captioning sponsored by cbs and johnson & johnson, where quality products for the american family have been a tradition for generations. good morning. i'm charles osgood and this is a special edition of sunday morning. the food issue to be precise. our annual invitation to eat, drink and be merry. we'll be looking forward all morning to thanksgiving dinner. after the first saluting the volunteers tirelessly working to feed the hungry. in america millions of people who need help can bank on it as barry petersen will report in our cover story. then it's on to the rest of our menu. turkey may be the center piece but what to serve all the other days of the year. serena altschul has one idea. cheesy do it. for chef bobby flay the burgers they call sliders are a small miracle. >> when it comes to making a great burger, size really does matter. and sometimes big burgers are just too much of a good thing. so take my advice and think small. think sliders. later on sunday morning, we're going sliding on the griddle. >> osgood: still crazy but increasingly legal. that's one way of describing the classic american beverage or tracy smith has been tracking down. >> reporter: moon shine was once only available from certain nocturnal entrepreneurs. >> you worked at night and slept in the daytime. >> reporter: but now white lightning gone legit. later on sunday morning, moon shine. still crazy after all these years. >> osgood: good chemistry of the on-screen sort is the key to success for any tv chef and is particularly crucial if that chef makes real chemistry a part of his show. mark strassmann takes us to his laboratory which is to say, his kitchen. >> reporter: on television, he really cooks. and he'll share his recipe for success.... >> more and more circles. >> reporter:... one haifa lute inchefs would never recognize. behind the scenes over the oven and inside the fridge with me later on sunday morning. >> osgood: coming up with the perfect dessert time after time is a challenge for many of us. but the answer can be as easy as pie. bill geist will explain. >> reporter: friends, do you toss and turn at night worrying about where your next pie is coming from? the new "pie for life" program and you'll never worry about pie again. from a small cafe in round top texas comes a cure for pie anxiety. later on sunday morning. >> osgood: jerry bowen shows us a knife craftsman on the cutting edge. mo rocca hails a mexican hot dog. rita braver meets a preach who preaches the gospel of the family meal. and more. but first the headlines for this sunday morning, the 22nd of november, 2009. >> the motion is agreed to. >> osgood: the senate last night voted 60-39 to allow full-scale debate on health care reform legislation after thanksgiving. the bill would require most americans to get health insurance and would give subsidies to those who can't afford it. the bishop of providence, rhode island, has barred congressman patrick kennedy from receiving communion at mass. the son of the late senator ted kennedy says he's being punished by the catholic church for his pro-choice views. the rhinestone-studded glove michael jackson wore in 1983 when he premiered his moon walk dance was auctioned in new york yesterday. expected to go for about $50,000. instead it fetched $350,000. the triple-a says more americans will be traveling this thanksgiving holiday. most of us by car. about 33 million people are expected to be on road. that is a 2% increase over last year. now to weather. it will be a soggy sunday in the southeast. and a snowy one in the northwest. the rest of us can expect a typical fall day. it will be a fold thanksgiving day in the east and a snowy one around the great lakes. and a great day to be thankful for in the west. next the best-loved banks in america. the food banks. and later, serena altschul using her noodle. >> osgood: we dream all year of a big thanksgiving feast. happily most of us can bank on it. but even folks going through hard times have reason to hope for a place at the table thanks to their selfless neighbors in this land of plenty. barry petersen reports our cover story. >> reporter: it has been a good year for food in america. a record soybean harvest, the second highest corn harvest ever. potatos and apples, all up. good news for bad times. >> you want these vegetables here? >> yes. >> good. >> reporter: because america is more than ever the land of the hungry. last week the government said 49 million americans are unsure of where their next meal is coming from. that's almost one in six s and 17 million of those are kids. a huge problem being met with a huge response. this is big but you have big all over the country? >> if you think about it in terms of the top ten metropolitan citys in the united states, we have one food bank like this in all of those cities. >> reporter: vicki is ceo of feeding america. it runs out of a chicago sky scraper not a church basement. its reach is nationwide. >> if you were to look at the fact that our network will deliver close to three billion pounds of food this year, we are one of the largest grocery stores in the country. >> reporter: the largest supplier of free food in the nation with 205 warehouses like this one in chicago where work starts at dawn. >> starting at 5:00 a.m., trucks are departing to go across the country and provide truck loads of food to the 63,000 agencies. >> reporter: taking food to food banks. >> taking food to community kitchens, to cafes, to churches, to synagogues. >> reporter: 63,000. >> 63,000 agencies. >> reporter: okay. stocking food banks goes hand in hand with getting the food. that is where this man, the late john van hengel comes in. in 1967 he had an idea that changed america. collect excess food from supermarkets or farms where it was going to be thrown away and bring it to a central location where it could be withdrawn like money from a bank. st. mary's food bank, our nation's first, was born. and van hengel told the story to sunday morning in 1981. >> i think of ourselves in a funny way as being someone who applied the principle of begging and found that it was successful. there's a certain pride thing that says you won't beg for yourself but you might beg for someone else. >> reporter: this is a nation that dough nays freely a bountiful harvest of generosity. the challenge is getting the food from warehouses like this one to the tables of those who need it. >> more beans? >> reporter: so every day those who feed the hungry come to st. mary's to make food withdrawals. >> we need more tuna or some kind of protein. peanut butter. is there peanut butter. >> reporter: nicole runs the phoenix rescue mission. she sees the need with every day's headlines. >> we're able to look at that unemployment rate and know we're going to have a line. >> there's a need for this. definitely a need. >> reporter: volunteers pack bags all day because all day long the hungry come calling. people like susan. >> well i'm without a job right now. i'm finding it difficult to find work plus being a senior, that makes it even more difficult. we're pretty lucky to be in the country we're in because there's a lot of countries that don't have this. it just shows you that america cares about us. >> reporter: and now there is another good idea driving food banks. focus on good food. the california association of food banks recently started the farm-to-family program. volunteers gather fresh produce for