Last-Minute Gift Ideas for Beginning Cooks  Foodies, experienced
home cooks, great bakers—it's usually easy to find gifts for
them. But what about the just-out-of-college types? The folks
who are just coming around to the values of home cooking? The
New York Times' Mark Bittman has a few good ideas.  Bittman
offers up a few "packs" that you could throw together for about
$75, which include all the gear one would need to roast a
chicken, make a really nice pasta dish, or just get some rice
and beans into their cooking rotation. But a better idea, and
more last-minute-friendly, is a "certificate" for walking
someone through your favorite recipe:  Plan a meal; take your
non-cook friend to the market; go back home and help cook it.
Leave your friend with more food than he or she needs, and
leftovers as well. I've done this, and it generates the warm,
fuzzy thing. Better still, sometimes just seeing it done is
enough to put people on the cooking path.  What's the best gift
you ever received, food or kitchen-wise,