Gingerbread cookies. Christmas is all around in our house

Yes, Christmas has arrived and I love it. Some people don't and I wonder why. Perhaps they had a bad experience in their family and they carried it on; or someone died around that time and it brings them sad memories. Anyhow, if there are children in the world, there will be always a reason to celebrate Christmas. We become children like them for a few days!

I have been singing "I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes…"by the Troggs since the 3rd of November, just after Halloween. We have been enjoying in the Philippines the lights, the sparkle and the carols for almost 7 weeks. 

By the time Navidad has finally finished on the 1st of January and the plastic trees are back to the box until next year, you are over it. Our appetite will need a rest after so much indulging our stomaches with succulent meals and many will start crazy detox programs as one of the 2014 goals: "To be healthier". It won't be in my goals, that's for sure, but I must recognise that it is very healthy to detox your body at least once a year. I am not brave enough to starve myself.

Most of us will have one centimeter extra in our hips. Thank goodness someone invented Spandex for those who have to fit into the pre-Christmas jeans. An image of the movie of Bridget Jones crossed my mind, when she was in her bathroom getting ready for her date with her boss David, trying to pull up her Spandex-knickers with a cigarette hanging from her mouth. 

My final day of Chirstmas will be the 6th of January or el Dia de los Reyes Magos. I am extremely excited to show Aurelia her very first cabalgata in Madrid. We will miss Nick and Gabriel very much, as they have to stay in Manila, but sometimes life is about making the right and wise choices even if it hurts a bit.

How do we live Christmas in the McCaffrey- Tolmos family? With lots of enthusiasm and excitement, as it should be this time of the year. We also have a new member, baby Juanan, so another important reason to celebrate. As we have three young children dreaming of Santa Claus, presents and not quite a white Christmas, the house is fully decorated to keep them animated until the 25. 

• Farol: outside of our main entrance there is a big Filipino farol that it turns on and off some beautiful lights in orange, orange and green. The nuns of Paranaque gave me this gift last Christmas.
• My driver told me that before 1985 Philippines had just faroles for Christmas, until the Chinese started to include the tree, the lights, and all the small adorns.
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• Belen : we have a traditional Filipino pesebre and one from Argentina. I should go to the Plaza Mayor this December to get a Spanish belen too! I am ashamed I don't have one yet. In general, Spanish families are proud of showing a fully decorated Belen and some are alive with real water pretending is a river and real musgo. There are even competitions between families to win the prize for the best belen.

• Craft: made by Aurelia and Gabriel in   LIFE preschool, where Gab goes now.The children make lots of beautiful Christmas decorations to take home. When you come into our house,  they are displayed on the wall, around the belen and our Christmas plant. To welcome you with a nice espiritu Navideno.

• Stockings: I don't remember having one when I was little (maybe because we were too many children in my family and my parents thought of the expenses...fair enough!), but I like them now. We all have one with the name embroided ( these kind of handmade luxuries are cheap to order here). As you notice in the photo,  we have 5 stockings which will be filled up with some little treats such as chocolates or stickers.

• Tree: I love lighting the tree when the sun goes down and when I get up early in the mornings and it is still dark. It is on the corner of our dinning room and it makes the whole house in a very cozy atmosphere. It has got some crystal balls in silver and red and also handmade stars, snowman and hearts that I bought in the American Women bazaar.

• Carols at the Vatican is a nice background to have and of course, the Villancicos Populares of Spain, by the children of San Idelfonso school.

And of course, two special treats to eat: 

Cinnamon, bananna and yogurt cake (I used the same recipe of my post of "Healthy banana muffins" but adding 1 cup of plain yogurt and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon). 

My driver kindly brought us 5 kg of bananas of his uncle's plantation in Bulacan. They were the sweetest bananas I have ever tried, and not only because they were naturally like that but also because Frank carried them all the way to our house, just for us. 

Gingerbread of Matthew Evans. It is the best recipe I have found, not only for rolling but also for eating, at least for me. Aurelia took 24 of these biscuits to the classroom to share but only 5 of the children liked them! I leave it to you to try the recipe or not, but in any case, it is nice to make them with the whole family involved as a part of the Christmas cliches!

Makes 20

• 60g unsalted butter softened
• 120g caster sugar
• 125g golden syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 350g plain flour mixed with 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, sifted or whisked in a bowl

1. Cream butter and sugar until pale using an electric mixer. Add the syrup, spices and 1/2 tsp salt.
2. Stir in flour and bicarbonate of soda until just combined. Add 60ml of water and knead together to make a stiff dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 190C. Working in 2 batches, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface, turning every few rolls so dough stays evenly sized, until dough is 4mm thick. Cut into shapes and lay on oven trays lined with baking paper. Bake until the biscuit starts changing colour.
4. Cool on the trays until firm, then transfer to wire racks

Note: I made two batches to have always extra in the freezer and straight into the oven for busy afternoons.

Feliz Navidad from the five of us, the McCaffrey-Tolmos family!