food banks like this one in oakland so the hungry can eat healthy. >> fresh produce at the alameda county community food bank is about half the food we move. >> reporter: susan bateson runs the operation. >> people need food on an ongoing basis now. the crisis is every day. we serve 40,000 people every week. sadly 14,000 of those people that we serve are children. so if you were to imagine a school bus, 186 school buses filled to capacity with children, that would be the number of children we serve every week. >> reporter: it's the children more than anything else that led singer sheryl crow to get involved. she wrote a new song "all we need" available later this month on i-tunes, the proceeds will go to feeding america. ♪ every now and then someone's crying ♪ ♪ crying out in hunger ♪ for someone to please reach out a hand and help somebody stand up ♪ >> i think there are a lot of organizations that shine a light on different areas in the world. but yet here in our own country living amongst us are kids who go to school who have not eaten breakfast. they don't have money for lunch. families who are utilizing food banks. it's not getting better with the economy the way that it is. >> reporter: and so groups like feeding america work to meet the growing need, believing that if even one american goes hungry this sunday morning, that is one too many. ceo vicki escara. >> you would only have to meet with one child who doesn't have enough food to eat or one working mother who can only put a can of beans on the table or one senior citizen who has worked their whole life and they only have a few potatos in their kitchen to know why we feel such urgency. we don't have a choice. >> osgood: next, the kindest cut. crafted to be exceptionally smooth... decadently rich... delightful... chocolate... bliss. hershey's bliss chocolate. crafted for bliss. somewhere in america, there's a home by the sea powered by the wind on the plains. there's a hospital where technology has a healing touch. there's a factory giving old industries new life. and there's a train that got a whole city moving again. somewhere in america, the toughest questions are answered every day. because somewhere in america, 69,000 people spend every day answering them. siemens. answers. >> osgood: careful, they tell me. these beautifully crafted kitchen knives are very sharp. and very expensive. and made by hand by a stickaler for perfection. jerry bowen visited his workshop. >> reporter: welcome to the grinding, pounding world of hand made knives. where bob kramer has forged a distinguished reputation. how good are you at what you do? >> pretty good. pretty good. >> reporter: talk about understatements. the 51-year-old kramer is so good that his premium knives sell for $300. an inch. that's $2400 for your basic eight-inch chef's knife. his hand crafted blades so much in demand that the wait for one is 14 months and growing. pretty good for a guy who early in life struggled with dyslexia and what to do with himself. >> i bounceded around. it was a bit like a pinball game. i was trying to figure out how to fit in and what i was going to do. >> reporter: kramer worked as a clown in the circus. he took up sailing. he spent time as a chef and a traveling knife sharpener. and then one day he looked at knives in a whole new way as something he could make. >> i thought this is great. i'm hooked. this is a beautiful skill. no one can take it from me. this is a fra terpt that i wanted to belong to. thank you. hi, my name is bob and i'm addicted to knives. >> reporter: he not only belongs. he's a star. when he's not making knives, he's on the road teaching knife skills. >> i want to cut the skin off and then get rid of the core. so i'm going to use a narrower knife. >> reporter: and promoting his less costly retail line of kitchen cutlery. he's not just a knife maker but a master blade smith one of only 114 in the world. an honor earned after passing a rigorous examination by the american blade smith society, including forge being a variety of knives from raw steel and putting one of them to the test. >> i'm going to cut this rope with one swipe. hopefully. that's the first part of the test. >> reporter: severing a one-inch rope, chopping through a 2 x 4 and still having a sharp enough edge to shave the hair on his arm and then demonstrating the blade's flexibility by putting it in a vice and bending it 90 degrees without breaking it. >> 90 degrees, no breaking. >> reporter: for fun kramer threw in cutting paper and slicing water bottles. >> water, anyone? >> reporter: that was after he used the same knife to cut into a bolt. >> you can see there's no damage to the edge of the knife. >> reporter: kramer makes his knives up to five a week at his foundry and workshop on the edge of olympia washington with the help of one employee. producing his premium knives, the damascus steel blades involves fusing several grades of steel in a furnish ace running 2500 degrees hot. pounding the glowing mass into shape with a mechanical hammer. eventually cutting and grinding the blade into final form. >> it's tough. it's hard on your eyes. it's hard on your elbow, on your wrist. it's hard on your ears. you have to wear a respirator. this is very dirty environment. >> reporter: heirloom beauty forged in fire and revealed in an acid bath. >> this is basically like our developer. if we had a negative we'd put it in here to develop. >> reporter: what develops on the blade's surface are exotic random patterns that resulted from mixing the steels and compressing them into an incredible 400 ultrathin layers. each blade some 25 hours in the making is unique. >> i've spent three days before just forge welding and folding steel to achieve a particular pattern. >> reporter: later kramer adds his name. and a handle crafted from box elder wood and revels in the magic of this life he's carved out. >> i make knives so that people can enjoy using those tools to make food,& nourishment for their friends and family. it's great. >> reporter: for bob kramer, the greatest little show on earth. >> osgood: next, small wonder. and i was so tender to the touch-- but i didn't know why. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia. and then he recommended lyrica... fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of over-active nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is fda-approved to help relieve the unique pain of fibromyalgia. so now, i'm learning what a day is like with less pain. lyrica is not for everyone. tell your doctor about any serious allergic reaction that causes swelling or affects breathing or skin, or changes in eyesight including blurry vision or muscle pain with fever or tired feeling. lyrica may cause suicidal thoughts or actions in a very small number of people. some of the most common side effects of lyrica are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. do not drink alcohol while taking lyrica. you should not drive or operate machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. could your pain be caused by fibromyalgia? ask your doctor about lyrica today. the energy to get the economy humming again. the energy to tackle challenges like climate change. what if that energy, came from an energy company. every day, chevron invests $62 million in people. in ideas. seeking, teaching, building. fueling growth around the world, to move us all ahead. this is the power of human