Compost rocks. Just a couple of additions to the above: you only need sugar in a
nutrient-thin
medium such as leaves or
grass clippings. If you start by using
household vegetable waste immediately, you can simply add an equal volume of leaves with each dump from the
kitchen.
Although animal byproducts like fats, gristle and bones will indeed attract vermin and corrupt your pile's chemistry, clean eggshells are great if your compost is destined for a vegetable garden because of their calcium. So is woodstove ash, and unbleached paper products like napkins and coffee filters.
Because you really do need to turn the pile regularly, a container helps. You can buy metal or plastic ones, but wtf? Make one from 1x2 pine slats on 2x2 corner posts with a one-inch gap between the slats, about 4 feet square. More eco-friendly than *cough* plastic and it will weather nicely.
You may find that the pile's heat attracts small critters when the weather turns cold. Our cat deals with them for us; ymmv.
As sydnius says, you'll radically reduce your trash to the curb this way. And your vegetable garden will thank you. Hell, grow some soy.