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I love brands like Calphalon and Le Creuset for most of my basics. All-Clad also makes gorgeous cookware. I love their stainless-steel lines.

Materials
Here's a quick breakdown of the most common cookware materials:

Aluminum: Aluminum is lightweight and conducts heat well, but it can also dent easily and react with food unless it's been anodized. Anodized, or "hard-anodized," cookware is harder than steel and extraordinarily durable--making it a popular choice for a lifetime of cooking. If you're interested in low-fat cooking and easy cleanup, you might want a few aluminum pans with nonstick coating.

Stainless steel: Favored for its durable, attractive, and nonreactive qualities, stainless-steel cookware usually comes with a copper or aluminum core to improve conductivity. Stainless-steel cookware is easy to maintain and resists scratching, denting, and warping.

Cast iron: Cast-iron cookware is incredibly durable, long lasting, and great for browning, frying, braising, stewing, slow cooking, and baking. As a rule, however, it requires a little extra maintenance. While most cast iron is the traditional black, enamel-coated cast iron is also available and adds color to your kitchen. The enamel coating also makes for easy cleanup.

'Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 12-Inch Everyday Pan with Lid' This is a great pan for so many things! I love to use it for stirfries and meat dishes with lots of sauce.

'Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 8-1/2-Quart Saucier with Lid' This is a huge pan and essential for making big pots of soup, or braising meats. You can saute veggies first, then sear your meats, add liquid, and simmer with the lid on. It also goes in the oven.

'Calphalon Commercial Nonstick 10-Inch International Griddle/Crepe Pan' This is one of my favorite pans. It's so easy for a quick quesadilla or grilled sandwich. The nonstick surface is superb.

'Calphalon One Infused Anodized 5-Quart Sauté Pan with Lid' Calphalon One is Calphalon's newest line. It cooks like hard-anodized, but cleans up like nonstick. A large, straight-sided pan like this has so many uses.

'Calphalon Contemporary Stainless 3-1/2-Quart Saucepan with Glass Lid' It's important to have saucepans in a variety of sizes, and it's great to have lids for all of them. I love stainless steel for my saucepans. They're nonreactive, so you never have to worry about leaving acidic sauces in them for two long. Plus, they don't discolor, and look pretty on you potrack.

'Calphalon Contemporary Stainless-Steel 2-Quart Chef's Pan with Glass Lid' Two-quart is a great size for warming up leftover soup and cooking small amounts of vegetables.

'All-Clad Stainless 1-1/2-Quart Windsor Pan' I like having a really small saucepan. This Windsor pan features straight, flared sides, making it easy to reduce sauces as well as pour them into serving pieces without a big mess.

'All-Clad 12-Quart Stainless Multi Cooker with Steamer Basket' This pot is wonderful for making huge amounts of stock. The steamer basket comes in handy for steaming veggies, tamales, and more.

'Calphalon Contemporary Stainless 8-Quart Stockpot with Glass Lid' This is a great pot for boiling water for pasta.

'Le Creuset 5-1/2-Quart Round French Oven, Red' I love this French oven. It's so pretty and versatile. Cook on the stovetop, then switch to the oven to finish the dish. The enamel coating makes cleanup a snap. Note that this is one heavy pot!

'Le Creuset 10-1/4-Inch Skinny Round Grill, Red' Grill pans are fun if you like to grill veggies or sandwiches indoors in the winter. This one can be used on the stovetop or in the oven. Plus, it's awfully cute!