energy. chevron. >> osgood: not your typical thanksgiving fare to be sure. these sliders, as they're called are a satisfying meal to share all the time. before you dig in, you might want to share a quiet moment with your table mates. chef bobby flay and our own rita braver have thoughts on such matters. >> we just put them on the grill, smash 'em. >> reporter: burger maestro rich has lived by one motto. good things come in small packages. >> why are you smashing it down some. >> so they fit on the roll. >> so it's all about size. >> reporter: for 18 years, rich has manned the grill here at the white rose. his little diner in lyndon, new jersey. >> why are you showcasing the griddle? >> i like to some my handiwork. i want the people to see what they're eating. >> reporter: what they're eating are sliders, tiny two- ounce burgers that deliver heavyweight flavor in a feather weight package. they're called sliders because they slide right off the grill straight into your mouth. >> this is what your mother made you. it's not something you get frozen out of a box. your mother made you fresh meat hamburgers. this is what people want. >> reporter: to prepare his sliders, rich adheres to a rigid technique. smash, smother, toss, and cover.& the taste can't be beat. and neither can the price. >> the people who work and live around here are working people. for $5 they can eat lunch. throw a soda in and they have a decent lunch at a decent price. >> $5. this is the way to go. >> reporter: still restaurants like white rose are an endangered species. relics of an era when lunch counters served hand cooked meals to factory workers in between shifts. in the 1920s, sliders were popularized by white castle. starting in the midwest white castle grew into america's first burger chain. the word white symbolized cleanliness and purity. today white castle and krystal a slider chain across the south serve more than 800 million little burgers a year. >> ketchup? >> reporter: but for my money nothing can compare to the charm of an old-fashioned slider joint like white manna in hackensack, new jersey. >> these are not ingredients that are very compeling on the road. for some reason when you combine them it's something that is just so much greater than the sum of its parts. it is our national dish. >> reporter: burger blogger nick is the poet laureate of sliders. his guide to the slider grills of new jersey is essential read to go the internet's meat maven. >> what you're tasting here is you're tasting history. you're tasting a process and a technique that hasn't changed in 50 or 60 years. >> reporter: let's hold on to history literally. cheers. >> cheers. >> reporter: nostalgia aside sliders are finding new fans in restaurant kitchens across the country. there's no limit to the possibilities, whether it's tuna sliders, or asian pork and beef sliders. >> it's not the place i think about come coming for a burger. >> reporter: even in this temple to haute cuisine, sliders have landed on the menu. just be prepared to swallow a hefty price tag. $38 for two. >> it's one of our best sellers. >> reporter: really? the chef loads his sliders with the best money can buy. colby beef. truffle oil and, of course, fois gras. 20% fat here and 100% fat here. about 99%. >> 99% fat. >> reporter: yes. you do get fries with that. >> the bread, the meat, the garnish. everything is just incredibly first rate. it's like... you can't get any better than this. delicious. >> reporter: who would have thought the humble little slider can make it all the way to the big time? it's a true american success story. well done. >> it's one thing to see a priest at the altar preparing for communion. >> i'm simply going to add a little bit of vodka. >> reporter: but holy smoke! >> it lights up, all right? do not worry. i am burning the alka-hell out of it. >> reporter: this father is equally at home in the kitchen preparing penne al ka vodka. >> don't freak out but just in case the holy spirit is with us. >> reporter: how do you think that what you do as a priest translates to what you do as a chef? really as an entertainer? >> entertainer (laughing) my priest friends say i'm the hardest working priest in show business. i say, well, someone has to work there. >> reporter: that's right. show business. besides his duties here at the seminary at mount st. mary's university in emmitts burg, maryland.... >> if you're going to tell this story, make it authentic. >> reporter:... teaching future priests.... >> this is a powerful sign. it does speak volumes, does it not? >> reporter: and i got this from pop eyes because if you look at it this way, it's the pope, yes. >> reporter: father leo hosts a web and cable cooking show. grace before meals. >> i learned to cook from my mom. >> reporter: making meals was something his large filipino family did together. and there were his hungry student-priest days in italy. >> it became very expensive. we didn't have a lot of money so we cooked. >> reporter: how do you describe the style of cooking that you do? >> inspiration. god bless this food. >> reporter: but it was divine intervention when one of his parishoners turned out to be video producer tim watkins. >> we just kind of tested it out. he did great. yeah, he was a natural. >> reporter: father leo didn't just want a cooking show, however. >> lord, we ask you to bless this food. >> reporter: for him, grace before meals is a movement getting families to cook and eat together. >> cheers to the family. >> reporter: he's read all the studies. >> viva jichlt roma. if you want to reduce drug addiction in your teenagers, teen suicide, teen pregnancy plus increase your teenager's sath scores, the number one factor in all of that is what? a regular family meal. >> reporter: his cook book even lists topics to talk about at meals. and many of his shows are actually taped in family homes. >> it looks find of funky right now but it is going to be good. >> reporter: no wonder he has the blessing of church leaders like monsignor stewart sweatland. >> i think people are saying what can we do to strengthen our families and are looking for that, if you will, that extra that will make their families stronger. >> smell that. >> reporter: your faithful reporter kenneth chess says dishes like like turkey and cranberry stir fry are, well, heavenly. delicious. can i get another bite? oh, wow. >> that's the best compliment you could give me. i'm so glad. >> reporter: but this break dancing, martial arts practicing, cooking priest went big a few weeks ago with our bobby flay on the food network. >> you know who told me how to cut? mother teresa of calcutta. >> seriously? >>. >> reporter: guess whose fajitas wochb over the judges? but father leo takes all the attention in stride. >> that's what happens anyway in a parish. they all know the priest. all eyes are on them anyway. it's kind of easier since i don't have to see anyone falling asleep during my homil ychl. a lot of love went into it. penne a lavodka. the love is the vodka. no, the love is the grace. >> osgood: ahead. >> i deliberately make more than i want for one meal. >> reporter: frozen foods. another god send on a table for one. >> osgood: two views about a table for one. and later shedding some light on moon shine. america is strong and resilient. and we'll pull through these tough times, we always have. and the companies building the internet are leading this technology driven recovery. more