These four long weeks of winter break have endowed me with more than enough time to binge on marathons of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. His witty tongue and candidness, his willingness to immerse himself in various cultures (whether it be exploring Jamaican caves in the midst of two million bats or searching high and low for the best chicken rice in Singapore)--all of this has earned my respect and loyalty. At first, I expected Bourdain's food stops to be extra ritzy for some reason; however, quite the contrary, he seems to be more concerned with street vendors, shedding light on food that's downright flavorful, culturally intact, and totally unpretentious. Follow Bourdain on the Travel Channel.

Side note: I've been looking for red velvet recipes, and wasn't too pleased with the Duncan Hines "just add water, eggs, and oil!" version. It just came to my attention that Williams-Sonoma sells Sprinkles cupcake mixes in chocolate, lemon, vanilla, and...red velvet! Life is good.