be intimidating. >> absolutely. speaking of hunks, chef michael lomonaco, executive chef of porter house new york here to teach us just how easy it is. good to see you. >> great to be here. you're right, holiday roefasts e a traditional thing. roasting is such a great way to cook. the flavors that it brings out and also gives you time in the kitchen to do other things. we're going to start off with a boneless pork loin. >> one of my favorites. this is a pork loin. it can be a rack with a bone. >> i like the bone. >> i look cooking on bone too but this is a delicious cut. usually any butcher will tie it for you. we have the oven at 425 degrees. i start this at a high heat. i have just a simple marinade or really brush it on, we're going to -- how about we put this roasting pan -- roasting rack right in there. you don't have to get all messy. a little olive oil on that. and that's simple enough. and we have some garlic.

you can mix the garlic with the cumin, the salt and black pepper and really it's an herb crust that you put on. again, it retains the moisture and seasons it as it goes. actually the seasoning is all in there, the salt and pepper. with a roast, you need to make sure you season well because this is four pounds. you really need to season it all at once so that the -- not season it after waries but season it ahead. >> and you've got onions. >> in fact let me lift this up and you put that on the bottom. >> why do you like to do it like this? >> because i'm going to tell you to put white wine and some stock right in there. you can put that in there too. that's my pan drippings. yeah, there you go. at the end, you wind up with the pan drippings, which can really go on your roast. if you want to slice -- this is what's great about a boneless one, easy to carve table side. makes you look like a real pro. >> from a pro to a non-pro, we're making beef.

>> this is prime rib, exactly. this is a rib roast. this one i start at a lower temperature. we always cook at 350 at an even temperature. >> and you keep the bone in? >> this is bone in. look at this, this is great. this weighs about seven pounds. very simple. i'll give you olive oil and also a little bit of garlic. here we are some herbs. >> this is the dry seasoning. >> this is my dry seasoning. there's rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. what you can do is just stir that together and that goes right on top. this is -- the pork we cook on a rack but the beef we cook bone side down and with thermometers. >> how do you put this on? >> if you want to get your hands into it, you're going to do this. >> get in there. >> savannah, savannah, savannah. >> okay, here you go. >> thank you. i didn't think my hands were clean. don't forget the thermometer.

you have to check the temperature. i want you to carve this because this is so easy. here's your knife and here's your fork. >> let me try to carve but you've got to get willie's going. >> just put the knife between the two bones and carve one big prime rib chop. >> step away from savannah with the knife. >> i'm moving away now. >> vegetarian option. >> these are vegetables. we've got butternut squash, eggplant, carrot, onions and tomatoes. we make a spice mix and they're really great -- it's just a great group of spices. >> how are you doing, savannah? >> she's doing very well. >> i ran into some bone. >> the spices go in -- >> michael lomonaco thank you so much. the recipe is on today.com. >> yeah!