than one hundred billion dollars in private investment over the last two years has spurred innovation, launching new online service and content and put more than three million americans to work. an economic success story. expanding and growing by building a smarter, faster, safer internet. broadband for america: it's working. (announcer) in america we don't just dream when we sleep. we dream twenty-four seven. we dream with our sleeves rolled up. our dreams are expressed in digits. they're made of steel. add those dreams up, that's free enterprise... growing our economy for the long-run. it's what we need to grow 20 million new jobs in the next 10 years. your dreams make the difference. american free enterprise. it's you. so dream big. >> osgood: much as we may cherish the idea of a big family dinner plenty of us know what it's like to sit at a table for one. martha teichner and then nancy giles explored two sides of the singular experience. >> reporter: your recipes are not that hard. >> no. but there are little tricks that i think make them good. >> reporter: that would, of course, be julia child. judith jones is the book editor who got julia childs "mastering the art of french cooking" published. >> this is the way you normally do this. >> absolutely not. >> reporter: and as anyone who saw the film "julia and julia" knows it was judith jones who came up with the title. >> mastering the art of french cooking. what do you think? >> i love it. >> we are making a skirt today. >> reporter: from her own time in paris and 50 years of working with great chefs, jones figures she's learned a thing or two about cooking. >> around 4:00 i think, what am i going to make for dinner. >> reporter: from losing her husband in 1996 and living alone. >> this is for you too? >> reporter: she's learned enough about cooking for one to write a cook book. >> i come home. you know, your house is dark. there's nobody there. but the minute i start cooking it comes to life because you smell good garlicky smell. you get your hands all nice and messy. a lot of pepper? a little pepper? after my husband died i didn't think i would find it much pleasure. i was almost afraid of it of the memories. but i love cooking. little by little i just started. i realized that this is something that we shared together. it was a way of honoring our life together. >> reporter: the recipe we're making involves smearing the meat with a paste made out of garlic, fresh ginger, salt and pepper. and then seering it for a minute on each side. just enough time, judith jones discovered, to sing one verse of "america the beautiful." ♪ america ♪ america, god shed his grace on thee ♪ ♪ and crowned thy good with brotherhood ♪ ♪ from sea to shining sea >> reporter: is that a minute? >> yep. >> reporter: by now it has to be pretty obvious that judith jones is not your average 85-year-old. she still works full time as senior editor and vice president at the new york publishing house knopf. here at her vermont farm, she also raises cattle. black angus and belted galloway. she tries not to get to know them too well. >> you don't have to back away. >> reporter: don't worry. we're not cooking one of judith jones's cows. >> one dish i love to make is.... >> reporter: we're taking what's left of the skirt steak and turning it into a completely different dish. >> and i chop these stems and all. >> reporter: the cook book calls for mushrooms, garlic, a shallot, red wine. >> just enough to moisten it. >> reporter: and nice soft just made bread crumbs. >> i deliberately don't use the word leftovers. i use the word "second rounds" or new incarnations. how about that? >> reporter: second round are jones's answer to anyone who says cooking for one is wasteful or too expensive. >> 25 minutes. >> reporter: while we wait, she shows me a great trick. perfect for cutting down recipes. >> not impossible to use a half an egg. it really isn't. all you have to do is crack the egg into... i use a little glass bowl so i can see what i'm doing. crack it in. shake it shake it, shake it. use your eye. >> reporter: simple. just like the meal judith jones and i are about to eat. when you cook for yourself, how do you feel? how does it make you feel? >> it makes me feel wonderful. it's a spiritual experience. >> reporter: to cooking. >> to cooking. >> reporter: and to eliminating the phrase "grab a bite" from the english language. cheers. >> reporter: this little can is the equivalent of a full serving of vegetables. when you're single, slumping down a can of this is so much more efficient than making a salad. i know. fresh vegetables are better for you but when you're on your own, you can't use all the ingredients right away. so things go bad. lettuce wilts, tomatoes get soft. cellery starts growing things. i mean it's all pretty grim. the same thing with fruit. a single banana works but a melon? you have to eat the entire thing or those fruit flies will come a-calling. frozen foods. another god send when you're a table for one. dumplings, tacitos. meat thingees you can pop in the microwave and you're ready in a jiffy. add to the main course the can of v-8 and, bam, supper time. i can't lie. sometimes i find myself at mcdonald's. but i'll force myself to get a mcsalad inset of a big mac in a pathetic effort to healthy. dig this. their salads aren't offered in any of their so-called happy meal combos so add an order of fries-- i can't help myself-- and it's like $8. i'm not loving that. see, i come from a large family so it's in my dna to buy bargains and huge portions. i'll instinctively grab the 20- pack of pork chops or dozens of chicken parts. but then when i'm at the regular supermarket, i see a package with two lonely pork chops and i think, who is the schmo who has to buy something so overpriced? then i realize i'm the schmo that has to buy the two overpriced chops and freeze one. me and mary tyler moore. when i order in, sometimes i'm so hungry that i'll eat the food right out of the container but i'm trying to change and take the time to spread out a place mat, put the food on a real plate and sit at my table. no tv. chewing slowly. a single civilized meal. and for a person who is used to eating a slice while weaving through the crowded sidewalks of manhattan, that's a triumph. ♪ you're going to make it after all ♪ >> do not rest your hand down on the surface. lift it up. that's your problem, man. >> osgood: coming up. the no nonsense cooking teacher. she's one tough cookie. big nighttime breathing relief... introduces-- drum roll please-- new breathe right extra. the only strip with an extra spring-like band, it's 50% stronger for congested noses that need extra help in opening nasal passages... so you breathe even better. and now get two free samples... and experience a better night's sleep for yourself. go to breatheright.com to try new breathe right extra. by changing her medicare prescription plan. all we had to do was go to cvs.com and use the free savings calculator. we learned that changing your medicare part d plan could save an average of $612. woman: we just entered my prescriptions, and it compared plans for us. it was easy to find the right plan for the prescriptions i need. your cvs pharmacist can help, too. come in today, or go to cvs.com before december 31st to find the best plan for you -- at cvs/pharmacy. there's more to cooking than simply preparing the food. sometimes it's all about preparing for life. jim