Jeff Barillaro, aka Soldier Hard, raps about his time in Iraq, his thoughts on war and how it changed him.

A lot of you are getting ready for the big game Sunday. Super bowl 45.  You invite friends over and now you've got a dilemma.  Do you go just "chips and dip" or full out?

Well, we thought we'd help.  We asked chef Gary Donlick... Executive Chef at "Bistro Niko" here in Atlanta... to show us how to make a few super quick dishes for your Super Bowl crowd.

Here are the recipes he gave us.

(1) Lemon-garlic shrimp with Provencal tomatoes

2 lb                  Large Shrimp, peeled & deveined

3 tbsp              Garlic, minced

2 each              Lemons, zested & juiced

¼ cup              Olive Oil

1 tsp                Kosher Salt

1 tsp                Black Pepper, ground

Marinate shrimp. Place on wooden skewers. Sauté or grill for 2 minutes per side, until cooked.

Makes about 35 pieces

Provencal Tomatoes

3 tbsp              Olive Oil

1 cup               Onion, sliced

1 each              Red Pepper, sliced

2 TB                Garlic, minced

2 cup               Tomato, chopped

1 tbsp              Thyme, fresh, chopped

¼ cup              Sherry Vinegar

¼ cup              White Wine                

2 tsp                Sugar

1 tbsp              Capers

1 tbsp              Olives

1 each              Orange, zested

To taste           Kosher Salt

To taste           Black Pepper

Heat olive oil in large sauté pan; add onion, peppers and garlic. Sauté until tender, about 5 minutes, add tomatoes. Cook for just 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Season to taste.

(2) Chicken Taco Roll-Ups with homemade guacamole

10 each             Flour Tortilla, 8 inch

4 each              Chicken Breast, boneless & skinless

3 tbsp               Vegetable Oil

3 cloves            Garlic, minced

1 tbsp               Coriander seed, ground 

1 tbsp               Paprika

2 tsp                 Ancho Chili Powder (or chili powder)

1 tbsp               Kosher Salt

1 pinch             Cayenne Pepper

Cut chicken in uniform strips, lengthwise. Place in mixing bowl; add vegetable oil, garlic and spices. Toss to coat well.

Cut flour tortilla in half. Place chicken inside and roll up to form a cigar. Secure with wooden skewer or tooth pick.

Heat oil in large sauté pan or deep fat fryer to 350 degrees; fry each taco until golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Trim ends & cut in half, serve with guacamole and your favorite salsa. 

Makes 20 pieces

Guacamole

5 each              Avocado, diced

2 to 3                Limes, juiced

½ small             Onion, diced

1 each              Jalapeno, seeded and diced

1 each              Tomato, diced

1 bunch             Cilantro, stems removed and chopped

                        Kosher Salt (about 3 large pinches)

Cut avocado in half around the pit. Remove pit. Score each half of avocado while in skin. Try to make in a diamond pattern. Remove from skin with a spoon.

Place in mixing bowl and add tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, cilantro; then season with kosher salt and lime juice.

Very important: taste if you can not taste the salt. Add more. If you can not taste the lime juice add more.

(3) Smashed red potatoes with bacon croutons

15 medium        red skin potatoes, washed and quartered
1/3  cup            sour cream
2 tbsp               butter
¼ cup               Sharp Cheddar cheese, grated

½ cup               Colby cheese, grated

½ cup               Green Onions
To taste            Kosher Salt

To taste            Black Pepper, fresh ground
Thick cut bacon (or slab bacon) cut into 1/4 inch pieces.

Bring some water to a boil. Salt the water fairly heavily after it has come to a boil- add potatoes.

While the potatoes are cooking, start cooking the bacon. I suggest bacon lardons, cut from slab bacon (if available). Cut into ¼ inch sticks, place into sauté pan with a ¼ cup of water over medium high heat, to get them started cooking.  The water will evaporate and render some of the fat from the thick cuts. Cook until crisp, golden brown and delicious Place on paper towels to drain. Reserve.

