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Yes, the holidays are drawing near which means casual gatherings and holiday dinners. Whether you entertain a lot or a little, having a well-stocked home can take a lot of the stress out of party planning.  So I have done all the work for you.  Being proactive rather than reactive (I say this to my kids a lot) is the key to making the most out of the upcoming Entertaining Season. 
​I also selected accessories that are versatile and can be used all year round.  Tans, creams, and touches of metallics, making it easy to incorporate new themes throughout the year; whether adding touches of orange and yellow leaves in the bud vases, or incorporating berry sprigs in the tall vases- it will be easy to swap out the seasons with this shopping list (click on the images below to purchase)

​My Must-Haves For Holiday Entertaining:

• Vases and floral arranging supplies.  Keep this as simple as possible.  
• ​Tea light or pillar candles (real or battery operated) for ambience
• A few different music playlists — mellow for during dinner and something livelier for before and after
• Fresh soap, hand towels and a stain-removal stick in the powder room
• Wineglasses and cocktail glasses for a crowd, if using
• Set of cocktail tools
• Ice bucket and tongs
• A console or side table for the bar, with bottles, openers and glassware gathered there

• Enough flatware and dishes for the number of guests
• Enough chairs (and table space) for the number of guests
• Chargers, if using
• Glassware, including water glasses for the table and extra wineglasses
• Tablecloth and backup tablecloth in case of spills
• Cloth napkins — one set each of cocktail napkins, dinner napkins and dessert napkins
• Napkin rings, if using
• Candleholders with unscented candles for the table
• Low floral arrangement for the table — try bud vases clustered on a tray, or a soup tureen filled with one type of flower cut short
• Boards, platters and trays — these workhorses can be used for everything from cheese plates to dessert
• Serving bowls in various sizes
• Large serving spoons
• Lidded soup tureen and ladle
• Large salad bowl and tongs
• Several trivets, to protect your table
• A nesting set of classic white oven-to-table casserole dishes
• Cake stands — for cake and other desserts, fruit or appetizers

Did I miss anything? Share your own entertaining essentials in the Comments!

This Slow Cooker Beef and Potato Au Gratin is an easy from-scratch hearty meal!  I am a HUGE fan of the crockpot, so finding easy and yummy recipes is something I do weekly when I plan our dinner menu for the week.  My family loves potatoes au gratin as a side dish, so this recipe is even better because it's a delish main dish!

I knew that the potatoes would need some heavy seasoning, so I went heavy with the salt and pepper, but also added garlic powder, paprika and parsley. The potatoes go in the slow cooker peeled, though I don’t mind skin on for most recipes this one tastes great with or without.
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How to make Beef and Potato Au Gratin:

You will need these ingredients:
* Ground beef
* Russet Potatoes (peeled, and sliced)
* White onion (thinly sliced)
* Paprika
* Garlic Powder
* Parsley
* Salt
* Pepper
* Shredded Cheese
* Beef broth


Directions:
1. Brown ground beef on the stovetop, add salt and pepper to taste.

2. Peel russet potatoes and lay them on the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker.

• In a small bowl combine the paprika, garlic powder, parsley, salt and pepper.
• Add half of the potatoes in the slow cooker. Sprinkle over half of the onions, half of the seasonings, half of the meat, and half of the cheese. Repeat the layers again.
• Drizzle over the broth.
• Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours. 

How To Serve-

• Serve as a main dish.
• To complete the meal add a green salad or steamed green veggies.
• Enjoy!