Week 5: Spain

What I've learned after doing this for the last five weeks is that this is the one day each week that I completely look forward to!  I always knew that I enjoyed cooking, but having this project that involves the kids and gets everyone excited about what ends up on the dinner table makes it so much more than just trying some random new recipe that I hope everyone enjoys.  I love doing the research into the region-specific cuisine and figuring out how best to represent that at home.  I love shopping for these items that I wouldn't be buying except for these recipes.  And best of all, I love making and creating and trying all these wonderful new foods.  Truly the best thing I've done as a mom, as a homemaker, for me... in a long time.

So... onto Espana!  The kids have been speaking in only their broken, limited Spanish vocabulary all week.  I have loved every interesting conversation.

la cena

Dinner:  Gazpacho, Tortilla de Potatas, Paella
Dessert:  Flan

I attempted a gazpacho nearly 14 years ago.  It was so terrible that it took until now for me to attempt it again.  I don't really know what I did especially wrong back then, but this time around, I did it especially right!  I made the gazpacho two days ahead so that it could sit in the fridge and let flavors mingle.  So how did it go over?  My husband, the littlest and I loved it.  The other two rated it on a scale of 1 to 100 at right around 48.  Not really sure what they didn't like about it... I'm already looking forward to the leftovers!

Gazpacho

The paella was maybe the most expensive dinner that I've ever prepared, thanks to the hugely elevated price of Spanish saffron... holy cow!!  Was it worth it?  Oh yeah.  It had such a unique and lovely flavor.  It was a hit with everyone.

Paella

As much as everyone liked the paella, it couldn't even come close to the tortilla de patatas.  Seconds and even thirds were consumed by some.  It was the obvious favorite of our Spain meal and so simple... potatoes and eggs.

Tortilla de Patatas

What was left.

I was also looking forward to finally trying flan.  I have wanted to try it for years, but have been afraid based on certain other's opinions.  Yes, I was absolutely afraid that I would mess it up!  It was perfect... perfect spongy goodness.  The eldest seemed fixated on it's spongy texture, but never stopped eating it. 

The finished flan... perfectly lovely.

My slice.

Interesting Facts:
- Spain's king is Juan Carlos.
- The population of Spain is 40,397,842.
- Spain did not participate in either the first or second world war.
- In Spain's universities, there are more women than men.
- The people of Spain eat lunch at 2pm and dinner at 9-10pm.
- Madrid is the capital of Spain.
- Spain's currency is the Euro.
- In Spain, hot chocolate is thick like pudding.
- They have a tooth mouse instead of a tooth fairy in Spain.
- The area of Spain is 194,898 square miles - slightly more than twice the size of Oregon.
- The languages of Spain are Castilian and Spanish.