How about more metal ores... such as Silver and Corundum, and the ability to forge Alloys of different metals in the furnace. Like putting in Tin and Copper and getting Bronze. or Iron and Corundum and getting Steel.
And I had a mod for 1.3 where everytime you "leveled up" you got a neat bonus. I liked that idea. But maybe tone it down and go for ever 5 levels or so. You could get a random item or something. (No pets though, that feature drove me nuts, seemed like every time I leveled up, I got another dog... You know how annoying it was being in a cave with 5-10 dogs following me around?)
I like the above idea for the cooking pot as well. It would work like the furnace or crafting table, but for food.
For me, I'm much more of a solo gamer, so I would love a better solo version of the game. Maybe villagers can ask you to bring them things, like quest items. Otherwise, the game gets really repetitive for those of us who would rather play the game alone than with others who might blow up our house and take our s#!t while we are out mining.