When the potatoes are fork tender, reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid and drain the rest. Return the potatoes to the pan they were cooked in and put them over medium heat, stirring to prevent sticking. Drying the potatoes out will result in a better tasting potato. Add the butter and stir until melted. Take the potatoes off the heat and add in the sour cream and cheese. I smashed them with the back of a wooden spoon. If the potatoes look too thick, add in some of the reserved cooking liquid. Adjust the seasoning to your preference. Cover the potatoes to keep warm until the pork is done.

Serve sprinkled with sliced green onions, coarse ground black pepper and bacon croutons.

One school principal wants students to be a bit more like "Urkel."   

No baggy, no saggy, no underwear showing.  And a principal in Memphis, TN is holding up Urkels as an example.  In fact, he's turned "Urkel" in a verb.  As in "if your pants are sagging, you're getting "Urkeled."  Staff members walk the halls with zip ties.  If they see saggy pants, the student gets "Urkeled."

"You slide it over, take out the remaining slack," teacher Shaka Greene told our affiliate WMC.  "It's almost impossible to get it off."

We want to know what you think.  Is this school doing a good thing?  Write a comment below and Kyra could read it in our 10 o'clock hour.

The FBI is warning law agencies to be aware of a new Barbie doll that has video recording capabilities.

Here’s the deal.  “Video Girl Barbie” has a video camera and microphone concealed as a necklace.  It also has view finder in the back so kids can record their playtime and post it online. 

See the concern now?  Sex offenders and child predators could find the videos online and the mini camera could make it easier to secretly film child pornography.  To be clear, the doll was released in July and there haven’t been any reports of it being used inappropriately.  Still, the FBI thinks it enough of a threat that it warned police investigators in a memo last month. "The possibility of the combination of these two in a single device presents a concern for investigators," said the alert, dated November 30.  It goes on to say that "law enforcement is encouraged to be aware of unconventional avenues for possible production and possession of child pornography, such as the Barbie Video Girl.”

The toy maker, Mattel Inc., released the following statement regarding the FBI memo: "The FBI is not reporting that anything has happened. Steve Dupre from the FBI Sacramento field office has confirmed there have been no incidents of this doll being used as anything other than its intent. Mattel products are designed with children and their best interests in mind. Many of Mattel's employees are parents themselves and we understand the importance of child safety - it is our number one priority."

What do you think?  Could the Barbie pose a threat or has it been taken out of context?  Leave us a comment below and Kyra could read it on air in the 10 o’clock hour.

If you have no idea what "quidditch" is, I can pretty much guarantee your kids do!

It's the big "hogwarts" sport from the "Harry Potter" series. Wizard jocks on broomsticks take it very seriously. And so do real people - they just play a bit closer to the ground.

CNN's Josh Levs got the 101.

They've been called the greatest generation. The more than 16 million Americans who fought and won World War II.

When they returned from the war, they never asked for honors. So by the time the World War II memorial finally opened in 2004, most veterans had passed away. Of those still with us, few thought they'd ever make it to the memorial in Washington.

But there's a program that wants to change that. It's called Honor Flight and they have one mission: To fly as many veterans to see their memorial as possible...for free.

Word of the program eventually found its way to 83 year-old Weyman Owens.

When the United States entered into the war, Weyman wanted to join but his parents wouldn't let him. So he waited for the draft and at 18, he was called into service. He joined the navy and eventually found himself in the Central Pacific, working in the engine room of the U.S.S. Fall River. "I went to the Kwajalein islands. That's where we did two atomic bomb tests. I was onboard for both tests," he recalls. "The first was dropped onto a fleet of ships, the next was blown up from beneath them."

After the tests, Weyman was sent to Japan where he witnessed the destruction left behind from the nuclear strikes at Hiroshima. "It was hell," he said. "I had a little Japanese camera and took a lots of pictures. At least a mile from where they dropped that thing, buildings made of wrought iron were just twisted and torn to pieces. A church, torn all to pieces. Everything just blown to pieces. You don't want to see that. You don't want to see anything like that. Nothing I've ever seen compares to that."

