"Don't be overly ambitious. Don't go for the chateaubriand for your first time. Work your way into things. Good results will encourage you to keep cooking."
Five tools a kitchen needs
1. Tongs. Preferably locking tongs. They should be long enough to keep your hand away from spattering skillets, but short enough that they're easy to maneuver. Try the OXO 12-inch stainless steel locking tongs ($12.99).
2. A set of cake pans. You do a lot of things in a cake pan if you don't have a full set of cookware.
3. An enameled, cast-iron Dutch oven. They're heavy, they last a lifetime, and when you make your first pot roast, you may find yourself addicted to cooking for life. Try the Lodge enameled cast-iron 6-quart Dutch oven ($60).
4. A fine-mesh bowl sieve. They're more useful than colanders with big holes, and they double as flour sifters (easier to clean than a sifter, too). Try OXO Good Grips double rod strainer ($22).
5. A really sharp zester from Microplane, which costs $13 to $15. They're easier and faster than getting out a big box grater. Parkhurst uses hers to grate garlic: "It will melt into a dish when you grate it. You get the essence without crunching into bits."
Five cooking do's
1. Decide how you will organize your recipes before you have a big, messy pile of torn-out recipes you'll never use. How you organize isn't as important as having a system.
2. Clean as you go. It saves a lot of time, and cooking is more fun if you don't have a disaster to clean up when you're done.
3. Find a really good cook who will let you hang out, watch closely, and ask a lot of questions.
4. Read recipes all the way through before you start - no matter how big a hurry you are in.
