can you actually recommend a set on amazon?

actually if you put an affiliate link at the bottom of your post you might get some $$ out of it!

While I think eating at home every meal is a great idea, most people today including myself would probably find it difficult to learn from your good example.

I like the idea of a cooking class, but if that’s not affordable (time-wise or money-wise), get a cooking maven to give you free lessons.
My fried Leah is a professional chef. She has let me tag along in her home kitchen.
Likewise, other good cooks have also let me hang out on their apron strings.

I enjoy your blog!

So test drive the equipment at a department store and see what feels right. I own a set of Calphalon pots and pans. I’m not certain why we choose this brand over all the others, but I must say I really love them. You can clean out sticky messes in seconds.

Once you try out the equipment do some research to find the best prices. I often find great discounts for cookware and cutlery online.

any particular brands you reccommend for nonstick?

Unlike the knives my husband and I have used all of our pots and pans. We probably have about 6 or 7 in total. If you’re in the market I would definitely suggest trying to find cookware with interchangeable lids. Lids never stack easily in drawers and cabinets, so the less you have the better.

Knives are put in sets when a couple are good and the rest are bad. Usually, you only need 2-3 of the ones in the set, but end up paying 10-15% more for knives you won’t really use. Also, don’t use a wood block, use a knife safe: They’re more sanitary and easier on the knife. (They’re little plastic snap on guards that don’t hurt the blade and are dishwashable).

Pots and pans should be different for a good reason: you cook different foods in them, that need different behaviors from the pan.

For instance, you don’t want your pasta pot to match the pot you make gravy in. You want a low, heavy pot for making gravy, possibly a cast iron skillet. For making pasta, you want a HUGE aluminum pot to give room for the pasta and to dilute the starch and to quickly transfer the heat to the water.

I cook complicated meals a lot. Pot sets are in general not worth the trouble. In my experience, you need:

One huge aluminum pot for pasta
One cast iron (or coated cast iron) pot for meat/searing/gravy
One non-stick skillet for eggs and other sticky things
One tall pot for simmering stews
One heavy dutch oven for frying, sauces, chilis and beans. (I like the coated ones here).
One 2-qt Nonstick saucepan
One 3-qt Nonstick saucepan

You don’t even need lids for all of them. Get a small and large “universal lid” and a tightly fitting lid for the 2 or 3 qt saucepan. You need that one tight fitting lid to make certain dishes, such as fudge and steamed carrots.

This is 7 Pots and 3 Lids. You won’t ever find this assortment in a set, but you get it, and you can cook most anything. Not so if you get something like a set of T-Fal or even a set of All-Clad. You’ll be hurt by the uniform nature of all your pans, unable to get the ideal way to cook something.

When you’ve used the above enough, I suggest a nonstick electric fryer with a thermostat (They work well for making sauces too). You can easily make a family-size portion of scrambled eggs, hashbrowns or bacon in this beauty.

Lastly, a nice convection toaster oven

Convection toaster ovens don’t make very good toast, at least not as good as stand up toasters. However, they cook things much faster than your oven, and don’t heat up your whole kitchen. This is very important down here in the south.

Convection toaster ovens do well: Pizza Baking, English Muffins, Roasting Veggies, Baking Meat, Casseroles, Gratins, small batches of muffins, roasting nuts (home made snack mix!) and even heating up things like french fries and TV dinners if you still find yourself buying those.

Make sure its a CONVECTION toaster oven. The ones that aren’t convection are worthless.

I am currently using an Avante from T-Fal for my convection toaster oven. (Beware, there is a non-convection one that looks mighty similar). There are cheaper convection models available for <$50. –Michael

We seem to make most meals in an extra large iron pan. I cook everything in the pan at once. Depending on the meal, I either cook it on the stove, or in the oven, or both. Our meals in a pan are meat, mixed frozen veggies, seasonings and some liquid. Sometimes I’ll add rice. It lasts about two days, depending om whether I eat some for lunch. We eat off dessert plates so we don’t super size the meals. Trying to lose some weight!

I love your blog.