Six knives is all you'll ever really use. This one is great for peeling and coring.

An essential knife. Make sure you always hand wash (and immediately dry) your knives. And for the love of pete, don't use them to open the mail! FOOD ONLY! :)

If you don't do a lot of tomato or small sandwich cutting, you could probably get away without this one and just use your bread knife in a pinch. But I really do like this knife.

If you don't get these, get the $125 Kirkland (I think) set at Costco - it got the highest Consumer Reports rating!

I use my pyrex measuring cups daily. The ones with lids are an interesting option, but in my mind that's just more storage. Make sure you register for a 2-cup, 1-cup and 4-cup.

Unless you are a family who subsists mainly on rice, you don't really need all the bells and whistles. I have a 10-12 year old Panasonic that is still going strong.

I like my crock pot, but have always wished it was more oblong than tall. This should do the trick!

Choose your favorite color!

You can go fancy and expensive with the enameled cast iron stuff - like Le Creuset - but this is your basic stuff. The nice thing about enameled cast iron is that you don't have to worry so much about cooking acidic foods and ruining the patina.

Never buy Pam again!

I inherited many of my parents' South American wooden spoons, and they're really all I cook with. They're so much more aesthetically pleasing than plastic!

The nonstick part isn't as important (you should always use your Silpat or parchment paper!) as the double layered sheet. The cover is nice as well.

This will be my next kitchen purchase! An immersion blender is so very much nicer than transferring hot soup to your stand blender or food processor to liquify!