Essentials of a Sandwich Maker

With the caveat that some are more essential than others, ingredients that I find are commonly part of good sandwiches:

Bread:
A solid but not-flashy whole wheat. Trader Joe's is good, also the more rectangulary one from a regular grocery store is also very good (oroweat? no, i think its the cheaper one than that).
Trader Joe's 7 grain ... the one with flaxseed and 6 other seeds
Fresh Baguettes
Other premium bread? open to suggestions

Condiments:
Mayonnaise. If you know me, you know I love mayonnaise. It's actually a little frightening. But don't worry, only one sandwich can I think of that is just going to be bad without the mayo. Generally, just leave it out if you don't like it. I'm sure it will still be fine.
Yellow mustard (French's). Most of the time, it is your best choice for mustard.
Other mustards. For variety (French's brown, Grey Poupon, honey mustard, etc.)
Really good salsa. The best is Emerald Valley Kitchens (thanks, Al!), which in California seems to only be available at Wild Oats. And now that they've been bought by Whole Foods, who knows. (There's a rumor that Mother's has it... in my experience, Mother's has their other stuff (bean dips, i think) but not the good stuff!)
Sandwich dressing. in that little squirty bottle
Cranberry sauce. Haven't quite decided on the best choice here. Surprisingly, Ocean Spray really is better than store brands. But i'm not sure whether to go whole berry or jellied.
Black pepper grinder. Totally key. I can't think of a sandwich that doesn't get a healthy dose of freshly ground black pepper.
Salt. Definitely less essential than pepper, but a salty tomatoey sandwich is pretty darn nice.

Veggies:
Just-the-Leaves green leaf lettuce. Nothing ruins a sandwich or salad like watery lettuce. Solve this problem by buying Trader Joe's pre-washed lettuce. Tip: when you open it, it will keep for more than a week but will get dry and limpy. Solve this problem by putting a few tablespoons of tap water in the bag. It will mostly go to the bottom and not make your lettuce too wet, but it will keep it moister.
Tomatos. Tomatos are key. I like heirlooms or anything from a friend's garden. In winter, i don't really see any point in buying expensive tomatos; they're all equivalently mediocre, so just get the roma tomatos. In summer you might want to go beefsteak. Also Japanese tomatos are really nice, low acid and super sweet. They have a weird color but are wonderful.
Sprouts. Trader Joe's sells pre-washed alfalfa sprouts for like $.79 for a week's worth. Totally worth it. And I use my increasing collection of containers for everything. Especially good as cereal bowl.
Avocado. If you're like me, you have a love-hate relationship with these little beasts. I can never get hard ones to ripen right, so i usually buy them when they are a day or a few days from being ready. The little ones in a bag tend to be a better deal for a single person like myself.
Green Onion. Finally, a new addition to the "essentials" list (added 23 Sept 2007). Nice onion flavor but with many fewer side effects. Wash it, then cut it up into 1cm pieces.
Onion. I find myself using less and less onion lately. Mostly i can't find ones that really do anything for me. All the Sweet onions seem to come from Texas, and the less I can do to support Texas' economy, the better. Red ones also may come in handy. You'll want to keep onions around if you're planning to do tuna salad.

Non-meats:
Tofu. Firm tofu, uncooked, is a taste I acquired as a kid and have never lost. It keeps for a long time unopened, then once you open it you just change its water every couple of days and you're good for a week or more.
Hummus. My favorite is Trader Joe's Spicy Hummus dip, but I'm sure most hummi are good.
Cheese? Actually not a big part of most of my sandwiches. I have a weakness for Brie. And on paper I like provolone, but I just can't work it in very well. Actually Havarti can be very good, and comes pre-sliced. Finlandia is a good brand.
Eggs. Buy free-range, happy eggs. Sometimes egg-salad sandwiches are the greatest thing i've created, and often not. I'll have to experiment to tell you the right proportions, but they exist. Like that one note on south park.
Peanut butter. Natural, smooth style. Never chunky.
Jam. Strawberry. Maybe blackberry.

Meats:
Turkey. I think you really have to start with Turkey. The closer you can come to buying a free-range, happy turkey, roasting it yourself, slicing for sandwiches the better, but the reality is you can't do that every week so some turkey from the deli counter is in order. I prefer just regular Oven Roasted, or the slightly sweetened ones (maple or honey) are good too.
Ham. The penultimate meat, I think. Like turkey, I think it can easily stand alone for the several days it will take you eat the ham that you bought.
Pastrami. A good pastrami (don't know which... will keep an eye out) is a good complement to other meats.
Roast Beef. I dunno, it's not something I buy much. Can be good, but not for a whole week, I feel.
Head cheese. Just kidding.

Equipment:
Toaster. Toasted bread is the base for the majority of my sandwiches. A toaster oven is even more handy than the springy kind. Although with less hilarity.
Cutting board. For cutting.
Knife. For cutting. Note to self, and others: if you sharpen your knives, be very careful during that first post-sharpening cutting.
Square sandwich containers. Actually I'm pissed at Gladware right now. Their new design is friggin' useless. Yeah, the lids lock together, who cares? What I notice is that they no longer seal very well. I bought some Albertson's brand but haven't tried them yet. And I inherited a purple-lidded one that is good, not sure the brand.

Fin

I have now made myself hungry. Damn.