axelrod shows us a master chef and teacher at work. >> reporter: frankford high school in philadelphia is no different than any other inner city school. you've got to be tough to get by. >> hurry up. get that jacket. a sweater off. >> reporter: but here the toughest dude in hall is a 64-year-old woman, and she's selling cookies. >> how about some cookies? >> reporter: meet will ma stevenson, culinary arts teacher. she can make the most demanding part of the day icing cakes. >> come on. let's go. get your jackets on. wash your hands. i expect them to respect themselves and me in return. i told you about wearing boots in my classroom, girl. when they come into my class they have to be on time. fix your jacket. look professional. they have to have the school uniform. no gum. no book bag. no hoody. no big earrings. you cut my class yesterday. were you in a fight? you have a black eye. had you been in school you wouldn't have been beat up. >> reporter: while the iron fist always seems ready to cuff her students in the back of their heads. >> you need some friends. >> reporter: the velvet glove is never too far away. >> oh, you are nice. i don't know about you. somebody has to tell them that they are number one. it's so good. this is exactly the way it's supposed to be. see how she went up. that's much better than mine. way to go, girl! that's what i tell them all the time. you are number one. this ain't no ghetto looking cake. don't even try to act like this is like you don't have some type of creativity. >> reporter: you seem like you could scare a paris island drill sergeant. and you also are sweet and loving. which is it? >> well, i guess i'm both. i guess i'm both. i don't know, honey. but you're doing good for being left handed. i set my expectations very high. i tell everybody you do not have the right to fail my class. you do not have the right. you have to come up to my expectations. >> reporter: as seen in the documentary pressure cooker. >> even when you don't want to.... >> reporter: her top expectation is for her kids to learn to cook well enough to win big scholarship bucks at the citywide cooking competition. >> when we walk into a competition, i know they're walking out with a lot of money. >> reporter: a lot of money. a classroom chart of last year's winners is designed to inspire this year's students. >> like $93,000. $81,000. $81,000. and $139,500. >> reporter: your kids last year end up winning $637,000 in scholarships? >> yes. >> reporter: that is a lot of money. >> thank goodness because they don't have any. they don't have any money. they need every bit they can get. >> reporter: two years ago, this student won $51,200. >> she came here four years ago from africa. >> reporter: she's now at monroe college just outside new york city and cooking at an upscale manhattan restaurant called ringo. >> if i had not taken her class i don't know what my life would be. there wouldn't be no chance of me going to college. >> you put the icing around. it's all going to come out the other way. it will be a sloppy mess. then i'm going to have to get on you. >> reporter: yes, willma is cooking up quite a story in inner city philadelphia sending dozens of kids to college who otherwise would have no way to go, by teaching them in her kitchen how to live their lives. >> you need smu friends, sweetheart. you're really going up the wrong road. okay. stay with me and i'll help you get on the right one. >> you cannot find her at every school. that's something that i'm proud to be part of. she's somebody truly believes in me and i look up to her as a hero. >> put the bottom border on first. >> reporter: such powerful word: hero. >> stop! stop! do not rest your hands down on the surface. lift it up. that's your problem, man. >> reporter: which is entirely lost on willma stevenson. >> you want everything in its place. what does that mean. >> reporter: she may be just yelling a bit too loudly to hear it. >> i never think about that. i really don't. i just don't. this is what i'm supposed to do. i'm supposed to come here every morning at 5:30 and i'm supposed to guide my students and i'm supposed to teach them life. not necessarily culinary arts. life. >> i love you. you love me too? (laughing) i've said it four trillion times. what does it mean? everything in its place. make sure everything is in its place before you begin. ♪ macaroni and cheese >> osgood: ahead >> osgood: cheesy does it when you're looking for a fast and low-cost meal to serve after all the turkey and leftovers are gone. serena altschul has the inside scoop. ♪ macaroni and cheese ♪ give me some please > it's a family favorite. creamy, quick, delicious, and, oh, so cheesy. whose mouth doesn't water over macaroni and cheese? it's the symbol of comfort food. >> i would have to say that it is one of the great comforting foods of all time. >> reporter: cheese expert clark wolf is an authority on this all american classic. >> it's one of those experiences at the table that actually is as good as an adult as it was as a kid. i mean, you remember being happy. you remember being with mom and dad. you remember it being crusty at the top and bubbly and waiting for it to come out of the oven. you remember all those things. >> reporter: although it says as american as, well, apple pie, the inspiration likely came from the british in the 1700s who mixed cheese with cauliflower. mac-and-cheese's big moment though came in 1802 when president thomas jefferson served it as a state dinner at the white house. since that day, the simple combination of macaroni, cheese and butter has been an american staple, especially during tough times. >> you know, we have reentered the macaroni and cheese economy. >> we're going to stir in our cheese sauce mix. >> reporter: kraft macaroni and cheese with its unique orange powder cheese became america's best selling brand during the great depression. >> in 1937 when kraft macaroni and cheese was first created it was one of our sales reps who put together a grated cheese along with the macaroni. >> reporter: eileen is with kraft foods. >> the idea of having both things together in one package was just revolutionary. >> reporter: while kraft's familiar blue box stuff has fed generations of familys, the cheesy concoction is now one of the hottest trends in food. from cook books to sleek restaurants. m macbar in new york city serves nothing but mac-and-cheese with 12 different flavor combinations. >> i'll have marguerita. >> reporter: chef mike ferraro puts a new spin on the old favorite. >> it's like a blank canvas. we can get creative and taste. a little bit of toe bass co-sauce. that's the best part is tasting all day. we top it with a lot of fontina cheese. >> reporter: more cheese. low cal? >> no. >> reporter: a little slice of heaven. >> exactly. >> reporter: the owner designed the very yellow restaurant as a tribute to the food he loved as a kid. >> everything about this concept from the logo to the design of the space to all the packaging to the t-shirts is meant to exalt macaroni. it's been very successful. >> reporter: so successful, mac-and-cheese has even made its way to fine dining. we tagged along with clark wolf to visit new york's ultraexclusive waverly inn. >> this is quite simple and delicious. >> reporter: where his friend chef john delucy makes perhaps the most opulent mac-and-cheese you could imagine topped with white truffles worth its weight in