Too Many Toasters

I mean, say you want to register for a toaster. You go to the Bed, Bath, & Beyond site and look up toasters—and get this.

Image via Bed, Bath, & Beyond

Four pages of toasters—and with fifteen on each page that's over forty-five toasters. For people who have really specific tastes, this is probably awesome. Lots of choices! Customize your toaster! Heck, if you want you can get this toaster at $339.99.

Image via Bed, Bath, & Beyond

Not only does this toaster have four extra-wide slots and an insulated stainless steel body, it has an auto shutoff and apparently a bell that rings when the toast is done.

To be honest I was just looking for a toaster that, you know, toasts bread. Like you put the bread in and a few minutes later it pops out warm and browned?

Obviously, this was just an example. I could have proven my point with cookie sheets or blenders—and don't even get me started on flatware. There are just so many options! I know how to cook and actually enjoy cooking, but up until now I've either cooked out of my mom's kitchen or out of my fully-equipped kitchen in my furnished apartment. I didn't have a brand preference and really had no idea what I even need. Basically, I was overwhelmed.

I started with bridal registry checklists from sites like The Knot, Real Simple, and Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Although I definitely don't agree with all the items on these checklists—ahem, I've never heard of anyone registering for a snow blower before?—it gave me a good starting point. I was able to look through the items and come up with basics of things I needed. It was easy to see "Oh, I need to register for a vegetable peeler, ice cream scoop, etc." while disregarding the things I wasn't interested in—such as a bar cart or patio furniture.

So I have a basic registry, but just like Miss Mongoose talked about last week—how do you know how many items to put on? Is it really two per guest?

I know I need to add at least a few more items. Right now I have basic kitchen utensils, cookware, etc. But tell me: Is there anything I need to have? What do you use most in your kitchen? Anything you didn't register for that you wished you had? What about the other way around?