I took this knife home and cut paper-thin slices of tomato. Why buy an expensive block set if you're never going to use a boning or filet knife? I use this knife for 95% of my cutting. If I didn't already own this, I would consider (much cheaper) Victorinox Vibrox chef knife.

If I had to have just one nice pan, it would be this one or the 5-quart. Works great for little saute-pan jobs and the high sides make it do wonderfully for one-pot dishes. I'd be happy with a fairly cheap stock pot and other pots to afford this pan! I was worried to switch from non-stick, but have had no serious troubles with sticking or cleanup. Buy some Barkeeper's Friend.

Because the saucier lids are metal!

You gotta have one non-stick pan for eggs, right? Make it this one and you can do Nutella crêpes, too! I also like a pan like this for pancakes and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Good and large for big jobs. Has a smaller bowl for little jobs. Very well recommended all around. Refurbs available.

What a work horse! A little too big for mixing a little cake mix, but great for mashed potatoes, buttercream icing and the like.

No more rusted sifter. This one has bottom and top lids. So, you can add flour without flouring what you don't want to flour like when you set the thing down! The lid is great if you need to store in it.

I have at least three of each size. They're good for mixing and the lids make them good for storing, too. Having duplicates instead of several different varieties makes for efficient storage.

Same as Cookwise.

The KitchenAid one is too short if you're doing to actually manipulate and cut dough with it, not just use it for cleaning the bench.

I have one of these for bread flour and one for all-purpose flour. One holds more than a ten-pound bag. If you bake a lot and have the space to store these, they're wonderful.

I love that these have no rim. Can even be used a as a pizza peel.

Never ever buy the vinyl ones sold at some department stores. They are made by Wilton, but they're terrible. If you need to save money, even the disposable ones are better than the vinyl. The featherweight are wonderful. Don't scrimp on size like I did initially. Get 10 or 12 inch ones. The 16 inch is HUGE. I only use it for the frosting tip.