gold. >> how much was it? >> right now we paid, today we paid $1900 a pound. >> how much is this? >> that's probably $400. >> reporter: the dish isn't really on the menu. but word has spread. how much is the mac-and-cheese. >> $95. >> reporter: $95. and still about a third of the& restaurant's customers ordered the special. it seems even at that price mac-and-cheese is is as comforting as ever. >> osgood: ahead, the spirit of do it yourself. now a toast to moon shine. it's perfectly legal, i assure. moon shiners may not be quite as crazy as in times past, but their exploits still cast a spell. tracy smith now casts a light on the moon shiners then and now. >> reporter: the carolina piedmont is a place where traditions die hard. here among the rolling hills and pastures, you can still find a kind of untrameled beauty. you can still find a still. this is the business end and that's corn liquor. moon shine, the stuff of legend and the inspiration for a song by country artist matt stillwell. ♪ moon shine straight from a mason jar ♪ >> reporter: the term "moonshine" refers to spirits produced and sold without paying the taxes due, an illegal brew often cooked up by the light of the moon. sociology professor chris baker. >> at night it was much more difficult to see a fire. that ultimately often times made a difference between getting caught and not getting caught. >> reporter: these days you can get legal shine. this stuff, junior johnson's midnight moon is made by piedmont distillers of madison north carolina. piedmont's founder. is it really moon shine if it's legal? >> well, some would argue that the moon shine by definition is not tax-paid liquor. but ours is following original moon shine recipes. it's almost 100% corn. only difference i would tell you is that the license. otherwise it's 100% authentic. >> reporter: the taste is surprising. i mean it has the taste of cod virginia to it. >> and a little sweet to it, right? tastes a little bit of sugar. >> reporter: the heat is overpowering. there is a sugar to it. that's the corn. >> yep. >> reporter: corn liquor. the recipe comes from junior johnson himself. >> a lot better than what my father made. >> reporter: you didn't drink what your dad made. >> a little bit and got in trouble with it too. >> reporter: oh, yeah. junior's no stranger to trouble. he grew up making moon shine in the hills with his family. >> that's the only way they had really of surviving. it was either you make whiskey or you go hungry. >> reporter: but junior johnson's real talent was delivery. his legendary driving skills kept him ahead of pursuing law men except for the one time he was caught and sent to prison. in time junior and some of his fellow former boot legers became heros on the fledgling stock car race circuit. >> some of the major stock car drivers and moon shiners of the day went to world war ii. many of them learned to be mechanics. sometimes they worked on airplanes. sometimes they worked on tanks. when they came back from the war they started working on stock cars. they also learned how to transform the engines. and what they did during that period with those engines became nascar later on. >> reporter: junior johnson's story of a moon shiner turned race car driver inspired the 1973 movie "the last american hero." in many people's eyes junior really is the last american hero. but he isn't the last american moon shine maker. throughout the united states, there are illegal stills in operation to this day. they may look nothing like the old-fashioned wood barrels or copper kettles in the woods but the basic process is the same from the mixing of the corn and sugar mash to the collection of the final product. it's been said that there will be more moon sign as long as there are people who are proud of their heritage. because legal or otherwise, moon shine tastes like a tradition. all right. whew! >> was that a good holler or a bad one? >> osgood: still to come.... >> ten if all the.... >> osgood: the science of cooking. and later. >> what's this? just eat it and i'll tell you. >> reporter: easy as pie. >> reporter: just eat it? form e. ...new consumption and delivery models. form e. it's what? my cloud does email. lowers my energy bill. shares pictures. we collaborate on our cloud. i develop software in my cloud. i want a cloud that understands risk. ...compares patient histories... ...predicts traffic patterns. my cloud is... everywhere. my cloud is secure. simple. powerful. flexible. that's what we're working on. i'm an ibmer. let's build a smarter planet. let's take a look at the stats. mini has more than double the fiber and whole grain... making him a great contender in this bout... against mid-morning hunger. honey nut cheerios is coming in a little short. you've got more whole grain in your little finger! let's get ready for breakfaaaaaaaaaast! ( ding, cheering, ringing ) keeping you full and focused with more than double the fiber and whole grain... in every tasty bite -- frrrrrrosted mini-wheeeeats! didn't know i had it in me. >> it's a tv cooking show with quite a following. not least because of the good chemistry that lies behind its science-minded chef's every move. mark strassmann went to see alton brown in action. >> reporter: here's a different kind of recipe. take some food, any food really. add one film maker. mix well with a hot shot performer. and blend in a chef. voila! you'd be serving up culinary star alton brown. you're the magician now who is going to show me the tricks. what is in this place behind the scenes that nobody would think about but has been so well thought of? >> stay there. look into that oven. >> reporter: okay. >> everything in this kitchen has a hole in the back. this is a camera position for shooting through the oven. now we apply the heat. >> reporter: 47-year-old alton brown heats up the kitchen 14 times a week on the food network. >> moist, dry, tough and tender all working together. >> reporter: he's quirky and theatrical. >> came up with this character who is basically a version of another colonel that everybody has seen before. >> we got ourselves six cherries red as a blushing bride. we're going to put one of them right there. >> reporter: brown peppers his programs with daintyness, topical references. >> it makes popcorn specifically american. >> reporter: and wit. >> well, fast churning creates very large butter krystals. >> reporter: his current show is "good eats." it's hotter than burning oil. >> do we have your attention? >> reporter: it's all the name of his best selling fifth book. so he's cooked up a lot of fame without using what he considers a dirty word. the word is recipe. when you come up with recipes you don't call them recipes. >> applications. >> reporter: because? >> because it's applied knowledge. >> reporter: knowledge you'll never hear him dish over a white table cloth. alton brown is a blue-collar georgia boy. >> mechanics. we're just figuring out what's wrong, what needs to be fixed. how can we make it better? we work it out in our heads. we work it out on paper and we go do it. >> reporter: this isn't a kitchen. it's a garage. >> it's a garage. >> reporter: most famous tv chefs began their careers in a kitchen and rose like cream to the top starting with julia child. >> welcome to the french chef and the first show in our series on french cooking. >> julia's original show is still the gold standard. you know why? because never before or