Answer:
The basics and a few nice to have items:
- Several good cook books and a collection of "family" recipes.
-Bowls, various sizes - to mix and or combine ingredients in, hold bread dough while it rises,
- Measuring Cups & Spoons - you will need both dry (these come in a set of gradated sizes) and wet (1 cup and a 4 cup)measuring cups. -dry you fill and level, wet are transparent with gradation marks. Spoons come in a set with gradated sizes, it is handy to have more than one set.
- Baking pans - square, rectangular and round cake pans (several sizes as recipes vary), pie plates, cookie sheets (more than one as you will need lots), muffin tins (big and small), a pizza pan, specialty pans (a bundt cake pan, a tube cake pan, loaf pans large and small, etc.)
- A hand held mixer - for blending, mixing, whipping, creaming, etc. (a counter-top mixer with various beaters and attachments is wonderful, but not an absolute necessity)
- Spatulas - for scraping batter out of bowls.
Some of the less common and/or very handy things you might like are:
- A pastry cutter - to cut lard/shortening into flour for pastry
- A pastry brush - to apply melted butter to baking
- A rolling pin - for flattening pastry, and some cookie doughs
- A whisk (or several of different sizes) - to whip egg whites, cream, some batters and zibagioni.
- Cake decorating basics - an icing knife or spatula, and an icing bag & decorative tips.