Trying to cook Spain

After 5 months in Spain I have learned how to cook exactly 5 dishes; chili, general tso's chicken (which are both not Spanish dishes), a salad (chickpeas, cheese, lettuce, and imitation crab), a pincho (bread, pepper, eggplant, and jamón serrano), and prawns with grilled vegetables.  Basically, I've got some work to do, but it's OK, I enjoy cooking.

The experience has been made exceptionally better by a cook-by-committee system.  We have began a wonderful "family" dinner program once a week.  Now this is a great idea if you have adventurous friends.  We have one friend thats allergic to kiwis and another friend that only eats chicken, rice, onion, pepper, or pasta with curry powder.  However, we get past that with a lot of wine and alcohol to make us more adventurous.

The best part about Spain is that food is cheap, so when we mess up, its not a big deal.  Moreover, thanks to Top Chef, we are able to try to cook any dish we see on top chef.  Eggplant, prawns, breaded things, and "pair" them with a 2 euro wine.  Most of our creativeness comes from not having a working oven, which evidently can be "replaced" by a microwave.   The truth of the matter is that most "traditional" Spanish food comes pre-made in either a can or a bag.  Tortilla...bag, Cocido...can, pinchos...bag/box combo.  Even though it seems as though cooking traditional dishes is a useless skill of the past, I'm sure we'll continue to perfect authentic Spanish dishes.  In other words, for those of you who are coming to visit, you won't starve.  Stay tuned...

Basic Spanish
Cocinar: to cook (verb)

Advanced Spanish
el alto, la baja: OK to return to work, excused from work

Basque
galleta: cookie

British English
Crazy golf: Miniature golf