since has a show brought so many people into the kitchen. >> reporter: but brown took longer to find the kitchen. he was first a good cinematography working on movies, commercials and music videos. >> i'm a film maker who decided to go to culinary school. all i picked out was the fact if i didn't understand what was going on with every single ingredient i didn't qualify for like the lunchroom job at my daughter's school. >> reporter: in 1995, he graduated from the new england culinary institute. and stepped into television's kitchen with a different approach. cooking isn't an art. it's a science. >> the kitchen is a laboratory. everything that happens there has to do with science. it's buy ol gee. it's and at mow, chemistry, physics. >> reporter: but like any good chef, he knows presentation matters. i thought you said it was about.... >> i did say that. i did say it was the best damned cooking show. i'll stand by that. yeah, yeah. >> reporter: one of his shows took him by motorcycle in search of american road food. he almost became road kill as his cameraman recorded in this scary scene. >> i think i'll just rest here for a second. >> reporter: brown broke his collar bone so he gave up the bike and took a healthier approach in the kitchen too. >> a balanced diet may be the best medicine. >> reporter: he says he has lost 50 pounds this year. >> i was eating too much good eats. people consider that part of your job. you know, eat. and i did. >> reporter: because so many americans struggle with weight, did you feel in some way responsible for them? >> yeah. i can't be in people's homes and have an influence on them foodwise and be unhealthy. it's not right. >> reporter: so in his newest shows brown and his food are both leaner, like his newest application. >> you can get a little more flavor on to them while not loading them up on butter and sugar and things like that. >> reporter: one thing won't change. alton brown will always be cooking up something. more fun with the cooking or the television? >> i'm a film maker. that's all i've ever been. you know, martin scorsese makes movies about the mob. i make movies about food. >> reporter: eat hart, alton. >> osgood: nerk, hot dog! while i was building my friendships, my family, while i was building my life, my high cholesterol was contributing to plaque buildup in my arteries. that's why my doctor prescribed crestor. she said plaque buildup in arteries is a real reason to lower cholesterol. and that along with diet, crestor does more than lower bad cholesterol, it raises good. crestor is also proven to slow the buildup of plaque in arteries. crestor isn't for everyone, like people with liver disease, or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. simple blood tests will check for liver problems. you should tell your doctor about other medicines you are taking, or if you have muscle pain or weakness. that could be a sign of serious side effects. while you've been building your life, plaque may have been building in your arteries. find out more about slowing the buildup of plaque at crestor.com. then ask your doctor if it's time for crestor. announcer: if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. and no fruit is as versatile as our ocean spray cranberries. you can decorate with them, bake with them, even make holiday drinks, like our cranberry punch we call the festive sparkler. mm! festive. for all these reasons, we declare the ocean spray cranberry... the unofficial official fruit of the holidays. we'll probably get flak from the dates and figs. but no one can tell them apart, anyway. [ snickering ] for holiday tips and recipes, go to oceanspray.com. yet a lot of natural gas has impurities like co2 in it. controlled freeze zone is a new technology... being developed by exxonmobil... to remove the co2 from the natural gas... so we can safely store it... where it won't get into the atmosphere. exxonmobil is spending more than 100 million dollars... to build a plant that will demonstrate this process. i'm very optimistic about it... because this technology could be used... to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. ♪ >> osgood: hot dog lovers will go a long way to enjoy their favorite dog. mo rocca shows us just how far. >> reporter: have you ever been dying for a hot dog? so hungry, you'd track across mexico's sonoran desert to the town of aramillo the legendary birth place of a sonoroan style mexican hot dog ♪ i love to be an oscar meyer weaner ♪ > it's not so unlike its cousins north of the border all of them descended from the austrian weaner and german frankfurter which emigrated to the new world in the 19th century. but when the weeny went south, it took on a certain lat inch flair. el weeny. okay. the weeny is mexican bacon. but this party's only starting. the dog of sonora is is a fiesta inside. the mexican hot dog is chock full of farm fresh ingredients. in other words, (speaking spanish) >> reporter: but if you really want the whole enchiladas, you'll add other things. and this is chorizo in case you want pork sausage on your pork sausage. that's already wrapped in pork. do you guys have any lipitor that i can put on this? and this is my favorite. the starter edition. the jalapeno makes the difference. these ladies love their mexican dogs and didn't mince words about those gringo weenys. boring? which may explain why these latin dogs have jumped the border and taken up permanent residence in the usa in los angeles and in new york. and in tucson, arizona, the sonoran dog is top dog. daniel is mexican-american hot dog royalty. >> thank you. have a good day. >> reporter: he began selling hot dogs out of this 4 x 8 cart in tucson. >> i used to sell 1,000 hot dogs a day then. >> reporter: now he has two restaurants, plans to franchise, and a hot rod. is this your weaner mobile? >> yes, this is my mexican weeny, automobile. a mustang (laughing) >> reporter: greg introduced his girlfriend donna car to his spicy sonoran sausage on a date. >> that's how we started going out because of the hot dog really. >> reporter: and she was hooked. when you let her garnish your dog.... >> she knows what i like. after four years i think she knows what i like on my dog. >> reporter: not bad. the hot dog. the meal that knows no border. a link between north and south. in a bun. >> osgood: hungry for more? go to cbs news.com. did you know 40% of tooth surface is hidden between teeth... ...providing a perfect hiding place for bacteria? that's why aquafresh invented iso-active whitening. a breakthrough gel that transforms into an active foam. it not only protects between teeth... ...it removes three times more bacteria as it whitens. go beyond toothpaste. new triple protection iso-active whitening from aquafresh. amazing. you've always had them. dreams. at the hartford, we've helped you seize them... for over 200 years. protecting what you have today. preparing you for tomorrow. visit thehartford.com to learn more. and with the hartford behind you, achieve what's ahead of you. the hartford. insurance. investments. retirement. ♪ you know why i sell tools? tools are uncomplicated? nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch hose clamp pliers. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping is easy. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that's not complicated. come on. how about...a handshake. alright. