Equipment

The two pictures above show some of my batterie de cuisine though certainly not all of it. My favorite pan is a versatile 4-quart saucier pan. You need a 6- or 8-quart stockpot to make pasta and some kind of skillet, preferably nonstick if you're making eggs. An 8-inch nonstick skillet may be enough to start, but you'll eventually need a stainless steel 12-inch skillet or straight-sided saute pan. It's helpful to have covers that fit all of those pans. All-Clad is the best, but Tramontina is a good budget option for all of the pans.

Of the other stuff in the pictures, not much of it is essential. In the picture immediately above, you definitely need a balloon whisk, a silicone spatula, and a set of measuring spoons. The Microplane is useful for grating things like hard cheeses (like Parmesan), chocolate, ginger, and citrus fruits.

Some essentials not shown in the pictures include a colander for draining pasta, wooden spoons, tongs, cutting boards, mixing bowls, and some good knives. To start, you can get away with just an 8-inch chef's knife, a small paring knife, and a serrated knife. (And once you have a good knife, be careful not to ruin it.) A box grater is useful, too, if you're going to be grating a lot of soft cheeses (like Cheddar). You need a 13-by-9-inch casserole dish if you're going to make baked ziti or Uncle Clint's Mac and Cheese. Pyrex is fine if you're on a budget, but if you have more to spend and want a nice serving piece that cleans up easily, go for Emile Henry. Freshly milled pepper is best, so a good pepper mill is very useful.

Baking requires a lot more equipment. You'll need a loaf pan, a muffin tin, a baking sheet, a cooling rack, a square pan for brownies, and a pair of cake pans if you want to bake a layer cake. A springform pan is more of a luxury, but you need it for things like cheesecake and plum cake. If you're planning to make a lot of cookies, it's also nice to have cookie scoops, especially a #40 scoop, and silicone baking mats or parchment liners for your baking sheets. You probably need a 2-cup liquid measuring cup, and the Oxo mini measuring cup is very useful, too. You can decide if you need dry measuring cups, though we've established that a kitchen scale is absolutely essential, right?