Weddingbee boards

Cast iron is great for dutch ovens and pans. They are heavy as can be, so I don't use them for a lot of oven baking. For cakes, pies, casseroles, I use ceramic.

Depends on what you're cooking. Glass can be great, same with ceramic, but the definite benefit of cast iron is that it can be cooked on the stove top and transferred to the oven. Cast iron heats slowly, but once it's hot enough, it provides you with even heating. Good for searing and whatnot because it's even. Glass can shatter at too high of temps, but honestly you'd have to take it from the freezer and put it in a very hot oven to shatter. I use glass all the time. It does make a difference though.

I bake quite a bit and come from a family of bakers!  I'd recommend glass baking dishes for dishes like lasagna and casseroles.  Older vintage glass baking dishes are less likely to break because they are made of a better quality of glass.  (This may change because they just recently realized that this was a problem!)  A stoneware baker can be good for breads and some types of chicken... they are good for crisping.  Don't purchase non-stick cookie sheet, cake pans, or muffin tins.  They will be more likely to wear out quickly because the non-stick wears out.  A plain heavy duty stainless steel cookie sheet will last a lifetime!  I have noticed that the plain ones are more expensive, but I know that they are worth the price!  (Just another point in their favor, non-stick items have been known to cause health issues!)