Comfort-food cooking is enjoying a comeback and diners are now de rigueur.  This cookbook has more than 1000 recipes for those comfort foods everyone loves. 

From a review on Amazon.com:  "This is a good entry cookbook for true beginners who aren't comfortable with the "mix and taste" concept. You know that tuna salad has mayo and tuna and maybe celery (depending on whose mom made it) but what proportions? Ditto for chicken salad. Well, it's all spelled out for you so you can build a base recipe, then add or delete ingredients for next time, depending on your taste buds."

This would be a great gift for a newly independent young adult with all the basic recipes every new cook needs.