Gallery: This Week at Serious Eats World Headquarters

Kenji is spending the beginning of the year with his in-laws in Colombia. He and Adri stopped on the side of the road on the way from Bogotá to Quimbaya for some lunch. On the menu? Bandeja Paisa, Colombia's answer to the Full English Breakfast and a specialty of the area around Medellín. This particular plate with fried pork belly (chicharrón), chorizo, morcilla (blood sausage), fried ripe plantains, minced beef, beans, rice, an arepa (Colombian corn cake), and some avocado is only a half-sized portion. It all gets washed down with refajo, a refreshing drink of Colombiana soda mixed with beer.

Though Kenji dearly misses his pup Jamón at home, his 1 year old nephew Sebastián makes up for it a little. How does Sebastián let Kenji know he wants to play with the tire? By making his universal "that's a vehicle" noise: brrrm brrrrm!

The mountainous regions around Bogotá are all about hearty soups, and sancocho is one of the heartiest. It's made with potatoes, green plantains, starchy corn, and yuca simmered with beef ribs, cilantro, and chicken in broth for hours. It gets served with these light, almost watery Colombian avocados and a bowl of ají, a pico de gallo-like sauce made from tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro.

Kenji had one real goal during his stay in Quimbaya, a town west from Bogotá across the giant valley that separates two of the main cordilleras in Colombia: find some awesome chorizo. He got his wish late one night. This woman was grilling onion-packed chorizos over a charcoal flame, the raw sausages hanging in her cart picking up the smoky flavor of the sausages cooking below it.

Lechona—crisp-skinned roast pig stuffed with peas—can be found all over Colombia, but its epicenter is in Espinal, in the valley southwest of Bogotá. How do the roasted pigs get delivered to the restaurants? By taxi, of course.

Back in the office, Tracie set up a random number generator to select our holiday giveaway winner. Check your inbox!

Never enough pasta, right? This week, Niki recruited Max to help out with some more fresh pasta tests.

Look how much fun he had!

Max is a natural.

Some people make New Year's resolutions to eat more vegetables. We just want to eat better fried chicken. Look out for Daniel's killer Maryland fried chicken recipe next week. Just ask Leandra how good it was.

Next week on Serious Eats: ALL THE MEATBALLS! We'll be sharing delicious recipes and some picks for delicious meatballs in New York and around the country. Yes, a lot of meatballs were eaten in the making of this animation.