When Weyman returned home, he tried to keep the past - well - in the past. Then one day his friend gave him information about Honor Flight. But Weyman didn't want to go. The memories from overseas still haunted him to this day. "I took it home but I didn't call. I said I don't want to go. Too many memories." But his family was persistent and he finally agreed to go.

He was accepted onto a flight out of Columbus, Georgia with a group of 90 other veterans. The September flight was one of much anticipation, and a little fear. "I need to accept it. I think I'm old enough, man enough, seen enough and done enough that I can go."

Once in DC, he silently made his way around the memorial, finally stopping at its wall of stars. He paused to remember the 448,000 who died in the war and the countless others for whom the memorial was built too late. And in the shadow of the wall that honors the fallen, the ghosts of the past were silenced and the weight of that moment sunk in. "I didn't go in to service to have a memorial. I went in for something else, not a memorial. But its beautiful, it's worthwhile, and it's something to be proud of."

Just when he thought his day couldn't be any better, a chance encounter. 82 year-old Charles Harmon just happened to be in DC, with an honor flight group from Oklahoma. And there, near the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, two former comrades caught up on the years that had passed.

"I never dreamed that I would run into this fellow. I was proud to see him. More than proud to see him!" Weyman said as he reflected back on the day. "I enjoyed the trip. I loved the trip. If I went tonight, I have a lot to be thankful for."

Click here to learn more about Honor Flight.

Watch 80 year-old World War II Army Veteran Chris Maurer react as he sees the memorial for the first time.

Did you hear this story out New England? Comcast suggested a spike in the number of automated campaign robocalls may have jammed phone lines in New Hampshire, causing a temporary service outage in areas of the state

We wanna hear what you think! Tell me if you've gotten a bunch of robocalls this election year, and if they've ever swayed your opinion. Maybe getting a robocall is a deal-breaker for you. Leave your comments and Kyra Phillips will read some of your robocall stories in the 10am hour of CNN Newsroom.

Talk about "firing up" late night television!!! HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" pushes the envelope with one guest lighting up what appears to be a joint. On Friday, "Hangover" star Zach Galifianakis went on the show to talk about marijuana legalization, then shocked everyone when he reached into his pocket, grabbed what looks like a joint and lit up!

As he offers it to another panelist, she declines but confirms his doobie is the real thing. After laughing about it, it got us to thinking. Can you really do that on TV?? Without fear of prosecution??

I want to know your thoughts on this. Do you think the incident helps or hurts the prop 19 initiative or will it have any impact at all? Leave your comment here and we'll share some of the best responses in our 10 o'clock hour.

In a country that embraces democracy – the diminishing turn-out makes you wonder.

Think about it. Can you guess the biggest election this century? Obama vs. McCain in 2008? Nope. Carter vs. Reagan in 1980? Think again. It was Nixon vs. JFK in 1960! And only 64 percent of eligible voters came out to the polls. So what’s a nation to do to get more people to vote? What if – like jury duty, paying taxes, and signing up for the draft – voting was mandatory? And skirting your civic duties means you’re slapped with a big, fat fine. It’s a suggestion being toss around right now.

Tell us what you think! Do you think voting should be mandatory? Post your comments and Kyra Phillips will read some of your responses during the 10 o’clock hour.

A Yale fraternity is under fire for a pledging ritual. It’s not what they did, but what they said. The potential pledges of Delta Kappa Epsilon’s Phi chapter marched through Yale’s campus chanting rape-trivializing phrases such as "no means yes, yes means anal." Oh… did I mention most of the first-year female students are housed in the area where the fraternity performed this stunt? Some students were offended. The Yale Women's Center Board was livid. Then the story took off when the Yale Daily News posted the video on youtube and it went viral.

So here's the thing. A forum was held. The fraternity apologized. Pledging activities were suspended and that seems to be the end of it.

We want to hear from you. Does the punishment fit the crime? Should Yale come down harder on DKE and those involved? Tell us what you think. Kyra Phillips may read some of your comments on during the 10 o’clock hour of CNN Newsroom.