iCal takes a bit of getting used to, but it's not that hard. I recently transitioned from Google Calendar to iCal myself, so I too have been going through the many features and capabilities of the program as I have updated and modified my calendar of events and added new stuff too.

As with many programs, there are a number of different ways you can accomplish a task, but I'll show you the easiest way to create a recurring task that happens at a specific time and another that's an all-day event.

To start, launch iCal, find the day and time you want your event to be listed, and double-click to create an event:

As you can see, it's pretty basic, but once you're done creating the event simply type Cmd-E to edit the event, and...

Notice the "all-day" check box near the top: if your event doesn't have a specific start and end time, check that box and it becomes an all-day event.

Immediately below the start and end dates, notice "repeat: None". Click on the word "None" and you'll see a number of options:

Choose the one that best describes the recurring nature of the event, then notice that just below that are some darn helpful alarm options:

I generally don't use the Alarm option, but perhaps it'll be something you'll like. Now you know how to set it.

That's about it. Click on "Done" when you've specified the event exactly as you desire and you should be good to go.

Now on your calendar, if it's an all-day event, it vanishes from the time grid and instead shows up on the very top of the day:

Oh, and if you delete one instance of a recurring event, the dialog is a bit more complex:

on the other hand, I really like that I can create a recurring event and delete specific instances that aren't accurate, without affecting all the other occurrences of the event.

Hope that helps you get up to speed!