Eggs & fish (nonstick pan): caphalon saute pan
Soups: large stock pot from williams sonoma
Stews: le creuset
Braising: heavy all clad all piurpose pan
Steaks/chops: dont make
Basic Saute pan: calphalon or allclad with copper bottom
Deep Fry pan: never deep fry
Covered sauce pans (1 qt & up): all clad. I love their saucier
9" Square baking pan: pyrex cant be beat
11" X 15" (approx) baking pan: french enamel
Meatloaf/bread pan: some heavy metal thing bough at target ages ago
Misc. can't be without equipment:non stick: colanders, strainers, a light weight wok or maybe two, and an upright, a a good size fish poacher

For eggs - an inexpensive Calphalon non-stick from Target
Everything else up to the deep frying pan - Copper with tin
lining
Deep Fry - cast iron wok (which I like so I don't have to use so much oil)
Covered sauce pans - copper SS lined saucier with copper
universal lid
Grill pan - Cast iron for steaks, chops (sometimes a copper
skillet)
Bread/meatloaf pan - Glass Fire King, shallow copper
roaster
9" square pan - Heavy commerical steel pan (for brownies)

Round cake pans are also tin lined copper, which make the most even cakes I've ever baked. (The copper heats so beautifully and is so responsive, I don't mind occasional maintenance.) Wouldn't be without my aluminum half sheet pans with wire racks, and a Turkish, tin-lined copper wok that I use for many things, including popcorn.

Thank you dayenu and Claire_de_Luna for your responses!

Claire, your collection sounds wonderfully eclectic and interesting :o) I love the look of copper!

dayenu, I can't wait to check out All Clad and Le Creuset in person. I love my little Pyrex 9" square pan too.

Most of my pieces consist of whatever was on sale at the time of purchase. It will be such a treat to seek out quality cookware. I'm on a budget (aren't we all?), but I actually enjoy searching for the best bargain. :o)

My all time favorite frying pan is a scanpan. I've used it every day for nearly a year and it looks like brand new. Cleans up like a dream and nothing sticks.

Rosieo, I've been keeping my eye out for scanpan also.

So far I've bought a 10" Calphalon non stick fry pan from Target :o) Works like a dream for breakfast eggs.

Also received a Staub enameled cast iron 5 qt French/Dutch oven from QVC. Wow, that's one heavy piece! Will try it out tonight.

At TJ Maxx, I found some nice bakeware by Le Creuset for a good price. Looks perfect for scalloped potatoes or casseroles.

...Off to epicurious.com for a recipe ;-)

Eggs & fish (nonstick pan): Claphalon non-stick/hard anodized 10" skillet
Soups: Sam's Club/Member's Mark tri-ply clad 6 qt. stockpot
Stews: MSE enameled cast iron Dutch Oven or Komar cast iron Dutch Oven
Braising: Sam's Club/MM TPC large sauteuse/all purpose pan
Steaks/chops: the grill or Sam's Club/MM TPC large sauteuse/all purpose pan
Basic Saute pan: Calphalon hard-anodized saute (not non-stick) or Sam's Club/MM TPC saute pan
Deep Fry pan: don't deep fry
Covered sauce pans (1 qt & up): Sam's Club/MM TPC or MSE tri-ply clad saucepans 1 qt, 1 1/2 qt, 2 qt, 3 qt, 4 qt
9" Square baking pan: Pyrex or MSE glass pan
11" X 15" (approx) baking pan: Enameled baking pan that was my moms
Meatloaf/bread pan: Oldie but goodie heavy metal loaf pan bought ages ago
Misc. can't be without equipment: baking sheets, wire cooling racks, assorted size muffin tins, popover pan, wire whisks, old steel wok, mezzaluna and wooden bowl.

Scanpan try Tuesday morning.

There are a lot of good suggestions here already - but I have THE BEST meatloaf pan from William-Sonoma. It has an insert that allows the fat to drip out of the meatloaf! It is non-stick and is the easiest thing to clean. It is larger than the standard pyrex one I have - and also works perfectly sans insert for baked goods like zuchini bread, etc. You should try it!