Susan Lucci's daytime character, Erica Kane, may be larger than life and accustomed to drama, but the All My Children actress is sweet and sentimental when it comes to the holidays. "When I think of Christmas, I think of my family," she tells Rachael. "I love Christmas. I love to celebrate everything in life. I decorate the house, I decorate outside, inside, and I am big on presents."

One of her favorite holiday memories involves her grown daughter, Liza Huber, also a soap opera actress. Susan says that when Liza was 7, she doubted the existence of Santa Claus, so Susan sought some help to revive his reputation. "I found this fabulous Santa in Lord & Taylor -- he had a great big voice and he was an opera singer -- and I asked him if he made house calls and he said yes," Susan explains. She had him run past the living room window saying "ho ho ho" and he gave a convincing performance. "And I got one more year out of Liza believing in Santa," Susan says.

Now the star keeps the holidays alive in her home through her decorations, including a favorite centerpiece. "I have these small Italian silver vases and I stuff them with the red and pink roses and I put them on the table next to these large Venetian glass candlesticks that my husband gave me for my birthday one year," Susan says. For a simpler version, she and Rachael fill wine glasses with rose buds to be placed around the table for a holiday meal.

Susan also brings her husband along to meet Rachael. While his wife does the decorating, he's usually in the kitchen. "I do all the cooking," Helmut Huber tells Rachael. "Usually it's some Austrian specialties for the holidays like goose which is a favorite one of ours, sometimes baked ham."

He also plans to cook for Susan's birthday which is a few days before Christmas, although it will be tough to top last year. "The most special thing in the whole wide world happened last year on my birthday, December 23rd," Susan says. "We didn't expect it, but my daughter had her first baby, Royce, little baby boy on my birthday!"

Related Links

Susan Lucci's Official Website