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. >> osgood: the fast draw coming up momentarily. first let's go to bob schieffer in washington for a look at what's ahead on face the nation. good morning, bob. >> schieffer: the senate cleared the way last night to finally begin debate on health care reform. we're going to talk to the key senators in the dispute about whether there's a chance that it can eventually pass. >> osgood: thank you, bob. we'll be watching. our next question is, did folks used to beat better in the old days, make that the really old days. here are josh landis and mitch butler of the fast draw. >> you've got to eat something. and what is on the menu these days has never been more sophisticated. it has taken civilization thousands of years to get to this pinnacle of culinary achievement. >> but what have we left behind? okay. this guy is more likely to eat the family pet than cook dinner. but nutritionists say that he can teach us something about food. >> despite not eating all of the food groups that are recommended by the us dchl a food pyramid, these folks are very healthy. >> this doctor says if you go back to the stone age-- and we're talking 1 to 2 million years ago-- people beefed up on lots of protein. eggs. animals. anything running around. even bugs. and lots of veggies. levy greens. shoots. all kinds of nuts and seeds and of course lots of fruit. but what they didn't eat was just as important. no dairy. no refined sugars of course and surprisingly almost no wheat or starchy foods like potatos. for a pretty simple reason. you can't digest this stuff without cooking it first. they didn't cook too much. sorry. no fries with fat. >> researchers say this diet gave stone age people straight teeth, sharp eyes and spared them heart disease, stroke, and cancer. of course they didn't live as long. but the doctor says combining an ancient diet with today's technology is a recipe for long life. >> you take the best of their world apply it to ours and leave the worst behind. >> an early man's diet must have been working for him. one researcher says there's even evidence that as he chased down dinner, he ran faster than today's olympic athletes. >> throughout history civilizations have had a lot of different eating habits but just because they're old doesn't mean that we should follow them. let me show you what i mean. back in the no pole i don't knowic era they dug up ancient egyptian mummies and ate 'em. that's true. for centuries sailors thought they could live on dried meat and biscuits. but without vitamin c she got sick with skchlt curvy and the romans sprinkled on lead acetate. poison never tasted so good. >> consider that this guy's stone-age diet came long before all those culinary disasters, not all that bad. >> one thing is for sure. you've got to eat something. >> the fast draw on sunday morning is sponsored by... >> osgood: ahead, hope you saved room for pie. somewhere in america, there's a home by the sea powered by the wind on the plains. there's a hospital where technology has a healing touch. there's a factory giving old industries new life. and there's a train that got a whole city moving again. somewhere in america, the toughest questions are answered every day. because somewhere in america, 69,000 people spend every day answering them. siemens. answers. putting a delicious pie on your table on a regular basis can be as easy as pie or so our bill geist has discovered. >> down in round top texas there's a small cafe with a big idea. a cure for pie anxiety. friends, do you toss and turn at night worrying about where your next pie is coming from? well, worry no more. royer's cafe has announced a revolutionary new program called pie for life. >> that's good stuff. >> reporter: which guarantees you'll receive a freshly baked pie every month forever. this will be a big pie day. >> everyday is a big pie day here. >> reporter: you'll enjoy the same pie that bud the pie man royer serves to flocks of fancyiers making the pilgrimage to his pie palace. >> this is delicious. fabulous. >> the only sweeter than the pie is bud. >> oh, you're sweet. >> i do a chocolate chip like a big cookie. i do a pecan that is not overly sweet. a butter milk, a butter scotch chip is like the sleeper on the menu. we do an apple with cherry pie. we do a blueberry with granola topping and strawberry rue bash are a granola topping and then i have the pumpkin. >> reporter: wow. >> is that all mine. >> that's all yours. >> reporter: pie enthusiasts wolf down lunch desperate to order dessert. >> pecan. and butter milk. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: suddenly comes an onslaught of pie. >> that's awesome. >> reporter: bud applys a 50 crept surcharge if you don't have ice cream on your pie. >> you have to have ice cream on pie. it's just wrong if you don't. it's a matter of principle (laughing). >> reporter: this all started back in 1987 with bud using grandma's recipe to make a couple of pies a week. >> not my grandma. it is an old family recipe just not my family. >> reporter: how many pies do you think you sell now? >> during the week we'll sell a couple hundred pies just out the door here. >> reporter: that's 10,000 pies a year. he sells thousands more by mail order. how can one man bake that many pies? he can't. most are made in houston these days using bud's recipes, of course. >> pie is the fountain of youth. >> reporter: he hopes to sell thousands more with his pie for life program. an annuity plan that guarantees high-end perpetuity. let me think about it. how much must all that pie cost? >> use your calculator. >> reporter: the price varies according to the customer's life expectancy as determined by actuarial tables and pie charts. >> you know it has to be a win- win. the win for me is i get the money from you now. you probably are going to die early. the win for you is you'll get the lower inflation. >> reporter: no one has figured the effects on life span of eating all those pies. i've been crunching some numbers here. >> the rest of your life once a month one-time check. one-time fee $6,869. >> reporter: that's quite an investment. but who can really put a price on piece of mind? or for that matter a piece of pie. do you think this is a good deal? >> for me, yes. >> reporter: (laughing) not for you. for me. nobody has signed up yet but bud is certain they will. >> when you figure what he charges per pie it's not a bad deal especially if you live to 80 or 90 years ol it's not a bad deal. it's only money. you can't take it with it. i'm thinking about it. >> reporter: what's this? >> just eat it and i'll tell you. >> reporter: bud is betting i'll only last another 180 pies. >> it's to die for. it really is. >> reporter: a sobering thought realizing that each of us has a finite number of pies left. >> pie for life. >> reporter: so we should enjoy every bite. >> doesn't that sound wonderful. >> reporter: i love it. >> we leave you this sunday morning before thanksgiving s with a cranberry bog in west barnstable massachusetts. >> osgood: i'm charles osgood. we wish you and yours a beautiful and bountiful thanksgiving and hope you'll& join us again next sunday morning. until then, i'll see you on the radio. ( piano music playing ) by putting an end to paper medical records, we have ushered health into the digital age. saving lives, sometimes when seconds count. managing chronic conditions. making amazing new discoveries. and, oh yes, saving a lot of trees.