December 16 Newsletter

The Daughter Who Grew Up on Crème de Vie (And Didn’t Realize It Was Boozy)

My mother is famous for one thing: her crème de vie.
Literally “cream of life.”
After one sip you’ll understand the branding.

Let’s get this out of the way:
Don’t you dare call it eggnog.
Eggnog wishes.

My mom learned the recipe from her mom, my grandmother Nena, who made it during the lean years using a half-and-half mixture of Spanish sidra and rum. It was a budget-friendly miracle.

Later, my Aunt Emilia upgraded to only rum, which my mother insists is the superior version. And yes, every Christmas in my house involved the silent, highly political debate:
Who made it better?
My mom or Emilia?
I stayed neutral because I loved both. Plus I didn’t realize until adulthood that I was sipping cocktails as a child.

The ingredients explain a lot. The two main ones are leche condensada, (sweetened condensed milk which I can eat straight from the can) and eggs, which I could basically survive on if the world ended.

Every year, sometime after Thanksgiving, my mom would enter crème de vie mode. This meant a trip to Pier One Imports (the holy land of her era). She’d glide through the aisles picking out airtight glass bottles. Then came the red ribbon from Diamond’s (the Michael’s of its day,) because every bottle needed to be dressed for the season.

Back home, she would calculate her batch like a chemist.
The bottles became gifts for friends, family, and occasionally our teachers.
To this day I can’t believe she was out there handing out alcohol-laced holiday cheer. But it was a different era. If a fourth-grade teacher got a little tipsy on her lunch break thanks to my mother… well, Merry Christmas.

But the part I remember most was the topping.
Cinnamon? Nope. That was for rookies, my mother implied.
The true magic was nutmeg. The finishing touch that made you feel like you were drinking a hug.

Even now, after raising my own kids, I only need one sip to be transported right back to those December days , watching my mom pour her heart into her bottles, the house smelling like sugar, and me standing there with my tiny cup, letting the sweetness take over my whole mouth.

It wasn’t just a drink.
It was a moment, a season and a memory wrapped in a red ribbon.

Absolutely the cream of life.

In this edition:

🎉This Week on WGN: Hostess Gifts That Need an Intervention🎙️

Some people bring a bottle of wine to a holiday party.
And some people… like Bob… think that’s the peak of creativity.

Meanwhile, I’m over here gently explaining on live radio that showing up with a grocery-store Cabernet gets the job done, but no one is happy.

So this week on WGN Radio, Bob and I tackled the burning question of party season: How do you avoid being that guest with the world’s most predictable hostess gift?

We broke down the new rules of hostess gifting, what not to bring and the completely unexpected things people actually love receiving.

🍶 Creme de Vie (AKA: Don’t You Dare Call It Eggnog) 🔥

If you’ve ever mistaken crème de vie for eggnog, bless your heart — you’re about to be corrected. This Cuban holiday nectar is in a league of its own. I grew up drinking it with my mom while she prepared bottles of it as gifts… only later realized it was, um, not alcohol-free.

A tiny sip goes a long way, mostly because it’s powered by sweetened condensed milk, my personal weakness and the reason I could never survive a sugar detox. It’s rich, decadent, and tastes like bottled joy.

🥃 The Short Glasses I Absolutely Can’t Live Without

If crème de vie had a soulmate, it would be these glasses. These Tuscany Stackables are everything I want in a kitchen essential: timeless, gorgeous, and shockingly practical. They stack like a dream and the shape is flawless. Elegant enough for guests, sturdy enough for everyday sipping.

They come as a set of six, which is perfect! These aren’t just glasses. They’re a holiday tradition waiting to happen.

Step Inside My Savvy Holiday Shop 🛍️✨

I’ve rounded up all my seasonal favorites—the kitchen tools I actually use, the gifts I’m giving (and hoping to get), and the little festive extras that make this time of year easier, cozier, and a lot more fun.

Think of it as your holiday backstage pass to my must-haves, all in one place and just a click away.
Come browse, get inspired, and maybe discover your next can’t-celebrate-without-it obsession.

What if your debt balance isn’t actually fixed — and no one ever told you that?

Some people are cutting what they owe by thousands by letting professional negotiate directly with creditors. We looked into it (with healthy skepticism) and the numbers surprised us.

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That’s a Wrap!

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’Til next time—

If you’ve got a family recipe, pass it down now. (With extra rum.)

xo, Marianne